2008: Veteran Red Wings Knock Off Upstarts Crosby, Penguins

The year is 2008. Despite finishing the regular season as the runaway points champion, and despite have the best defensive record and incredible amounts of experience, the Detroit Red Wings are somewhat of a surprise Stanley Cup winner.

Very few of the so called experts expected the Red Wings to make it to the finals. Perhaps it is the Wings' recent spotty playoff history, or perhaps it was a lack of faith in goaltenders Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood, but most experts thoughts Detroit would falter somewhere along the way.

But they did not. Most expected them to beat the surprising Nashville Predators in round one, and they did. The Wings had no problems with their old rivals from Colorado in round two. And the Wings dominated the Dallas Stars in round three. The Stars looked exhausted after slaying the two teams that most picked to win the Western Conference title, Anaheim and San Jose.

Much was made of the Wings advanced age, with the likes of Hasek, Osgood, Chris Chelios, Kris Draper, Tomas Holmstrom and Kirk Maltby present. But this championship was very much led by the younger generation of Wings, specifically Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and surprise scoring sensation Johan "Mule" Franzen. Role player Dan Cleary became the first Newfoundlander to win the Stanley Cup.

Osgood was one key veteran through the playoffs, taking over from starter Dominik Hasek early in the playoffs and playing solidly while posting spectacular numbers.

The other key veteran was rearguard Nicklas Lidstrom, who at 37 was still the best defenseman in the game. He became the first European to captain a Stanley Cup championship team. Lidstrom would call that feat one of his greatest accomplishments. He was happily surrounded by 10 other regular European players on this Red Wings team, the most of any Stanley Cup champion in history.

The Conn Smythe trophy went to Zetterberg, who not only led the Wings in scoring but served as a key shutdown forward. He was often used head to head against Sidney Crosby.

The Red Wings faced off against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the finals, marking the Stanley Cup finals debut of several stars, most notably Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The series hype was full of intrigue as the Wings experience was pitted against the raw, unbridled but uninitiated Penguins. In the end it turned out to be a bit anti-climatic, though the Pens dramatic triple overtime win in game 5 made the series memorable.

Old School: Wings Take Penguins To Class

Wow. What a performance by the Detroit Red Wings in game one of the Stanley Cup finals. Their convincing 4-0 victory not only humbled but probably flattered the Pittsburgh Penguins.

During the ridiculous wait for the series to start so much was made about the Red Wings experience vs. the Penguins raw, unbridled talent and youthful zest. This was going to be an epic battle, a Stanley Cup finals for the ages.

Now I'm left wondering if Pittsburgh can even compete against Detroit.

Marc-Andre Fleury was very good, especially early in the game. His whole team packed it in early on him half way through the third. Do not place blame for this loss on him.

Evgeni Malkin was down right horrible in this game, which allowed Detroit's defensive focus to target Sidney Crosby.

Crosby did not get much of anything accomplished last night either, and full credit goes to the Niklas Lidstrom and the Wings on that front.

That being said, I'm still waiting to see something great out of Sidney Crosby. I've watched him off and on for three years in the NHL now, and in every game I've seen him been very good. But I have never seen him been great.

Now would be the perfect time to raise his game.

SAMUELSSON DOES IT BY HIMSELF - TWICE!
Mikael Samuelsson scored a pair of unassisted goals for Detroit in Game One. He's the first player to pot a pair of unassisted goals in one Finals game since Mark Messier did it on May 30, 1985, for Edmonton vs. Philadelphia. - courtesy Elias Sports Bureau.

2008 Stanley Cup Finals Preview

Stanley Cup final
(1) Detroit v. (2) Pittsburgh
2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs

We are on the verge of what promises to be the most compelling Stanley Cup finals in years.

The young, high scoring Penguins, the young upstarts, closing in on a Stanley Cup championship in only Sidney Crosby's third season. With a collection of stars like Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Marc-Andre Fleury, Marian Hossa and Sergei Gonchar, they are quickly gaining comparisons to the Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers of the early 1980s.

Then there is the Detroit Red Wings, the model of NHL stability. They are experienced, steady, and making their fourth appearance in the Stanley Cup final in the past 11 years. They have an outstanding team defense, led by one of the all time greats in Niklas Lidstrom. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg are perhaps the two best two-way forwards in the game today. Throw in crease crashers Tomas Holmstrom and, if he can shake concussion symptoms, Johan Franzen, and the experienced Red Wings are equal favorites.

That's right. I said co-favorites. I really believe that this promisingly-epic series will be a coin flip.

History suggests the Pens, like all great teams, need a set back to learn how to win the Stanley Cup. The Oilers did it. The great Islanders teams did it. Heck, these very Detroit Red Wings had several set backs. That makes me lean towards the Red Wings.

But the Pens have two dynamic superstars in Crosby and Malkin, and even Detroit's formidable defense will have trouble watching both lines plus the vaunted power play. Throw in the Pens' amazing offensive support cast, and you realize that this team was built for now. That makes me lean towards the Penguins.

Goaltending is equal too. I have to believe Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury is the more dynamic goalie, but savvy veteran Chris Osgood is good enough for Detroit to win. Critics like to pick on Osgood, but that's mostly because it is so hard to find any other faults in Detroit's roster. In my opinion, the inexperienced Fleury is probably more likely to falter than Osgood. Then again, he can raise his game higher than Osgood. No advantage.

Initial thoughts suggest Detroit's blue line has a good advantage over Pittsburgh, with Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart as the top 4. Pittsburgh's defense has been surprisingly airtight too, though, and both teams' forwards are completely committed to backchecking. On paper, most would give Detroit a minor advantage defensively, but statistically Pittsburgh has the craftier defense, 1.86 GAA vs. Detroit's 1.94. Both are tops in the 2008 playoffs.

Any perceived minor advantage Detroit has in it's own zone is eliminated by Pittsburgh's advantage on offense. The Pens are better here too, 3.64 goals for per game as compared to Detroit's 3.44, again with both numbers the best in the post-season. To make matters worse for Detroit, the Red Wings stumbled against Dallas without the secondary scoring of Franzen. And as good as Datsyuk and Zetterberg are, Crosby and Malkin are capable of taking their games to higher levels than anyone else in the series.

Special teams also suggest a small advantage for the Pens offense. Both teams are equal in penalty killing with a 87.3% rating, but with PP% at 24.6, Pittsburgh's PP is running 3.6% better than Detroit's.

All in all, I think Pittsburgh actually does have the slight advantage against the Red Wings, and that is attributable that Crosby, Malkin and Fleury are able to raise their games to higher levels than Detroit's stars.

Now we just have to see if they are capable of doing so in the pressure of the Stanley Cup finals while lacking the experience that Detroit possesses.

Since I have to make a prediction I'm going with Pittsburgh in 6. Why? Mostly because that's how my coin flip suggests.