I can’t believe they lost.  With 6.5 seconds left and a faceoff coming I still thought they’d tie it.  Then I turned it off and didn’t speak for like an hour.  Just collapsed on my bed and dazed.  When I woke up just now it didn’t even seem like it really happened.  It still feels like they’re going to play Game 8 tomorrow night. 

And that picture is disgusting.  I hadn’t seen anything beyond the handshake line.  I don’t even know who won the Conn Smythe.  I will never get over this.

Posted by Triple Deke Tyler from Lansing on 06/13/09 at 09:17 AM ET

Three words, Douchebag Dead Things fans (four?)

Inevitable.  Post-season. Meltdown!!!

Freaking AWESOME!!!! Where’s your Chris Osfail now?

Posted by Um No on 06/13/09 at 09:22 AM ET

I shouldn’t feed the trolls, but anyone who says there is an “inevitable post season meltdown” for a team that won the cup last year and came this close this year is an idiot, plain and simple.

Pens deserved the win, and I’m at least grateful that Crosby didn’t get the Conn.

Posted by Ben on 06/13/09 at 09:27 AM ET

AAAAHHHH!!!  MY EYES!  MY EYES!

He wanted to be able to point to the Pens as a franchise he “saved.”

I hope they get shut out in every game they play against the Hamilton Blackberries until the sun explodes.  And then they get swept in the first playoff series on the blackened cinder that is all that remains of the planet Earth.  Regardless of any other results in their entire season - just because it will be funny.

I hope I’m not a bad person for wanting the Penguins to suffer the most epically catastrophic Stanley Cup hangover in the history of failure.  Nothing personal - just one opposition fan to another.  I wouldn’t expect any different from any other team - I’m not so stupid as not to think that a whole mess of hockey fans were hoping that Detroit would miss the playoffs this year or exit very quickly, as Anaheim and Carolina and Tampa did after their wins.

Still ... The 1995 and 2003 seasons were more painful by far for me.  But I wish it had been the Capitals and Fedorov had gotten one more before he left for Russia, if there was going to be a loss.  Or that Chicago went to the finals and beat Pittsburgh, because they have such a long drought.

/sigh

Now I’ll have to catch up on the Tigers and the hockey offseason.  Crawford in Dallas (heh...heh...heh), Heatley to Edmonton (?), Pronger to Los Angeles (?!?!?!), and the Tigers can’t hit worth spit except for their pitchers, apparently.  Bizarre.

Time for this team to recover, heal, rehab, and relax for the summer before coming back fresh in the fall.  New season means a fresh slate - and any artist will tell you, there is nothing quite as nervous as a new blank canvas, fresh and ready for any new inspiration to make its mark.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/13/09 at 09:30 AM ET

Come Cheif the Red Wings are the master at “SUBTLE INTERFERENCE” as NBC called it time & Time again

You have a great team, Don’t piss on it by coming with this weak Shit now

This league is Reffed Horribly, Both sides all the time!! You’ll get no argument from me, But Come on about the Gill only having 2 minutes in Penalties in the series

The Red Wings have been the model NHL franchise for at Least a Decade if not more

Posted by Evilpens on 06/13/09 at 09:32 AM ET

“I shouldn’t feed the trolls”

Of course you shouldn’t.  But you’re a stupid Dead Things fan.  Your sad little team of fails just got their asses handed to them.  Just a season or two away from joining the Awfulanche in the basement.

Losers.

Posted by Um No on 06/13/09 at 09:33 AM ET

“This league is Reffed Horribly,”

Ah yes.  Pathetic Dead Things fans blaming the loss on everything they can, unwilling to accept that your girls got beat by a better team.

Go cry to your mommy, loser.

Posted by Um No on 06/13/09 at 09:35 AM ET

And that picture is disgusting.  I hadn’t seen anything beyond the handshake line.  I don’t even know who won the Conn Smythe.  I will never get over this.

Evgeni Malkin.  First Russian ever to win the Conn Smythe.

He was a deserving choice - and after the crap he took last year, I can at least feel happy for him getting some measure of redemption.  I’d like him more if he wasn’t a Penguin, but ... /shrug

And you will get over it, Tyler.  It hurts a ton, and it will leave scars - but the pain will fade with time.  You’ll be fine.  (Just don’t you DARE let it stop you blogging.  Your stuff is hilarious.)

********

And what is with the Pens trolls still hanging around?  Shoo!  Shoo!

