Stanley Cup Finals Preview

Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

I said last year that the Pens-Wings Finals reminded me a lot of the Isles-Oilers final in '84. You had the veteran Isles team winning their 4th straight Cup by beating a young, hungry Edmonton team with Gretzky and Messier ready to break out and carry the league. The next year the two teams met again and the Oilers won their first Cup. I said after last year that I thought Pittsburgh would repeat that performance and beat the Wings this year to win the Cup.

At the start of this year though I thought the Wings picking up Marion Hossa kept them slightly ahead of the Penguins. However, I don't think that now. The Wings are as good as they were last year but not better. They may even be a bit less than they were last year because Lidstrom and Datsyuk are not at 100% health. The big difference in this series this year is that the Pens are a lot better. Crosby was playing on a bad ankle in last year's Final but is full healthy right now, Bill Guerin is an improvement over Hossa because he goes to the net harder and can score bigger goals than Hossa did, Fluery is a much better goalie this year, and Jordan Staal is much improved. But the biggest difference is that Malkin has become every bit as dominant as Crosby this year. Sid and Malkin are the two best players in the league (sorry Mr. Ovechkin but you need to learn to back-check) and the Wings will have no answer for them.

Pens in 6.