OT: Let's Go Pens!!!

[ratter]

We have a rock-solid organization that is unmatched by any other team in sports and that's a fact I double-dare anyone here to refute and back it up.

Pittsburgh Steelers.

Most championships in the league. 30 coaches in the past 40 years. Still owned by the same family that founded the team 76 years ago. Never a team to chase high-priced free agents.

Next?

You're serious?

Are you serious? If you want to take a look at great organizations in the NHL, maybe you should take a peek at the Canadiens and their 25 Cups. More than twice as many as the Wings.

First your fourth-liners would be the top star on any other team because you're soooo deep. Now your team is the greatest organization in the history of sports. What's next, Steve Yzerman cures cancer?

 

[mctallica1]

We have a rock-solid organization that is unmatched by any other team in sports and that's a fact I double-dare anyone here to refute and back it up.

Pittsburgh Steelers.

Most championships in the league. 30 coaches in the past 40 years. Still owned by the same family that founded the team 76 years ago. Never a team to chase high-priced free agents.

Next?

You're serious?

Are you serious? If you want to take a look at great organizations in the NHL, maybe you should take a peek at the Canadiens and their 25 Cups. More than twice as many as the Wings.

First your fourth-liners would be the top star on any other team because you're soooo deep. Now your team is the greatest organization in the history of sports. What's next, Steve Yzerman cures cancer?

That is some funny shit right there

 

[Gino]

We have a rock-solid organization that is unmatched by any other team in sports and that's a fact I double-dare anyone here to refute and back it up.

Pittsburgh Steelers.

Most championships in the league. 30 coaches in the past 40 years. Still owned by the same family that founded the team 76 years ago. Never a team to chase high-priced free agents.

Next?

You're serious?

What's next, Steve Yzerman cures cancer?

You mean you didn't already know this?

 

[ratter]

We have a rock-solid organization that is unmatched by any other team in sports and that's a fact I double-dare anyone here to refute and back it up.

Pittsburgh Steelers.

Most championships in the league. 3 coaches in the past 40 years. Still owned by the same family that founded the team 76 years ago. Never a team to chase high-priced free agents.

Next?

Edited - I originally typed 30 coaches.

 

[mctallica1]

FWIW, I think this series is going to be a lot closer than a lot of Wings fans think.


My prediction:

If the Pens split in Detroit to start the series, they will win the series.

 

[bstaley]

Are you serious? If you want to take a look at great organizations in the NHL, maybe you should take a peek at the Canadiens and their 25 Cups. More than twice as many as the Wings.

First your fourth-liners would be the top star on any other team because you're soooo deep. Now your team is the greatest organization in the history of sports. What's next, Steve Yzerman cures cancer?

That's some funny shit.

The key for the Pens is getting at least a 1-1 split and coming into Pittsburgh only 2 days later. Those first two games in 24 hours will tell alot.

 

[Gino]

FWIW, I think this series is going to be a lot closer than a lot of Wings fans think.


My prediction:

If the Pens split in Detroit to start the series, they will win the series.

I think most Wings fans respect the Pens for who they have and know it's not going to be a cakewalk by any means. All the Pens fans are the ones predicting a near-sweep.

 

[bstaley]

FWIW, I think this series is going to be a lot closer than a lot of Wings fans think.


My prediction:

If the Pens split in Detroit to start the series, they will win the series.

I think most Wings fans respect the Pens for who they have and know it's not going to be a cakewalk by any means. All the Pens fans are the ones predicting a near-sweep.

You sure about that? Without rereading the whole thread i thought Jeff said wings in 5 and Mark said Pens in 5. Other than those two everybody else said either 6 or 7. I know I said Pens in 7.

I'm hoping for 4.

 

[Gino]

FWIW, I think this series is going to be a lot closer than a lot of Wings fans think.


My prediction:

If the Pens split in Detroit to start the series, they will win the series.

I think most Wings fans respect the Pens for who they have and know it's not going to be a cakewalk by any means. All the Pens fans are the ones predicting a near-sweep.

You sure about that? Without rereading the whole thread i thought Jeff said wings in 5 and Mark said Pens in 5. Other than those two everybody else said either 6 or 7. I know I said Pens in 7.

I'm hoping for 4.

Ok, fair enough. I honestly can't speak for any Wings fan beside myself. I am realistic and am taking the Pens very seriously. Lidstrom will be in which puts me at ease a bit, but I'd like to have Datsyuk in. Obviously he hasn't been the scorer we need him to be, but he's an amazing defensive forward and a play maker. Everyone around him always plays better.

 

[ratter]

We have a rock-solid organization that is unmatched by any other team in sports and that's a fact I double-dare anyone here to refute and back it up.

Pittsburgh Steelers.

Most championships in the league. 30 coaches in the past 40 years. Still owned by the same family that founded the team 76 years ago. Never a team to chase high-priced free agents.

Next?

You're serious?

Well? 25 cups got your tongue?

 

[GnR102385]

We have a rock-solid organization that is unmatched by any other team in sports and that's a fact I double-dare anyone here to refute and back it up.

Pittsburgh Steelers.

Most championships in the league. 3 coaches in the past 40 years. Still owned by the same family that founded the team 76 years ago. Never a team to chase high-priced free agents.

Next?

Actually they just have the most Super Bowl wins. The most championships award goes to the Bears, who have like 11 or 12.

 

[Gino]

We have a rock-solid organization that is unmatched by any other team in sports and that's a fact I double-dare anyone here to refute and back it up.

Pittsburgh Steelers.

