Am I the only one creeped out when grown men refer to teenagers and very early twenty-somethings as “sexy?”  Ew.

But Evgeni Malkin’s game is the Van Halen concert to Datsyuk’s Baroque concerto

.

And clearly, I don’t think that makes Malkin better. 

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/15/09 at 09:22 AM ET

Sidney Crosby is a sexier sell than Henrik Zetterberg, at least in North America—not to mention seven years younger.

Like Baroque said…*shudders…

But seriously…who would you rather shoot the sh*t with drinking beer whist standing over a grill watching the steaks sizzle? Sure wouldn’t be pube face Rosby.

Posted by mrfluffy from Long Beach on 06/15/09 at 09:25 AM ET

I suppose, it depends on who you want to sell TO.

If the hallowed sports demographic is men from 18 to 49 (I think I read that somewhere), then I think the age difference is totally negligible - and Zetterberg might even be a better sell because he has a gorgeous girlfriend and his English is impeccable, so there isn’t even the language deal.

I think Malkin’s game might transfer better to the general population than Datsyuk’s, although that would have been more relevant a few years ago before Datsyuk became more physical.  And his best shootout goals are still eye-catching for anyone.

Of course, unless the NHL actually figures out how to market the game - their attempts have been pretty ineffective a lot of times - it doesn’t matter if they have a Cup winner who looks like a young George Clooney, has the cool of Sean Connery, a wife like (insert hot actress name here), and plays for the New York Rangers, it won’t help grow the game unless they do it properly.  I’m not sure that they have a coherent plan that doesn’t rely on “look!  The Cup!  And he’s Canadian!”

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/15/09 at 09:41 AM ET

Talk about a load.  The NHL is better for it?  The better story?

The NHL is so *#$%@& screwed up thanks to poor mgt, overexpansion, teams that are perennially on welfare, etc.

The Penguins are an anomaly of the modern age.  How it’s possible for a team to draft for four consecutive years at position 1 or 2 overall is a feat that will never be repeated.  If it is, then parity and the cap can just get flushed down the toilet (where they belong).  Yes, their drafting fortunes happened mainly before the cap took effect, but the failure by hockey’s cognoscenti to recognize that drafting was never designed to help exclusively one team to that extent only reinforces the fact that something stinks in the state of the NHL.  If anyone really believed in parity, would not a market like Phoenix, for example, be better off with a Malkin around whom to build.  For example.

The NHL is better for it?  To attract fans who know jack about the NHL—and care even less about it.

Screw the NHL and screw Bettman.  I’m tired of stories that change daily, depending on what makes the best sound byte.

Posted by snafu from Michigan on 06/15/09 at 10:11 AM ET

A truly heart warming tale…I guess we could read stories about Hell Week, when the nice young men of Detroit try to burn the city down…Or a humorous tale of octopus throwing… or how Datsyuk had one goal the entire playoffs…

Posted by Pensin6 on 06/15/09 at 10:58 AM ET

You are truly pathetic, Pensin6.  People who have to bring up the impoverished status of Detroit’s inner city, and the problems that plague many of America’s large, urban centers in a hocky discussion—well, not sure what to say.  You want to hold up the Golden Boy as some icon of all that is good in mankind, go ahead.  Just excuse the rest of us for not buying into it.

I suppose you like fairy tales too.

Posted by snafu from Michigan on 06/15/09 at 11:03 AM ET

Pittsburgh is currently having their Stanley Cup parade, and Pensin6 is posting on a Wings blog.

The pathetic-ness of it all is staggering.

Posted by Red Winger from Sault Ste Marie on 06/15/09 at 11:22 AM ET

The David Lee Roth Van Halen, or the Sammy Hagar Van Halen?

Posted by jvwalt on 06/15/09 at 11:34 AM ET

I actually think his article brings up a lot of good points. I don’t disagree with it at all.

The Pens victory is a better story if you look at it from the league’s perspective. The Wings have won 4 Cups in 12 seasons. In half of those seasons, they’ve been in the final. A couple other times, they were in the conference final. People that aren’t Wings fans are sick of the Wings. The same way you and I are probably sick of the Yankees, Patriots, and Lakers.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

Yes, there are great stories on the Wings’ side as well, but because it would’ve been the same old, same old, very few hockey fans outside of Michigan (or Michigan transplants) would’ve tuned in/logged on/open up and paid attention to those stories.

Crosby winning, with his injury, and now a little bit of “controversy” gives ESPN something to talk about that’ll actually hold their viewers’ interest for more than 30 seconds. I mean, be honest with me, when you’re watching SportsCenter or whatever show, and they say something about LeBron or Kobe doing something or other, you probably stick around to watch it, even if you’re don’t like the NBA all that much, right? I know I do. Even if it’s because I hate them!

The Wings have been so good for so long, both pre- and post-lockout, that there’s nothing left there. It’s just boring now. It’s not even easy to hate the Wings. You can’t call them the Yankees of hockey any more thanks to the best post-lockout record (in both the regular and post-seasons). You can’t call them classless—all the Ilitch family does is class, from the way they treat the Wings’ players, to the way they help the community.

