NHL Franchise Empire Building

After just posting about the Penguins remarkable Cup Finals win over Detroit, I think it also makes sense to highlight and link to a couple of excellent articles about how the two team got there (and may well remain at this elite level for years to come).

First came a terribly interesting Sports Illustrated piece by Michael Farber (yep, he does do most of the SI hockey writing) titled "Spirit of '89". Written about the draft in which Detroit took the fairly unheralded Nicklas Lidstrom along with an additional cadre of players who would start the Red Wings resurgence, it's a great look at how the organization operates... and drafts really really well.

After this came not necessarily a companion Pittsburgh piece by Farber, but rather one which showed how the Penguins have perhaps as good of a chance as Detroit to remain at the top level of the NHL year over year. Titled "Same Time Next Year?", it's... a very descriptive title.

Solid stuff and lots of things can change in the NHL (perhaps even more so than with some of the other major sports), but one thing that likely won't soon is these two teams being the ones to beat in their respective conference.

Pittsburgh Penguins - 2009 Stanley Cup Champions

Wild. Absolutely a wild and incredibly entertaining Stanley Cup finals.

Here's a look told through the lens of Michael Farber and his Sports Illustrated articles as well as SI covers (not of course actually sent to all mailboxes in America covers, but covers that you can see on the magazine's website nonetheless).

Started up something like this (and with accompanying story):

Then the Penguins showed amazing resolve... leading up to this (copied from Getty Images):

Finally, it was all over (and written about here by Farber in SI):

Penguins Gameplan vs Red Wings

I think I figured out the most likely way for the Pens to win the series... put everything out there tonight, get great performances from the stars in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury and hope that the Red Wings stars don't match them.

Then with their victory in hand, try to figure out how to have the Detroit team get food poisoning before a Friday night game 7 back at Joe Louis Arena.

Seriously... the Wings are good.

2009 NHL Playoffs: Almost Down to Two

Well, I haven't posted much since the Sharkies got eliminated so now is as good a time as any to look at how the second round series wound up and where we're at with the third round.

Western Conference Round Two

Detroit over Anaheim in 7 games: Now, that was a great series. It doesn't really give San Jose any consolation to know they got beaten by a good team, but the Ducks certainly gave Detroit all they could handle. At the end of the day, the series was a virtual pick-em affair with the Red Wings just happening to get and convert on a good scoring chance with 3 minutes to go in regulation. A great series that could have gone either way.

Chicago over Vancouver in 6 games: Very entertaining hockey... Chicago just a more talented team. Big credit also due to the Hawks for matching every bit of physical play put their way by a tough (and chippy) Canucks team.

Eastern Conference Round Two

Pittsburgh over Washington in 7 games. Another great series in the Detroit vs Anaheim vein. Washington was extremely entertaining to watch and gave the Pens a good run. At the end of the day, Pittsburgh having both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin simply gave them a 2-1 superstar advantage over the Caps and Alexander Ovechkin.

Carolina over Boston in 7 games. Can't say I watched a lot of this series, but from what I did, it made me view the Bruins season much as I did the Sharks... a really good regular season that got made moot due to playoff disappointment.

Western Conference Finals: Detroit is about to go up three games to one on the Blackhawks. I suppose it's possible for Chicago to mount a comeback starting with game 5, but... I doubt it.

Eastern Conference Finals: Pittsburgh vs Carolina reminds me of Vancouver vs St. Louis in round one. A good team playing fairly well again one that's simply better.

Stanley Cup Finals: Me thinks Detroit would be favored against a Penguins team that replaced their coach during the regular season, but if they can continue getting great goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury along with Crosby and Malkin-like efforts from Crosby and Malkin... could be a great series.

Welcome to the Top Spot, San Jose

Guess it shouldn't be surprising... after being placed at the top of heap in the both the Yahoo! Sports NHL Power Rankings from Ross McKeon and the rankings from Allan Muir at CNNSI, San Jose goes and gets beaten 4-1 in Detroit by the Red Wings.