No team in the league would turn down an “inevitable post-season meltdown” being considered losing game seven of the finals when attempting to defend a Cup from the previous year.  NO ONE.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/13/09 at 09:37 AM ET

Um No appears to be as classy as Crosby was last night.  He skipped the handshake line.

Posted by Crysby sux on 06/13/09 at 09:38 AM ET

Of course you shouldn’t.  But you’re a stupid Dead Things fan.  Your sad little team of fails just got their asses handed to them.  Just a season or two away from joining the Awfulanche in the basement.
Losers.

Suck a fart out of my ass you douche.  Want to talk about losers?  Look who’s trolling an opposing team’s site so early in the morning.  What, mommy and daddy not up yet to make you breakfast?  Go suck a big cack you twat.

Posted by Riviera on 06/13/09 at 09:44 AM ET

You have a great team, Don’t piss on it by coming with this weak Shit now

Evilpens...I’m not trying to claim the Pens didn’t deserve this.  Admittedly that gets lost when I mention the Gill non-calls.

My point is that Bettman wanted this and he got it.  It wasn’t meant to degrade the accomplishment, only the commissioner.

Posted by IwoCPO from Washington, DC on 06/13/09 at 09:45 AM ET

Posted by Um No on 06/13/09 at 09:35 AM ET

It was a Penguins fan who said the league is reffed horribly.  ALL fans of every team can agree on that.

(Although Hal Gill is a walking interference minor - that’s just fact. Doesn’t matter what team he is playing for at the time.)

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/13/09 at 09:47 AM ET

Just a season or two away from joining the Awfulanche in the basement.

Nope.  Red Wings know how to properly operate a snowblower.

(Too soon?)

And a “sad little team of fails” doesn’t make it through three playoff series to lose in a game seven in the finals.  A “sad little team of fails” has been debating Tavares vs. Hedman for the last couple months.

Words have meanings for reasons - they don’t just mean whatever a person thinks they should.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/13/09 at 09:53 AM ET

Booing at the end of the game? Are you serious? If I were a Wing player and got booed off home ice I’d demand a trade, right then and there (Patrick ROy style beeotch). Can’t sell out the Joe for the FInals? Wow.
Stay classy D-town, oops, I mean “hockeytown” [sic]

P.S.= to see how the home fans should respond after the last horn, you tube the end of game 6 last year at the Igloo. Take a lesson!

Posted by Pensin7 on 06/13/09 at 09:57 AM ET

Greetings 19. Well, that definitely sucked. I turned the TV off with maybe 2 seconds to go (right after Fluery made a huge diving save) and played some Wii with the old lady. Throwing a bitch (heh...something like that) in baseball, the strap broke on the remote and it missed the top of the tv by about 2 inches (just like Detroit all evening...har har). At that point I called it a night, figuring it couldn’t get much worse, or better. The NHL pages at ESP-AL East and Yahoo are dead to me. My NHL news, and I’m waiting for the Wings MASH list (Lidstrom’s balls, Dangle’s hip, Hossa’s knee, Cleary’s foot, Draper’s back/neck, Brad Stuart’s brain) to come out, will be from here, the Emperor, Kahn, Mirtle, and the Highlander.

Heh, look at it this way, at least I can go play golf now. All in all, I enjoyed the ride. Chief? Thanks for keeping us sane. When’s the “party” to refurb the Hasek? I’m sure it’s needed.

Posted by mrfluffy from Cincy on 06/13/09 at 10:03 AM ET

Can’t say as my head feels to great this morning, maybe the 2 margaritas for lunch and beer all afternoon & evening? Headache had me up at 3 and nothing to do but think, think and think some more. Heh. Not angry any longer, but definately going to feel the let down for a bit. The woodshop will keep my hands busy for awhile as I’ve not touched a tool in months now. And there’s this trip to Sweden looming in late September-early October to look forward to.
I agree, we were outplayed when it mattered most. It’s something to be used as motivation but now is not the time. Give the guys a few days or a week and then call’em in one at a time and wrap the season up.
Hoss staying? I’m pretty neutral on as of right now. There are some changes coming, I’ll let Tick Tock do his thing and trust the organ-I-zation.
And trollers, don’t you have anywhere you can celebrate with fellow Pens fans? Seriously… our hat has been tipped to your team, now STFU and piss off.

Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 06/13/09 at 10:03 AM ET

Gary Bettman (Ass) looked like he was fighting back tears last year awarding the Conn Smythe and the Stanley Cup last year.  What a difference a year makes.  And recalling his scowl during Game 5 was pretty telling too.

Nothing against the Penguins achievement.  But even with all the evidence it’s hard to believe “Chairman Mao” is such a Penguins fan.  Can he make it more obvious?

If that’s not giving the Penguins enough credit, sorry.  That’s just how I’m gonna roll. 

If I’m Uncle Mike, I send that to Hank Zetterberg every morning.  And I send it to Marian Hossa with little notes, like...."Just checking to see how your summer’s going,” or “Man, Sid looks happy.  Good kid.  He earned it.  Did you?”

I thoroughly Dr. Babblecock is going to turn this into a positive for the team, though it hurts horribly now (the team and the fans).  And Kenny Holland is still only getting warmed up.  The Wings will continue to get better. 

Dead things, my ass.  Not on Holland’s and Babcock’s watch.

Posted by ludmeister on 06/13/09 at 10:06 AM ET

Boy what a bunch of classless whining fans the wings have.......Yeah,the nhl told the refs to let the pens win........SURE THE WINGS HAD WAY MORE POWER PLAYS FROM GAMES 5 TO 7,SURE THE WINGS LOST FOUR OUT OF THE LAST FIVE GAMES.SURE,THE WINGS ARE ALWAYS COMMITTING INTERFERANCE PENALTYS,BUT NEVER GET CALLED,SURE SID THE KID MISSED THE LAST PERIOD AND HALF.
BOTTOM LINE....THE OLD MEN COULD NOT BEAT FLUERY,COULD NOT KEEP UP WITH THE TEMPO THE PENS PLAY,AND WERE BEATEN IN GAME 7 ON THEIR OWN ICE BY THE BETTER,FASTER,YOUNGER MIGHTY PENS.
WINGS FANS..........YOU DESERVE HOSSA,A HORRIBLE FOOTBALL FRANCISE AND THE EMBARRESSMENT OF LOSING A GAME 7 AT HOME(A NO NO IN SPORTS).EVEN WITH 4 POWER PLAYS
YOU CANT EVEN SELL OUT GAMES AND YOUR BEGINING TO SOUND AND ACT LIKE THE CLASSLESS FLYER FANS.
PS...GOTTA GO,,NEED TO PLAN YET ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP PARADE IN THE CITY OF CHAMPIONS.HAAA

Posted by wings4dinner on 06/13/09 at 10:14 AM ET

Chief I don’t think Bettman Branded Sid as the face of the League, The Canadian Hockey Press has been doing that since he was 14

Good God Imagine trying to live up to that standard, Think of all the stupid shit you did as a Teenager & into your 20’s, Good Lord I know some of the dumb shit I did still to this very day makes me shake my head & Shudder

Posted by Evilpens on 06/13/09 at 10:15 AM ET

Although I don’t think Zetterberg needs any encouragement.  He was pretty determined in spite of being (per Malik) maybe 70%.

Hossa ... I don’t know.  I’ve never liked one-year contracts, just because so often it seems as though the entire first year is an adjustment period, and it isn’t until the second season that a guy really settles in to a new team.  That makes it hard for me to really wrap my mind around what I think of him.  (Especially not knowing how badly he was hurt.)

Off topic -

So, there’s this “Pronger to Los Angeles for Jack Johnson and other stuff” rumour so the Ducks can free up cap space and LA can get a bit better and more experienced defensively.  I’m not sure I like the douche transfer to a team that I actually like.  And I don’t want the cheap-shottiness to rub off on Drew Doughty and Kyle Quincey and Anze Kopitar, because I like those guys.  :(

