Detroit Red Wings: 11th Heaven After Dispatching Penguins for Stanley Cup

Let’s not forget head coach Mike Babcock. In 2003, he took the Anaheim Ducks to the Finals and lost in Game Seven to the New Jersey Devils. While his team hit the locker room, he stayed on the bench, watching the celebration, wishing that it were his team out there.

For all his regular season success, Babcock failed to reach the Finals his first three years, and has now gotten over the hump at a time when his now former Pistons counterpart Flip Saunders was fired for that same reason.

Now he’s a champion on the ice and not on the bench.

Some Penguins looked downtrodden after the game and slumped against the boards. It always hurts to lose, but they gave everything they had and who knows—if not for Hossa’s missed shot, this series would have ended Saturday at the Joe, maybe with the Pens as champions.

The Pens rallied for a goal from Evgeni Malkin in the second period and almost tied the game on Hossa's shot. They knew their time was almost up, but they didn't go down without a fight.

You can’t fault them for the effort they gave throughout the series. Marc-Andre Fleury, solid all series, made 27 saves in the loss and kept the Penguins alive in key situations throughout the series.

His 55-save performance in Game Five will live in Pittsburgh lore for years to come. He showed that he’s one of the NHL’s best young goalies and will no doubt backstop Pittsburgh to more success.  

And what of the Penguins’ young core of Crosby, Malkin, Jordan Staal, Fleury, and others? Sure, they’re young and inexperienced in the playoffs, but what a hell of a run they had!

They went 12-2 in the first three playoff rounds and took the Wings to six games; nothing shameful about that. Crosby winning his first Cup would have been a nice ending to the Pens season, but like a lot of great stars, he must lose first. The Cup will come.

At 20 years old, he’s already got a scoring title, an MVP trophy, and a conference championship. A Cup is the only thing missing from his résumé. He provided great leadership as captain and tied for the league lead in playoff points, with 27.

While Malkin was nowhere to be found on the stat sheet most of the series, he had three points in the last two games, including a goal and an assist in Game Six. He made mistakes in the series, but he gained a lot of experience out of it.

Have no doubts—Pittsburgh will be back. With their young core intact they’ll be more experienced, hungrier for a title, and probably a bit feistier.   

But for now, rejoice Detroit.

Lord Stanley is back in Hockeytown.

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