Well, it is only the regular season and San Jose is still an excellent team (along with those pesky Red Wings), but as a Sharks fan, I'd be quite happy to see them return to the form they showed early in the season.

However, they've got time and the ingredients to win the Cup are still there. Not the least of which is Captain Patrick Marleau. To this point, there's an excellent article from Darren Eliot at CNNSI titled "Marleau and Sharks all business" that details the reemergence from a tough start to last season.

Good stuff, hope it translates in the playoffs.

NHL Regular Season Games: Often More Than They Appear

It's interesting both how the outcome of games can both be impacted by things external and how individual games can then impact things down the line.

Geezie peezie... that sentence sounds mysterious (or maybe just confusing) as I read it now.

Anyhoo, to Wit...

Oct 30: Detroit at San Jose
Outcome - Sharks take a fairly convincing 4-2 victory.
Immediate ramification (for Sharks fans) - Whoo-hoo... best team in the league! Never gonna lose again. Detroit Can't touch us.
External influence - Detroit played a bruising overtime game the night before in Anaheim.

Dec 18: San Jose at Detroit
Outcome - Detroit scores 6, San Jose 0. Yea, pretty convincing.
Immediate ramification (for Wings fans) - Whoo-hoo... best team in the league! Never gonna lose again. San Jose Can't touch us.
External influence - San Jose played a hard-fought overtime game the night before in Columbus.

So... two good teams, both were good going into a game they clunked, both were good coming out. While it will be interesting to see what happens when the teams match up again Jan 17 after each has had a night off, both the Sharks and Wings will likely roll into the playoffs each being solid and knowing it.

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This matchup is illustrated to show how external factors can influence a game, but let's look at a different matchup, though, to see how the outcome of a game can impact things beyond...

Nov 13: Calgary at San Jose
Outcome - Sharks 6, Calgary 1.... and the game wasn't that close.
Immediate ramification (for Sharks fans) - We rule. Guess we can disregard that Flames team.
Immediate ramification (for Flames coaches & players) - Time to man up.
Long-term outcome (for the Flames) - Taken from this week's NHL Power Rankings by Alan Muir of CNNSI, Calgary has been dominate since this shellacking and are #4 to San Jose's #3 league ranking.

Jan 6: San Jose at Calgary
Outcome - Calgary 5, San Jose 2.

Which... takes us to tonight. Calgary at San Jose. What will it mean? Not sure... but, it's always fun to watch and see.

Penguins Game Three - "Reports of Their Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated"

Wow. What a great hockey game Detroit and Pittsburgh played tonight.

Starting with the aforementioned assumption that the Wings played to their potential (and the Pens did not) in games one and two, Pittsburgh needed to step up their game in order to have a chance of winning back in the Igloo for game three. Rest assured, they did step up and narrowly won a game against another consistent Red Wing effort.

This was the type of hockey game that could have been won by either team as it featured offenses driving to the net, excellent goaltending (Marc-Andre Fleury might have wanted back the 2nd goal allowed, though) and hard hitting all over the ice. The fact that the Pens were victorious was the result of a very good Pittsburgh effort coupled with a few more bounces their way than Detroit got.

A game like this fully demonstrated why it was so necessary for the Penguins to win should they have any chance in the series. Starting with talented opponents and assuming repeat occurrences of each team's effort, intensity and attention to detail, you would likely have a 50/50 split in wins and losses over a number of games.

The point being, if Pittsburgh had fallen behind three games to zero, it's next to impossible that they would have been able to take four in a row from Detroit with the way the Wings have played. In fact, Detroit has played well enough this series that I'd say to have a realistic chance, Pittsburgh needs to win Saturday as well. Reason being, should Detroit go up three games to one, the odds of Pittsburgh either greatly outplaying them or getting the breaks needed to win three of four are slim.

However, a win Saturday in game four would be simply holding serve on home ice and should the Pens pull it off, they could then completely disregard their shortcomings in games one and two and start in on a best of three series.

Here's to hoping the Pens do get it done Saturday as it would mean one of the most compelling Stanley Cup Finals matchups in recent memory would be living up to the advance billing.