Red Wings

[Malto Marko]

Well, the Penguins deserved to win the Cup.

The D was outstanding. they totally took away the middle of the ice from the Wings and the Wings did absolutely nothing to counter it (ie run back door plays).

Wings D was not impressive at all. Stuart made several bonehead turnovers, Lidstrom looked like he was skating in wet cement, Rafalski was all but invisible.

The bounce of the puck is certainly what decided the game as there were several occasions (not just the crossbar shot that I could not believe did not go in) that could have made a difference in the game. Lidstrom put it like a true pro with class. "Sometimes the bounce goes your way and sometimes it does not. We have had our share of times when it went our way, tonight, it did not".

I was very proud of the Wings fans. Many stayed around to watch the lifting of the cup unlike the Pens fans last year that exited as quickly as they could get out of there.

The Penguins won with arguably their best player not on the ice for almost 2 whole periods. Wings can not use injury as an excuse for sub par performances.

Cindy however, really pissed me off the way he handled himself after the game. He stayed in his own end waiting for his teammates and coaching staff to come to him to congratulate him. As far as I could tell, he did not go through the traditional handshake line even though the Wings stood there waiting for him to come through. After he ignored the fact they were there, they rightfully headed to the locker room.

Babcock made it a point to walk down to congratulate him but Cindy responded by not even acknowledging he was being talked to and a wishy washy handshake only because Babcock put him in a position that if he refused his hand, there would be little doubt about his lack of sportsmanship.

You have to wonder what is going through Hossas head today. He had a flip of the coin type of choice to earn a cup and thought he took the side that had the best chance. Could it be that he is bad luck to a team making a run for the cup? Personally, I don't believe in that kind of bad luck however, I do believe he was tenative during this entire series almost as if he was apologizing to his former teammates for bailing on them.

Two goals shy of winning a Stanley Cup. A great season for the Wings. It is too bad that the players and many of the fans will only put value on the season if they were successful in defending their Championship.

I trust Kenny Holland to make some moves in the off season that will once again make them a frontrunner to win the cup next year despite the above article claiming the cap will cut into the talent. #1 priority should be shoring up the D. They were uncharacteristically soft this year.

[Greg H]

The Wings were a hurtin' bunch...

(From the Detroit Free Press)

By the time the Stanley Cup finals began, Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski was in such pain, he had to be careful about how to position his tender back.

He was one of a handful of Wings who finished the playoffs bruised and battered. But on the good-news side, none is expected to go under the knife.

“Nobody requires any off-season surgery,” general manager Ken Holland said today. “It’s all just a matter of time and rest. They need some rest, and then they’ll be good to go in two to three weeks.

Here’s a breakdown of the injuries:

• Nicklas Lidstrom: He was speared in the testicles by Patrick Sharp during Game 3 against Chicago and underwent surgery on the area two days later. he Missed Games 4 and 5 against Chicago, then returned and played every game of the Cup finals.

• Rafalski: He ruptured a disk in his back between the first and second round but returned for Game 6 against Anaheim. “It got to the point where he could play again,” Holland said, “but if had been the regular season, he would have been out another week or two. He played through the pain of a herniated disk.”

• Kris Draper: He missed the first 10 games of the playoffs after taking a stick to the throat that tore cartilage in the neck area, Holland said. “As a precaution, we didn’t want him to get hit in the neck and have something go down the air pipe wrong.” Draper was out from Game 4 against Chicago to Game 5 against Pittsburgh because of a pulled groin.

• Pavel Datsyuk: Suffered a charley horse when he was hit along the boards and also was hit by a slap shot in his foot during Game 2 against Chicago, causing him to miss seven games. “The charley horse turned out to be more significant,” Holland said. “He never was 100% -- he didn’t have any thrust. A charley horse can be a 4-6-week injury, but he pushed through to play.”

• Dan Cleary: Played through a groin pull suffered in Game 4 against Pittsburgh. “He was very sore after Game 4, and we didn’t expect him to play in Game 5,” Holland said. “An MRI showed he had a significant groin injury, but he wanted to play.”