That story is old if you’re not a part of it or a fan of it. So, yeah, I get what this guy’s saying.

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 06/15/09 at 11:51 AM ET

Oh, I don’t doubt that from an objective outsider standpoint it is a better story, Nathan - I just question that the NHL has any clue how to actually use the story.  If all they are going to do is point out, “Look!  It’s the Stanley Cup!  And Sidney Crosby is Canadian!  Like from almost the United States ... same language and everything!” and trust that magically fans will emerge ... I don’t see that as a winning strategy.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/15/09 at 12:00 PM ET

Some of us couldn’t get out of work..so here I am, stuck with you commoners.
How does impoverished inner city tie in to yearly Detroit morons trying to burn their city down?? I said nothing about inner city, the auto industry.
Are you Kris Draper?? WAAAAAAAA!!!!!!
Very classless.. from your baby owner, refusing to shake hands like a man to your obnoxious fans booing Sid as he was injured and booing the Pens as they were given the Cup.
Get over yourselves.

Posted by Pensin6 on 06/15/09 at 02:02 PM ET

from your baby owner, refusing to shake hands like a man

As opposed to your classy captain?

Posted by Garth on 06/15/09 at 02:47 PM ET

How simple are you Garth, really?? Sid didn’t REFUSE to shake hands. He wasn’t aware that the hand shaking was going on right away. PIzza Boy blew off Bettman. That’s two different things all together. Have someone else draw you a picture if you still can’t grasp that concept.
Your picking apart of everything Crosby does is baffling. How much some of you are that jealous of a 21 year old kid is amazing.

Posted by Pensin6 on 06/16/09 at 07:39 AM ET

What have I picked apart?  The kid “forgot” to shake hands.  The so-called leader of the team forgot to shake hands, while EVERY OTHER PLAYER remembered to be good sports and shake hands.

It’s not like this is the first time Crosby has ever won a game.  When you grow up playing, as a kid, you shake hands after every game.  When you get older, you shake hands when you eliminate a team from the playoffs, and when you win the Stanley Cup (or lose it, like he did last year) YOU SHAKE HANDS.

He wasn’t aware of the handshake taking place?  Right.

And yes, there’s a difference between not shaking your opponent’s hand, and not shaking the hand of a man you have no respect for.

BOTH are disrespectful.  Not just one, but BOTH.

Get your head out of Sid’s ass long enough to at least recognize that he was wrong.  He made a mistake and was WRONG.

And as for our obnoxious fans booing Crosby, don’t you pretend…for a SINGLE SECOND…that if you had someone on your team lay that kind of hit on Marian Hossa that you wouldn’t be cheering yourself hoarse.

F*cking hypocrite.

Posted by Garth on 06/16/09 at 07:49 AM ET

Could the fans on both sides agree to some sort of compromise and admit there is perhaps some fault on both sides—without calling each other out as classless?  After all, it does take two people to make a handshake. 

Clearly Crosby, a first-timer, got caught up in the moment and arrived there later than he should have.  But he was celebrating with his teammates, not giving a Nyah Nyah to the Wings or hanging out in the stands drinking shots with random fans.  Conversely, one could also say some of the Wings left early—only some, because some Wing hands did get shaken, let’s remember—the ones who were willing to wait about a minute.  The LeBron James comparisons are utterly ludicrous in that respect.

Last year, I’m pretty sure the Penguins went over to the boards and sat down, with some, like Hossa, actually lying down on the ice—all waiting for the Wings to finish celebrating.  The Wings didn’t really do that this year.  But again, I DON’T BLAME them for it. 

I don’t hold it against some of the Wings—who likely did not imagine they would lose and were completely unprepared for how gutwrenching that would feel—for wanting to get the hell out of there any more than I blame Crosby for celebrating 45 seconds longer than he should have.  Both are perfectly understandable human reactions and both should be cut some slack.

Posted by Breakaway on 06/16/09 at 11:10 AM ET

F#cking sore loser… Sid was wrong, Sid should be lashed 40 times for making Datsyuk and Draper cry like little bitches. Had they worried more about the game than the handshake, they MAY have won.
OK,  just to shut you whiners up if we agree (not that it’s true) that Sid slighted the mighty Detroit players….YOU STILL F$CKING LOST!!!! What are you going to whine about next??
That’s the difference. Last year, we accepted that the Pens gave it all and lost. You are like your crusty owner….Elitist whiny bitches…Everyone’s fault but yours.
The Pens pounded your mighty Wings….Took the Cup away from them on their ice, in front of your octopus smelling asses… You’re team is sinking and Anaheim and Chicago are rising.. Your days of being top dog in the West are fading fast.

Posted by Pensin6 on 06/16/09 at 11:13 AM ET

That’s the difference. Last year, we accepted that the Pens gave it all and lost. You are like your crusty owner….Elitist whiny bitches…Everyone’s fault but yours.