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/13/09 at 10:15 AM ET

Boy what a bunch of classless whining fans the wings have.......Yeah,the nhl told the refs to let the pens win........SURE THE WINGS HAD WAY MORE POWER PLAYS FROM GAMES 5 TO 7,SURE THE WINGS LOST FOUR OUT OF THE LAST FIVE GAMES.SURE,THE WINGS ARE ALWAYS COMMITTING INTERFERANCE PENALTYS,BUT NEVER GET CALLED,SURE SID THE KID MISSED THE LAST PERIOD AND HALF.
BOTTOM LINE....THE OLD MEN COULD NOT BEAT FLUERY,COULD NOT KEEP UP WITH THE TEMPO THE PENS PLAY,AND WERE BEATEN IN GAME 7 ON THEIR OWN ICE BY THE BETTER,FASTER,YOUNGER MIGHTY PENS.
WINGS FANS..........YOU DESERVE HOSSA,A HORRIBLE FOOTBALL FRANCISE AND THE EMBARRESSMENT OF LOSING A GAME 7 AT HOME(A NO NO IN SPORTS).EVEN WITH 4 POWER PLAYS
YOU CANT EVEN SELL OUT GAMES AND YOUR BEGINING TO SOUND AND ACT LIKE THE CLASSLESS FLYER FANS.
PS...GOTTA GO,,NEED TO PLAN YET ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP PARADE IN THE CITY OF CHAMPIONS.HAAA

UMMM show Some Class if you have any

Posted by Evilpens on 06/13/09 at 10:16 AM ET

Time to talk about the off-season. 

Hossa- I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t think we have the cap space to sign him unless he takes a ridiculously low salary (league minimum low).

Which coach is responsible for the PK?  Because whoever it is needs a new job.  Maybe with the Wings, maybe elsewhere, but the PK really really really sucked this year, including in the Final, and something needs to be done. 

The Wings also had a strange tendency to shrink into a porous defensive shell when they had a lead.  That needs to end.

My roster currently looks like this-

Centers:  Datsyuk , Zetterberg, Filppula, Draper
Right Wings: Franzen, Holmstrom, Maltby
Left Wings: Cleary, Abdelkader, Helm
Defense: Lidstrom, Rafalski, Stuart, Kronwall, Lilja, Ericcson, Lebda, Meech
Goal:  Osgood

That’s 19 players to fill 23 roster spots; the Wings ran with 22 most of this past season.  Assuming the cap remains the same, there is only about $3 million left to fill out those 3-4 spots.  Our free agents are Hossa, Hudler, Sammy, Leino, Chelios, McCarty, Kopecky, Conklin, and Downey.  We can plug a goalie in for $800,000 or so, but that leaves only $2.2 million to sign the remaining forwards, and we need at least two more wingers.

I think Chelios is gone.  McCarty and Downey might sign two-way contracts again, if offered, just to stay with the organization.  Conklin might stay as backup but it would have to be at or near the $800,000 mark. 

The big question marks are Hossa, Hudler, Sammy, Leino, and Kopecky.  Something has to give, someone has to go.  I think the cap has finally caught up with us.

Of course, if the cap were to go up, that could change things.  I feel it would need to go up $10 million or more to be able to keep the players we want to keep, and I can’t see how it could.

Posted by monkey from Jesus and the Dinosaurs on 06/13/09 at 10:17 AM ET

At least the pens “fans” who troll here can come and go as they please and we only have to suffer them momentarily.  But what gives me comfort is they can never escape from themselves and are stuck living with a life sentence.

And to the 3 or 4 Pens fans who have a modicum of class, congratulations.

Posted by cephalopod from Chicago, on the poop deck, not over it yet on 06/13/09 at 10:23 AM ET

Chief I don’t think Bettman Branded Sid as the face of the League, The Canadian Hockey Press has been doing that since he was 14

Good God Imagine trying to live up to that standard, Think of all the stupid shit you did as a Teenager & into your 20’s, Good Lord I know some of the dumb shit I did still to this very day makes me shake my head & Shudder

Posted by Evilpens on 06/13/09 at 10:15 AM ET

This is true.  I think Bettman just picked up on the Canadian media and thought of the NBA star system of marketing and thought it would work in the NHL - although I don’t think it does.  I likened Crosby (to non-hockey fans) to David Beckham (to non-soccer fans).  I know that Beckham exists because of the saturation of commercials, and I know he has a cute British accent and a hot wife, but it doesn’t make me any more likely to watch soccer because I’m not a soccer fan.  I think the excessive Crosby marketing will do nothing but tick off hockey fans from the overdose, and won’t get people who aren’t hockey fans already interested in the game just because Crosby is playing - it’s just a waste of energy when they would be better off marketing the individual stars of each team in the local markets.  It’s not a national sport - hockey just isn’t, and all the wishing in the world won’t make it so.

