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Winged Wheels, Flightless Birds and Lord Stanley… |
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The Stanley Cup Final is set and it is shaping up to be one of the finest series of the entire playoffs. We will be treated to Hockeytown versus Steel Town, the old versus the new, the face of the league versus the model franchise.
This series boasts some serious star power on both sides and believe it or not, the two teams are pretty evenly matched. Here is a quick look at the series position by position.
Forwards:
Pittsburgh and Detroit are blessed with some of the most talented forwards in the league. In fact, the top 5-playoff scorers through three rounds come from these two teams. Sidney Crosby and Henrik Zetterberg are leading the way with 21 points apiece, followed by Marian Hossa, Pavel Datsyuk and Evgeni Malkin. All five players are arguably among the ten best forwards in the game right now. All 5 are players that you could build a franchise around, but it doesn’t end there for these two squads, as each has gotten big time contributions from other members of their ranks.
For Detroit, Johan Franzen was the darling of the dance early this year, as every puck that came within five feet of him found it’s way in the net. He is recovering from concussion like symptoms right now, but others have picked up the ball. Secondary scoring has been coming from the likes of Tomas Holmstrom, Mikael Samuelsson and Jiri Hudler.
The Penguins are getting huge secondary contributions from Petr Sykora, Ryan Malone and Jordan Staal. They have also gotten some very big goals out of players like Max Talbot and Jarkko Ruutu during the playoffs.
Veteran leadership is present on both sides with Gary Roberts doing it for the Penguins, albeit not always on the ice. While Kirk Maltby, Dallas Drake and Kris Draper provide that steadying influence on the Redwings side.
Though Detroit has much more experience amongst its forwards, I give the edge to the Penguins. Crosby and Malkin match up with Datsyuk and Zetterberg, but when you move to the rest of the line-up, Pittsburgh has gotten the bigger contribution from up and down the line-up.
Detroit has scored 55 goals in the playoffs and 32 of them have come from Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Franzen. That can be a liability, especially when you consider that Datsyuk and Zetterberg have been playing on the same line.
Defense:
Nicklas Lidstrom is the best defenseman in the series. No, make that the universe. He will most likely win the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defender again this season and is just a great all around talent.
Niklas Kronwall has emerged a big contributor and is joined on the Detroit blue line by the high scoring Brian Rafalski, who can collect power play points like fire flies on a summer’s eve. The group is rounded out with guys like Brett Lebda and Brad Stuart who can play an all around game. Plus they are still getting contributions from Chris Chelios.
The Penguins have adopted a scheme that has them playing defense as a group, but their defensemen have been very good. Sergei Gonchar and Brook Orpik have combined to face off against the oppositions top line throughout the playoffs. While Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill have been two of the best shut down guys in the league, especially short handed. Ryan Whitney and Kris Letang, who have played pretty well since being united during the Ranger series, round out the group.
The amazing thing about both sides is that to a man, they can all move the puck and that is key to each side’s transition game. As soon as their defense collects a loose puck in the defensive zone they are on the offensive and looking up ice for the break out or home run pass.
I give the edge to Detroit in this category based upon the presence of King Norris, Nicklas Lidstrom.
Goaltending:
Marc Andre Fleury has been the hottest goaltender in the league since he returned from his high ankle late in the season. He is riding an unbelievable hot streak in which he has won 22 of his last 27 starts, including 12-2 in the postseason. He is leading or in second place in every statistical category of note during the playoffs.
Chris Osgood on the other hand reclaimed the starting job when Dominic Hasek faltered against Nashville. He hasn’t always been tested a ton during these playoffs, but he has been brilliant when called upon. Osgood in one of the most feel good stories of these playoffs, however he could be for a work out against the Penguins.
I give the edge in goaltending to the Penguins. Fleury has been huge in these playoffs and is still my dark horse candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy if the Penguins can win this thing.
Though I picked the Penguins forwards and goaltending as having the edge in the series, it isn’t a significant one. This will probably be each team’s biggest test and we could all be in for a big treat, as the two teams are so evenly matched. They have been running neck and neck throughout the last couple rounds of the playoffs and seemed to be on a collision course with one another…a collision course that finally brings these two monsters together Saturday night.
I see this one going at least 6 games, if not 7…but it is hard to pick against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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