With the Finals over and free agency coming on fast, who would you rather be, the Detroit Red Wings or the Pittsburgh Penguins?
The Red Wings are a team with a lot of talent, but they are older. This is a good and bad thing.
They have more veteran experience, but the players can't last forever. Superman(Chelios) and Lidstrom are pretty old for hockey players, and Holmstrom, at 35, is showing some signs of aging.
Who will be in the net when Ozzie gets tired? The Dominator is finally done, and who can fill in?
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They do have younger players like Datsyuk and Zetterberg, but this team is aging by the minute.
The Penguins on the other hand, are young, talented, and seem to be ready for anything. Crosby, Malkin, Kennedy and Fleury (if he dosen't sign elsewhere) are young superstars that are going to help this team for a very long time.
Crosby isn't Gretzky, but by the end of his career, he could be somewhat close to Lemiux or Neely.
Malkin is the big, strong, sniper who can do it all. Kennedy.... I don't really know much except for the highlight reel goals he is putting up. Fluery is awesome. He was almost like the Bulin wall during the playoffs.
I think the Penguins have a brighter future, due to the fact that they are a younger team.
At the moment, I'd love to be a Wing, walking around with the Cup, but in the long run, I think the young Penguins will outlast this group of Red Wings.
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2 months ago
Not even a question. The Red Wings are the better club with plenty of young talent. Chelios wasn't even a factor in this years playoffs so we don't have to worry about him. The older players will get a bit less ice time next year while the young guys get more. This plus the wings have significant cap flexibility to go out and get a couple more players for next years run. Pittsburgh looks to be cap inflexible at this point, and will have to let go a couple of their important 08 players. Though they have some fantastic young stars, they are paying the price for them. The new NHL is all about cap flexibility and the ability to maintain a team over time. Detroit is in an enviable position where players will take less money to play for them which gives them incredible depth. At this point, Detroit has mastered the new salary cap, while the Pens will struggle with a couple huge contracts to bog them down.
from 2 months ago
One quick point -- Crosby, Malkin, and Hossa have all stated willingness to take less money to stay in Pittsburgh. (Crosby already did it, Malkin has just said he will take less than Crosby's salary, and Hossa is weighing an offer that represents almost NO raise just to stay).
Add to that the innumerable number of older UFAs who will shop themselves to the Pens for peanuts just for the chance to play for the Cup, and I think, my friend, you have no idea of what you speak.
from 2 months ago
No idea of what I speak? HaHa! If you say so. Crosby, Malkin, and Hossa have all stated they would take a little less money to stay together. Unfortunately, there won't be anything left over to lure the "older UFAs" who might want to go to a contender. Who does have that money? Well, Detroit does, a much more viable contender than Pittsburgh could be on their best day. I think the Pens are an excellent young club, but to place them above the leagues elite franchise based on scant evidence that they can even play competitively with them is reckless. Beyond that it's absurd to suggest that I don't know what I'm talking about for taking this view.
2 months ago
The Red Wings don't have young talent? You forgot to mention Filppula (24), Franzen (28), Cleary (29), Hudler (24), and Kronwall (27) just to name a few. Jimmy Howard has been being groomed to become the next goalie for years, and everyone is locked up for, at least, the next season. They also pick up Ville Leino who lead the Fin Elite League in scoring last season. There is PLENTY of upside to the Red Wings for years to come and like Daniel said, there is still plenty of cap space. Pitt. is definitely going to have to part ways to a few of the players you mentioned.
2 months ago
You are both right, but the older players that the Red Wings might lose because of age are very important key players on this team. When Lidstrom is done, it will leave a huge gap. Jim Howard will be a good goalie, but I don't think he can put up the type of performance Osgood has done. I think out of the young players you named Arthur, Franzen is the best one. Daniel, you made a good point with the salary cap, but Hossa is most probably the number one guy that Ray Shero wants to keep, other than Fleury. Now that Fleury goes to arbitration, they Pens will have him for probably less. Hossa has also stated that he is willing to accept less money to stay with this team. Malone probably wont stay, but the Penguins will still have a deadly line that could be almost as good as Ottowa's Spezza, Heatly, and Alfredson. Malkin, Crosby and Hossa will be very dangerous together. The Red Wings do have some younger talent, but I think it is just enough to fill the holes when the other older key players leave. I wrote this article with about three or four years into the future in mind.
from 2 months ago
I appreciate your viewpoint Mikey, but Pittsburgh hasn't proven that it can maintain a team for any considerable period of time. Will we miss Lindstrom when he's gone? Absolutely. That said, I think he's still got 3-4 more good years in him. If any team has proved that it's always in reload rather than rebuild mode it's the Wings. Honestly, the Wings are deeper with young talent than the Pens. The only reason they don't get as much press is that they have to share ice time with the vets. That will change, and the fact that the Wings won't be short-sighted enough to hand out albatross contracts to anyone that has a decent season, will benefit them in the end. I can see where you're coming from, and it's natural to get excited, but let's let this thing play out. My intuition is that four years from now Detroit will still be the leagues best franchise, and the Pens? Well, at this point they haven't proven anything other than they can lose a Stanley Cup final. We both know it is difficult to get back, year in, year out. Even Detroit hasn't done that in a while.
2 months ago
Good point Daniel. In my opinion, the Pens do have just as much young depth if not more with Crosby (21), Malkin (21), Staal (20), Kennedy (22), Whitney (25), Marc-Andre Fleury (24) and Marian Hossa is only 29. I also think the Penguins have more young talent. With that said, your point about the salary cap is big as well. With rumors about Hossa accepting a long term $7 per year deal, the Pens won't have hardly any cap space. It will be difficult to keep Staal as well, who's contract only goes till the 09-10 season. You are right about the Wings still being a great team a few years from know but in even longer run, I think the Pens have them. I don't argue with you about the Wings being the team with the most depth in the league, but they are an older team. On the topic of the Stanley Cup, history shows that the most teams lose in the finals before they win. The Wings lost in the finals to New Jersey in 1995, before going on to win three from 1997-2002. The Oilers in 83, with Gretzky, Messier, Kuri, Fuhr and Coffey, were very close, but lost to the Islanders. In the playoffs, experience is huge.
from 2 months ago
HaHa! I guess we could do this forever but even MORE common than a team eventually winning a cup after losing in the finals is that team never winning it and eventually disbanding. That happens much more often. We'll just agree to disagree Mickey! Honestly, I wouldn't mind being the GM of either team right now, but for my money I'll go with the Wings.
2 months ago
Daniel's the man.
2 months ago
Yeah, I guess thats right. Well, it was actually kinda fun. You are a great Wings fan. To tell you the truth, I am a Bruins fan! I just thought this was a interesting situation. So, good comments, and Go Bruins.
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