Good Lord I know some of the dumb shit I did still to this very day makes me shake my head & Shudder

So, you are thankful that cell phone cameras didn’t exist at the time, I take it?  At least Crosby didn’t have naked self-portraits on the internet like that Toronto draft pick (I can’t remember his name right now).  Then of course the holier-than-thou-overwrought-hockey-media got to wring their hands about how he was a “disgrace to the Maple Leaf” when all he was was a silly kid in an age with technology everywhere.

For whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry that Crosby has gotten saddled with the stupid “face of the NHL” designation.  I think he’d be a happier player without it.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/13/09 at 10:25 AM ET

And I suggest that not because I believe Hossa is gone.  Just the opposite.  He’s staying in Detroit.  It’s been ordained and you’d better deal with it.  He’s staying and it’ll happen July 1st.

That thought is more disgusting to me than the stream of non-calls on the Pens last night. I mean, seriously, did neither ref see Fluery slash and grab Homer in the third? Did both refs miss Gill hauling Sammy down just before they scored goal #2. Eh. Whatever. It’s done, and it was done before it ever began. As the Chief says, Lil’ Gary “got what he wanted.”

As for Hossa, the only way he stays is if Happy and someone with a mid-range salary goes...and that’s with the possibility that Lilja’s career is over and Maltby gets bought out. After his pathetic play in the postseason, I’d take Happy straight-up over Hossa...unless, of course, he wants to sign another one-year deal for something in the range of $2M. I think I could live with that.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 06/13/09 at 10:25 AM ET

UMMM show Some Class if you have any

Posted by Evilpens on 06/13/09 at 10:16 AM ET

Exactly...but it’s easy to ignore. Life goes on.

Monkey...actually...no. I have no idea. I’m not even going to attempt to figure it out. I’m not Tick Tock. Just thinking about how to fit the roster makes my head hurt. Next year, with TPH signing for less, life will be a bit easier. This year? Things are going to look different. But different in a good way. I think the team will be better next year. The drive we saw in 07-08 will return. The “playing pissed off” will return. The half-assed mailed-in games we saw at times will be at a minimum. They had it all, and let it slip away. They’ll be back in the mix of things.

When do they have their camps in Traverse City? The old lady’s sister lives in Petoskey, and we’re planning on taking a trip up there...probably in early September. Might have to take the hour-ish jaunt down just to have a wet-dream moment.

Posted by mrfluffy from Cincy on 06/13/09 at 10:27 AM ET

WHAAAAAA...HOCKEY TOWN..PLEASE........CANT EVEN SELL OUT PLAYOFF GAMES...YOU SIGN HOSSA,YOU THINK THAT BETTMAN SOMEHOW SHUT DOWN YOUR POWER PLAY IN GAME 7,YOU STAY AND BOO THE CHAMPIONS INSTEAD OF GOING HOME LOSERS AND PREPARING FOR ANOTHER LOSING SEASON BY THE LIONS.
BOY,WHEN YOU WIN YOU THINK THE NHL IS THE GREATEST THING.YET WHEN YOU GET BEAT IN YOUR OWN HOUSE,LOSE FOUR OF THE LAST FIVE GAMES.....IT’S A HORRIBLE LEAGUE.
PLEASE...WHEN GONCHAR GOT CHEAP SHOT FROM ALEX O OF WASHINGTON,THERE WAS NO PENALTY(COULD HAVE COST THE PENS THE SERIES).WHEN THE REFS GAVE THE WINGS ALMOST ALL THE POWER PLAYS IN GAME 7,THEY DID NOTHING.WHEN FLUERY IS GETTING RUN OVER AND STILL MAKES THE SAVES.
YOUR WINGS WERE OUTPLAYED AND OUTCLASSED,YOUR FANS WERE OUTCLASSED BY PENS FANS AND YOUR TEAM IS OLDER THAN DIRT...NOW GO CHEER ON THOSE LIONS AND WATCH OUT FOR THE REFS WHO MAY MAKE THE LIONS LOOK WORSE THAN THEY ARE.

Posted by wings4dinner on 06/13/09 at 10:33 AM ET

QUESTION FOR ANY PENS FANS HANGING AROUND

(NOT THE TROLLS, BECAUSE IT REQUIRES A FUNCTIONING BRAIN):

One of the Oilers sites I read from time to time was talking about how Edmonton needs some more real NHL players (funny how it makes teams a lot better when they have fewer AHL guys in key roles), and with new ownership and the ramping up of “we need a new rink because ours is a dump” rhetoric, they will be planning on making big splash (hence the Dany Heatley trade talks), and had an interesting proposal.