• Tomas Kopecky: Needed surgery after he fractured his right orbital bone following fight with Francois Beauchemin in Game 4 against Anaheim. Missed the rest of the playoffs.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090613/SPORTS05/90613030/1118/RSS

[Vegasz71]

It has been touched on I think but I believe that the Wings played last night like they were in some way entitled to the cup and the Pens seemed to want it more...hence the scoreboard and Lord Stanley's move to PA. I had the game DVR'd so I got to watch after it was over and every time I got a call it was ignored to not spoil the out come. I think Cindy is a schmuck for not shaking hands thru the traditional line...a very immature punk ass move for especially a so called captain IMO...that is one of the great things about the sires I think. I also thought that the fans @ JLA showed a ton more class then what was shown last year to the Wings and good for them and the city of Detroit. Pit is and will be a good team so hopefully Detroit gets the cup back next year and rolls through Pitt to do so!

[Malto Marko]

When you put hurtin guys on the ice instead of young guns that proved they can play, you lose the cup.

That means this loss is on Babcock.

[chemiclord]

When you put hurtin guys on the ice instead of young guns that proved they can play, you lose the cup.

That means this loss is on Babcock.

Again, I don't necessarily disagree with the move. Many of these guys had been there before, they supposedly knew what it took. It would be really tough to tell the locker room that you're going to go with relatively untested players instead of the horses that got you so many championships.

It probably would have been the better move, in retrospect though. Players like Abdelkader and Leino had provided a lot of the energy and hustle plays that the Wings really lacked in the last two games of the series.

[chemiclord]

Oh, and Crosby? A total bitch ass punk.

This should not come as a surprise to anyone.

[-Deborah-]

Crosby: Snub Lidstrom? No way 'My intentions were to shake hands'

By Dave Molinari, ? Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ? June 14, 2009

He did not, Sidney Crosby said, try to snub Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom in the handshake line that followed the Penguins' 2-1 Stanley Cup-clinching victory at Joe Louis Arena Friday night.


He has too much reverence for hockey's traditions.

And, from the sounds of it, too much respect for Lidstrom.

"My intentions were to shake hands," Crosby said. "That we didn't wasn't me trying to avoid it.

"That's the last thing I'd want to do. By no means was I trying to avoid shaking the other team's hands.

"I think it's important to do that."

The issue of Crosby, the Penguins' captain, not shaking hands with his Red Wings counterpart flared after Red Wings center Kris Draper told The Associated Press that "Nick was waiting and waiting, and Crosby didn't come over to shake his hand."

Draper added that, "that's ridiculous, especially as their captain, and make sure you write that I said that," but did not define what he meant by "waiting and waiting."

Crosby, who said he was "really surprised that [Draper] said that," estimated the time that passed between the end of the game and when he joined the handshake line at "three or four minutes."

"I came out of the scrum where we were all celebrating," he said, adding that "seven to 10" Red Wings still were in line and "five or six" others who were just leaving the ice.

Losing teams rarely linger on the ice because they do not care to watch the other club celebrate, and Crosby suggested that Lidstrom likely did not wait long before adjourning to his locker room.

After the Red Wings defeated the Penguins in the 2008 Cup final, he said, "I didn't feel like waiting around, either."

[Malto Marko]

Ya, well I was watching and he had the opportunity to get into the line but that was not a priority for him. He saw them waiting for the remainder of the team that had not come through the line yet and he turned away to celebrate with someone else. He had plenty of time to celebrate with his teammates, he should have understood that the handshake happens quickly as the losing team wants to get off the ice to allow the winning team to celebrate.

I don't care what he says. He knew what he was doing and it seemed somewhat self rightous to me.

[Rocky Bleier]

The D was outstanding. they totally took away the middle of the ice from the Wings and the Wings did absolutely nothing to counter it (ie run back door plays).

Wings D was not impressive at all. Stuart made several bonehead turnovers, Lidstrom looked like he was skating in wet cement, Rafalski was all but invisible.