Good of you to ignore the topic and bring up something completely unrelated.

Oh, and the Pens pounded my wings?  They won ONE more game and won it by ONE goal.

And who’s challenging our being top team in the West?  The Sharks?  The Ducks?  The Hawks?

I realize I’m not as cool or mature as you, seeing as I didn’t take the time to make a kick-ass ‘Pens Suck’ avatar (with, by the way, a duck standing on a red wing emblem?  WOW), and I didn’t decide to cry like a baby instead of enjoying a victory.

Hey jackass, of COURSE fans of the losing team are going to complain.

It says more about you that you’re being such a sore winner than it does about a fan who’s pissed off that his team lost.

Posted by Garth on 06/16/09 at 11:47 AM ET

Which topic were you referring to?? So much whining going on, it all blurs together after awhile.
Pounded as in physically pounded. Kunitz, Cooke, Orpik knocked the snot out of your D men. Stuart was scared shitless. That’s why he got burned on both goals..Thought he was going to get his head knocked off again.
The losing teams fans are going to complain to a point…but the whining about every little call, hand shakes, where Sid lives…You people think Detroit fans are the class of the league.. The league is starting to see it ‘s quite the opposite.
Thank you for pointing out that I’m much cooler than you. That was painfully obvious though.
Just think next week you get to whine and cry about how the other teams were mean and picked the players that Detroit wanted to draft.. and soon you get to resign Nossa ....and then Lions training camp….The fun is just beginning in Detroit!!!!!!

Posted by Pensin6 on 06/16/09 at 02:07 PM ET

Well first off, I don’t live anywhere near Detroit, and I couldn’t give a shit about the Lions.

Secondly, you think you’re crafty and that your doubletalk will mask the fact that you have NO response to the fact that Sidney was classless and disrespectful, somerthing that NO other teammate on Pittsburgh was.

Knocked the shit out of our d-men? 

Stuart was afraid of getting his head knocked off again?  Sorry, when was the first time?  Only guy who came close to getting his head knocked off was when Helm was crosschecked in the neck when he didn’t have the puck, and he still came back one shift later and knocked the shit out of every jersey with a bird on it.  He didn’t leave the game and sit on the bench for the remainder of it.

How about when our workhorse knocked the shit out of your captain and you cried because Detroit fans were happy about it?  Franzen simply made Sid even more ineffective than Zetterberg already made him for six previous games (with Sid’s stick buried in his mid-section and neck for half the time).

Captains are supposed to lead aren’t they?  Not disappear into thin air when the pressure’s on.

Sore knee?  Poor baby.  Lidstrom had his nut operated on and he was more effective that Sid was BEFORE he got clobbered by Mule.

Posted by Garth on 06/16/09 at 02:39 PM ET

Umm..how about in Game 7 when Cooke sent Datsyuk reeling? Helmet went flying. I thought his ugly head was in it.
Speaking of ineffective, I’m glad you brought Franzen’s name up. You say Sid had one goal in the finals. Datsyuk had one goal in the entire PLAYOFFS.
Funny but I haven’t heard one mumble or whisper about Sid’s lack of leadership from his teammates. Guerin wants to come back. Would he come back if he didn’t respect the captain? Hmm, no.
Yes knocked the shit out of your d-men. You are dumber than I thought if you didn’t see Cooke and Kunitz pounding Lidstrom, Rafalski and Stuart. The NBC and Versus guys talked about that a good bit. Of course they weren’t praising the Octopus boys so you must have chosen to ignore it.
Keep sticking your head in the sand…When you come up for air…..THE CUP WILL STILL BE OURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Pensin6 on 06/16/09 at 05:03 PM ET

We’re probably going to hear suggestions the Pittsburgh Penguins defeating the Detroit Red Wings in the 2009 Stanley Cup Final means the Wings are now a team in decline.

Don’t believe that for a minute.

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg - the two best two-way forwards in the game - are 29 and 27 respectively. Energetic forward Dan Cleary is 29. Emerging scorer Johan Franzen is 28. Blueline stalwarts Brad Stuart and Niklas Kronwall are 28 and 27. Valtteri Filpulla is 24. All are signed well beyond next season.

Up-and-comers Jonathan Ericsson, Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader and Ville Leino are in their early twenties and either on affordable contracts or will be starting next season.

Greybeards Nicklas Lidstrom (38), Brian Rafalski (34) and Chris Osgood (35) still have plenty of quality hockey left in them for the foreseeable future.

Given how well this team drafts and develops talent, rest assured there will be more future Red Wings stars whose names we aren’t yet aware of coming up through their system in the coming years.

The Red Wings haven’t been among the NHL’s best teams for over 15 years merely via fluke or luck, folks, and it would be foolhardy to suggest they’re heading into the twilight because they lost this year’s Cup Final.

This is a team that remains a Cup contender and will be for a long, long time.

Posted by Wings_Fan_In_KC from ...somewhere southwest of The Motor City... on 06/16/09 at 11:46 PM ET