Some of the Oilers’ youngsters (Cogliano was one of the names mentioned) for Jordan Staal.  The logic was that Pittsburgh has a few good centers, and Staal will not get much of a chance to really play big minutes behind Crosby and Malkin, and he is overpaid for just a checker.  Move Cogliano to Crosby’s wing and he could get 25 to 35 goals fairly easily (in their opinion - and that sound about right to me), and it would clear a logjam at center and give Pittsburgh some cap space and a solid player in Edmonton, which badly needs a good big center.

(It wasn’t just Cogliano, but also some other parts and/or draft picks along with him.)

Could Pans fans see Jordan Staal being traded?

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/13/09 at 10:33 AM ET

Abdelkader, I think, has one more year in Grand Rapids - does Draper have one more year on his contract?  That would allow for a logical replacement and Abdelkader wouldn’t have to move from his natural center position.  Ericsson and Helm are on the Wings roster, though.  They have shown they are ready.  Kopecky depends on how he comes back from injury, I think.  Lilja also - with his relapse of his headaches, he might not be ready by training camp.

Conklin has to leave because Detroit isn’t playing in an outdoor game next year. 

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/13/09 at 10:43 AM ET

TO “EVIL PENS”...TALK ABOUT CLASS.........WHO STAYED LAST YEAR AND CHEERED THE CUP,WHO STAYED THIS YEAR TO BOO,WHO DISREGARDS THE PLAYOFF RUN THE KID AND MALKIN HAD.
YOUR CLASSLESS FANS FROM A CITY OF LOSERS......YOUR LUCKY THE LEAGUE FEELS SO BAD FOR THE CITY......THE “HOCKEY TOWN” TITLE IS SO UNDESERVING FOR A FAN BASE THAT CANT EVEN SELL OUT GAMES....
THE NATIONAL BROADCASTERS WERE WERE ALWAYS TALKING UP THE WINGS...EVEN WHEN THEY WERE BEING OUT HIT AND OUTSHOT,AND AT MANY TIMES IN THE SERIES WHEN THEY WERE BEING COMPLETELY DOMINATED.
PS...TELL HOSSA THE CHOKA THANKS FOR GIVING THE PENS MORE MOTIVATION.
GOTTA GO,TIME TO EAT...WIFE SAYS THE WINGS ARE COOKED.HAAAAAA

Posted by wings4dinner on 06/13/09 at 10:46 AM ET

Nope.  Red Wings know how to properly operate a snowblower.

(Too soon?)

Heh.  Not at all.

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 06/13/09 at 10:48 AM ET

Abdelkader, I think, has one more year in Grand Rapids - does Draper have one more year on his contract?

Unfortunately, Draper has two more years on his contract. If he wasn’t still an excellent faceoff guy and a good mentor for Helm, they’d probably buy him out. Maltby has one more year left (at $750k).

Conklin has to leave because Detroit isn’t playing in an outdoor game next year.

Conk has to leave because Howard has no more options left. He has to play in Detroit next year...or get traded. With a cap hit of just $717k and unknown potential, the odds are he’ll be here.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 06/13/09 at 10:51 AM ET

Booing at the end of the game? Are you serious? If I were a Wing player and got booed off home ice

Dude, have you watched like, any hockey at all?  Because if you think they were booing their OWN TEAM, or even the Pens, then…

Just look up Gary Bettman.  Or better yet, visit http://www.firebettman.com/ .  That’ll help.

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 06/13/09 at 10:51 AM ET

Could Pans fans see Jordan Staal being traded?

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/13/09 at 10:33 AM ET

he could possibly be traded, But I doubt it seriously

I just think that unless Ray Shero gets blown away with an offer Staal won’t be traded

Posted by Evilpens on 06/13/09 at 10:53 AM ET

Conk has to leave because Howard has no more options left. He has to play in Detroit next year...or get traded. With a cap hit of just $717k and unknown potential, the odds are he’ll be here.

