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More Penguins/80’s Oilers Comparison
by Patrick Hoffman on 06/05/09 at 02:10 PM ET
Comments (4)
From Larry Wigge at NHL.com:
There have been plenty of comparisons of this year’s Penguins and the start of the Edmonton Oilers dynasty in 1984, when Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier and Co. were swept in the Stanley Cup Final by the New York Islanders in 1983 and then came back to beat those same Isles in five games the next year, starting a era in which the Oilers won five Cups in seven years.
What we know is this is the first time since 1984 that the same two teams have met in consecutive years. Back then, the Islanders were coming off four consecutive Cup wins. This year’s Red Wings have won the Cup four times since 1997.
Coincidence? Not even close. The Penguins and Oilers are/were two young teams on the way up, both with a swagger, looking to learn how to win ... and dominate the NHL. And you could say that the last time a teen began as the dominant player in a major team sport occurred in 1979-80, when Gretzky was Crosby’s age.
Click here for more. May be there is actually some truth to these comparisons. What do you folks think?
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Tags: Detroit+Red+Wings, Edmonton+Oilers, Pittsburgh+Penguins, Stanley+Cup+Finals,
Comments
It’s just a leeetle tiny bit early to put the Penguins in the Oilers’ class. Let’s let Sid win a cup or five before we do that. Besides, the Wings are NOT an old team on the way out; they used to be an old team, but they’ve retooled in a very impressive fashion. Lidstrom and Osgood are old; the other core players are in their prime or younger; and these playoffs have shown that the Wings have a bunch of NHL-ready talent banging at the door. So whether or not you like the Pens/Oilers comp, the Wings bear no resemblance whatsoever to a team past its prime.
Posted by jvwalt on 06/05/09 at 03:37 PM ET
Ok you’ve got Crosby and Malkin - where’s the Kurri? Coffey? Anderson? - I just don’t see the supporting cast there. Aside from those two, who are the other HOF’ers on the Pens?
From the looks of the series, now at 2 games a piece, the fatigue of the Wings and the loss of Datsyuk will have as much to do with the outcome as anything. Take Malkin away from the Pens, and they don’t leave the 2nd round, let alone end up in the Finals - take away our Hart candidate, and the series is tied at 2.
Posted by Raoul Duke from New Jersey on 06/05/09 at 04:41 PM ET
Don’t get too worked up over the silly comparison. This was a memo on Bettman’s desk for the last two years. He was just looking for the right time to get it out to the media.
Fail.
Posted by Red Winger from Sault Ste Marie on 06/05/09 at 04:48 PM ET
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I don’t see the comparison, if for no other reason than I just do not see what the big deal about Staal is. Yeah, he is good; but he is not great.
There is no way a team repeats what the Isles and Oilers did in the Eighties, not in the Cap Era.
Posted by Red Winger from Sault Ste Marie on 06/05/09 at 03:17 PM ET