You have to wonder what is going through Hossas head today. He had a flip of the coin type of choice to earn a cup and thought he took the side that had the best chance. Could it be that he is bad luck to a team making a run for the cup? Personally, I don't believe in that kind of bad luck however, I do believe he was tenative during this entire series almost as if he was apologizing to his former teammates for bailing on them.
.

I was frustrated by the Wings settling for shots from the perimeter. When they did get the puck deep, the Penguins defense roughed them up, something the Wings defense doesn't do. Stuart did play poorly, but I guess we can give Lidstrom and Rafalski a pass knowing what we do now. Glad to hear someone finally agree with me on Hossa's demeanor. It's not that he played any less tentative than a lot of other guys, but we kept hearing how badly he wanted to win the Cup and he sure didn't look like the determined demon we saw in last year's Finals.

[Drew]

I saw that he didn't give Babcock much respect during the handshake. Mike seemed to be giving him some words of wisdom and Crosby basically skated away without any real eye contact. That was the only time they showed Crosby shaking hands with an opponent, AFAIK. Did he miss the entire handshake line? The camera focussed on Hossa quite a bit, and although him being on the losing end twice was somewhat of a story, that shouldn't have been THE story going through the line.

Question: Why wouldn't the captain of the championship team want to have the honor of receiving the congratulatory handshake of the opposing losing captain? Maybe he did get caught up with the celebration scrum.

[Malto Marko]

Maybe he did get caught up with the celebration scrum.

Bullshit! Other players managed to understand the responsibility of good sportsmanship. Cindy just stayed in his end and let everyone come to him. I understand that many would want to give their congratulations to him but, as a Captain, he has responsibilites.

He showed how immature he really is and, I have to cut him a bit of slack because he is really young to be on the big stage like he is. It was still classless of him.

[chemiclord]

For what it's worth, Bettman had "the face of the new NHL" running the media gauntlet the moment the clock hit 0:00. I honestly think it was more Crosby thinking addressing the "adoring public" was more important than the handshake line.

It was either snub the Wings or snub the media, and Crosby chose to snub the Wings. Not a huge deal, still a bit classless.

[Drew]

Bullshit! Other players managed to understand the responsibility of good sportsmanship. Cindy just stayed in his end and let everyone come to him. I understand that many would want to give their congratulations to him but, as a Captain, he has responsibilites.

The question stands: Why wouldn't the captain of the championship team want to have the honor of receiving the congratulatory handshake of the opposing losing captain? He lost out on something of value. Maybe he wasn't being an imature prick, but just didn't know how to be a Stanley Cup winning captain. He does now.

[Malto Marko]

For what it's worth, Bettman had "the face of the new NHL" running the media gauntlet the moment the clock hit 0:00. I honestly think it was more Crosby thinking addressing the "adoring public" was more important than the handshake line.

It was either snub the Wings or snub the media, and Crosby chose to snub the Wings. Not a huge deal, still a bit classless.

The media would still be there to get their story. The participants of the series are more important. It is a huge deal when the glamor and glitter mean more than the game itself.

NBC was entitled to nothing from the NHL as they dictated how they were going to cover the series. Making NBC wait a few minutes for an interview to preserve the traditions of the game would have been a much better track for the NHL but, Bettman is out for Bettman, not the NHL.

The owners of the NHL are showing a lack of leadership by continuing to allow this clown to run their league. Why don't they approach Millen? He has ties to Network coverage.

[Malto Marko]

The question stands: Why wouldn't the captain of the championship team want to have the honor of receiving the congratulatory handshake of the opposing losing captain? He lost out on something of value. Maybe he wasn't being an imature prick, but just didn't know how to be a Stanley Cup winning captain. He does now.

No, to me the question was answered. He has no respect for the tradition of the game and less class as a leader. He was just looking for self congratulations. He had plenty of time sitting on the bench in the 3rd period to contemplate how he would react if they pulled it off. It was not like he was exhausted from leaving it all on the ice.