Well, that too - but I figured the regulars all knew that already.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/13/09 at 10:54 AM ET

wings4dinner

What are you BABBLING about??? Incoherently Might I add

Posted by Evilpens on 06/13/09 at 10:55 AM ET

he could possibly be traded, But I doubt it seriously

I just think that unless Ray Shero gets blown away with an offer Staal won’t be traded

Posted by Evilpens on 06/13/09 at 10:53 AM ET

Thank you.  I appreciate the answer.  Looks like Edmonton will have to look elsewhere for the elusive big center they are seeking.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/13/09 at 10:56 AM ET

First thing, great series guys.  I’m a lifelong pens fan, but I have to say that the last two years have been a great time watching both teams giving everything they have on the ice.  After 1992 and seeing all of the stuff for the penguins to go through since and finally seeing them in back to back finals has been amazing.  I look forward to next year.

In response to the no call, crosby is the golden boy, the league is rigged stuff.  I think that conversation comes into play during every playoff run.  But to say that the league is rigged so that one player can win the cup, seems a bit of a stretch.  This series (and last years) came down to two teams giving everything they had one the ice and in the end I think that’s all we can ask for as hockey fans.

@Baroque:  That is an interesting question, I don’t see the pens letting staal for a potential scoring forward.  Given the fact that the pens made a run this year with a variety of forwards plugged into the lines, I don’t see shero letting a top center go for a potential winger.  The other aspect that I am considering is the style of coaching that Bylsma is pushing with the pens of having grinding forwards and lines lends it self to having a center that has been in the system and knows how to direct traffic.  Of course, i am not the GM. 

Just to let eveyone know that there are hockey fans out there that actually appriciate that game and are not “trolls” out there to rub salt in wounds. Great series guys and I look forward to next year.  Maybe we’ll meet again.....

Posted by soab on 06/13/09 at 10:57 AM ET

Maybe we’ll meet again.....

Posted by soab on 06/13/09 at 10:57 AM ET

Same time, same place - different result next time.  Enjoy your summer.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/13/09 at 11:00 AM ET

STOP WHINNING.........UNLESS YOU SHOW SOME EVIDENCE THAT THE COMMISH WANTED THE PENS TO WIN.
LOOK AT THE POWER PLAYS....LOOK AT WHO THE SO CALLED EXPERTS SAY THE WINGS COMMITT MORE INTERFERANCE THAN ANY TEAM IN THE LEAGUE...IN THE NEUTRAL ZONE,IN FRONT OF THE NET.
YOU HAVE NO PROOF.
WOW,A PICTURE OF BETTMAN SMILING.....I BELIEVE IF YOU REFER TO LAST YEARS TAPE...YOU WILL SEE THE SAME...EXCEPT PENS FANS WERE ACCEPTING IN DEFEAT.
DID THE REFS MAKE YOUR OLD DEFENSEMEN KEEP TURNING THE PUCK OVER.DID THE REFS BLOW THE WHISTLE WHEN THE WINGS WERE KNOCKING FLUERY OVER TRYING TO GET REBOUNDS EVEN WHEN THE REFS LOST SIGHT OF THE PUCK.DID THE REFS CALL A PENALTY WHEN HANK COVERED THE PUCK ON “OZZYS” BACK.
PLEASE,IF IT WASN’T FOR THE REFS,THE PENS WOULD HAVE WON IN FIVE.

Posted by wings4dinner on 06/13/09 at 11:00 AM ET

But to say that the league is rigged so that one player can win the cup, seems a bit of a stretch.

Again.  No one said that.

Posted by IwoCPO from Washington, DC on 06/13/09 at 11:03 AM ET

Talk of conspiracies and questionable officiating lessens us a hockey fans and discredits our great league.

These playoffs were amazing along so many storylines, and the Red Wings derserve so much respect for defending their title to the final seconds of the season. No objective fan could deny the finals could have easily gone either way.

Last year I couldn’t go near a TV or computer for a week after my Pens were defeated. Props to those of you who can keep your chin up today.

Great *#$%@& series.

Same 2 teams next year?

Posted by SidVicious87 from Pgh on 06/13/09 at 11:04 AM ET

He marketed Sidney Crosby.  He branded him.  Now he’s got him.

How you can ‘market a face’ that can’t even grown anything approaching a playoff bead is beyond me.  Any normal-thinking person and casual fan who doesn’t know who Crosby is but might be drawn toward more serious fandom would be turned off by that shot.  The perverse smile on Bettman’s face, the pubic beard (again, with thanks to Allen Ginsberg), the glazed look in Crosby’s eyes...yuck.

Whatever.  Let the Pens do the League marketing from now on.  We’ve got the business of winning to get on with.  With or without Hossa.

(Though I concede he may feel compelled to re-sign in order to avoid yet more of the ‘playoff mercenary’ labelling, especially given his performance this postseason, injured or not.)

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 06/13/09 at 11:06 AM ET

EVIL PEN.............IT’S CALLED FACTS...YOUR JUST A TYPICAL SORE LOSER..WE SEE THAT ALOT IN THE CITY OF CHAMPS.
YOUR A WHINNING IDIOT WITH A HORRIBLE FOOTBALL FRANCISE AND A HOCKEY TEAM THAT WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR LOSING A SERIES AFTER BEING UP TWO TO NONE,AND LOSING A GAME SEVEN ON YOUR OWN ICE,DESPITE THE GREATEST PLAYER NOT PLAYING FOR A PERIOD AND HALF.
“EVIL PEN” SAYS IT ALL...YOUR A BITTER LOSER.

Posted by wings4dinner on 06/13/09 at 11:08 AM ET

Though I concede he may feel compelled to re-sign in order to avoid yet more of the ‘playoff mercenary’ labelling, especially given his performance this postseason, injured or not.

He’ll re-sign and it will be for 7 years or more.

Posted by IwoCPO from Washington, DC on 06/13/09 at 11:08 AM ET

Hey guys!  Not here to rub it in, or gloat, or troll...just to say, great series.  There isn’t a single team that I dreaded playing more in the finals.  However, it wouldn’t have felt nearly as satisfying if we beat another team.  Your team is as solid as they come, and the series could have easily gone either way.  But, in the end, my penguins won it, and I’ll look forward to seeing you guys in the future!

Please don’t take the set of teen pens fans that come over here to post nonsense as being representative of the true Pittsburgh fans (yes, there are actually some who watched Steve McKenna be our captain for a game, or Stephan Richer try to play on Lemieux’s wing).  We will do the same for some of the fans that I am sure you wouldn’t want to represent you.

Some notes, just my thoughts…

Of course Bettman wanted the kid he has banked over half of his advertising budget on to win.  Does this mean Sid loves all that attention?  I don’t think so.  Who wants the constant media pressure, cameras in your face after even a simple practice, and everything else that comes along with his portrayal.  I know I wouldn’t...and Sid surely doesn’t either. 

Hossa.  Hmmmm, what to say.  In retrospect, I’m glad he left.  We wouldn’t have the players we signed instead of him, if he had stayed.  To me, Hossa can be one of the best players in the world, when he wants to.  Him and Kovy should go to group therapy together...something needs to motivate them.  I was fully convinced that Hossa would come out last night and have a huge game.  I mean, what can be more motivating than the Stanley Cup?  But he didn’t.  Personally, I think he is expendable to the Wings.  Nobody thought he was to the Penguins either, and look how that turned out.

Eh, there’s a million things I could discuss, but I’ll shut up.  Thanks for a great series, and best of luck to you next year! (unless we should meet again)

Posted by JD from Pittsburgh on 06/13/09 at 11:08 AM ET

“EVIL PEN” SAYS IT ALL...YOUR A BITTER LOSER.

Wow.  If the caps lock didn’t give it away, that did.  Evilpens...don’t bother.  Celebrate.

Dude...EP is a Pens fan.

Posted by IwoCPO from Washington, DC on 06/13/09 at 11:09 AM ET

Does this mean Sid loves all that attention?  I don’t think so.

That’s a point I’ll never debate.  I don’t think he wants the attention, ever wanted it, or is comfortable with it.

Posted by IwoCPO from Washington, DC on 06/13/09 at 11:10 AM ET

Posted by wings4dinner on 06/13/09 at 11:00 AM ET

What is “whinning?” Is that the sound a horse makes?

And true, NBC is indeed populated by “so-called” “experts.” Of course, an “ex” is a has-been, and a “spurt” is a drip that didn’t make it, so ... that is about how much their hockey opinions are worth.

I think someone got kicked off the Penguins boards for misbehaving, perhaps.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/13/09 at 11:10 AM ET

Come Cheif the Red Wings are the master at “SUBTLE INTERFERENCE” as NBC called it time & Time again

You’re right Evilpens, we are, but it seems the Pens are masters of blatant interference that goes uncalled.  No whining, just a fact.

However, the Pens played the game the way they were allowed, it’s not their fault it was never called.  You guys deserved the win, so again Congrats.

Posted by John W. from pulling fish out of a hole in the ice on 06/13/09 at 11:11 AM ET