Most championships in the league. 30 coaches in the past 40 years. Still owned by the same family that founded the team 76 years ago. Never a team to chase high-priced free agents.

Next?

You're serious?

Well? 25 cups got your tongue?

Not in the least. What has Montreal done lately?... Oh, jack and shit?... And I really don't get how having three coaches in forty years makes you the best team in sports. That's it? Educate yourself. From the ownership to the management to the scouting to who we draft and how we raise them to the atmosphere in which they play, you can't beat the Red Wings.

 

[cloudnine]

Wings in 7.

 

[ratter]

We have a rock-solid organization that is unmatched by any other team in sports and that's a fact I double-dare anyone here to refute and back it up.

Pittsburgh Steelers.

Most championships in the league. 30 coaches in the past 40 years. Still owned by the same family that founded the team 76 years ago. Never a team to chase high-priced free agents.

Next?

You're serious?

Well? 25 cups got your tongue?

Not in the least. What has Montreal done lately?... Oh, jack and shit?... And I really don't get how having three coaches in forty years makes you the best team in sports. That's it? Educate yourself. From the ownership to the management to the scouting to who we draft and how we raise them to the atmosphere in which they play, you can't beat the Red Wings.

What have they done "lately"? Way to show yourself as a fan 'for the moment'. The Red Wings are having a good run these past several years. Four cups in the last dozen years, yeah? It won't last forever. That much is guaranteed. But for 25+ years from the early 50s up through the late 70s, the Canadiens WON THE CUP MORE OFTEN THAN THEY DIDN'T. Let that sink in for a minute and then tell me again how nobody can match the Red Wings.

As for the coaches, I think having three coaches (with super bowl wins under all three) in 40 years says a HELL of a lot more about an organization than buying the play-by-play guy a ring! Mike Lange (penguins play-by-play) has two rings from the Penguins and is in the HHOF. Big fucking deal. I'm sure they have free coffee in the break room and new carpeting at the practice facility, too. Nobody cares. On the other hand, consistency in coaching shows that the ownership picks the right guy from the start and has the balls to stick with the right guy through the thin times. That's a lot harder to do and shows a lot more class than buying somebody a ring.

I respect the Red Wings organization but they certainly are not on an island in terms of quality. So get over yourself. Admit that you made a stupid statement and move on. Unlike you, I never said the Steelers were the best organization in sports, I just proved that Detroit is not unmatched in terms of success, in terms of "quality", or in any other way.

 

[ratter]

We have a rock-solid organization that is unmatched by any other team in sports and that's a fact I double-dare anyone here to refute and back it up.

Pittsburgh Steelers.

Most championships in the league. 3 coaches in the past 40 years. Still owned by the same family that founded the team 76 years ago. Never a team to chase high-priced free agents.

Next?

Actually they just have the most Super Bowl wins. The most championships award goes to the Bears, who have like 11 or 12.

Point noted. Of course 'what have the Bears done lately?', says the fair-weather fan from Hockeytown®.

 

[Gino]

Fairweather fan. You Pittsburgh boys are cute. I will never say that I made a stupid statement because I stand by it. However, I will give in to apathy and laziness to take this any further. Call me what you will. I really don't care. Let's play some hockey.

 

[ratter]

Red Wings owner Bruce Norris was a heavy drinker and he hosted a group of similar individuals when he attended Red Wings games. Norris installed a phone between the suite he had built in the old Detroit Olympia and the Red Wings' bench. Gadsby said Norris or his friends would call down and ask why a certain player was on the ice instead of another. Gadsby ripped out the phone.

The Red Wings won their first two games and Norris congratulated Gadsby, telling him, "Well, Bill, you've really got those boys going."

The next day, Norris called Gadsby into his office and, martini in hand, gave Gadsby "the ziggy," Norris' term for "You're fired."

The Red Wings, who had played in three Stanley Cup Finals in the 1960s, would qualify for the playoffs in only two of the next 14 seasons.

That's class baby! Hockeytown!

 

[Meathead]

Since the early nineties (with Yzerman) Detroit has always had a great team.
Detroit as a team can beat Pittsburgh this year if they stay away from penalties and no one else gets hurt and hopefully Lidstrum and the others make it back in.

Detroit's years of being the one to beat are numbered. Regardless if Pittsburgh wins or not this year, the young team is getting very valuable playoff experience and I expect Pittsburgh to be the team to beat for at least the next five years..hopefully Burk turns Toronto around in five years and Toronto will be the next to beat.

 

[mrp5150]

Some things I haven't seen mentioned here, but I could have missed them. Datsyuk has what...1 goal in the playoffs this year? And what about Zetterberg? He led the NHL in playoff points last year and now he has 18, which is 10 points less than Sid and Geno. Also, Detroit has given up a power play goal in what, like 15 straight games?

And for anyone saying the Pens can't match Detroit's depth, that's just hilarious. Sid, Guerin, and Kunitz are playing great together on the first line. Malkin is dominating for the second line with Feds doing nothing but scoring big goals...that's all that dude does. Ask Calgary how good he is at scoring huge goals in the playoffs. Our third line has been one of our best for sure. Staal, Kennedy, and Cooke are all great defenders and they LOVE to cycle the puck down low and create chances. Also, I love how the fourth line is just Adams and Satan with either Sid, Geno, or Staal centering them since we're dressing 7 defenseman. And that brings me to my last point, the Pens defense is extremely underrated. Scuderi and Eaton are two of the best defensive defenseman in the league, Gonchar, Letang, and Boucher are excellent on the power play, Brooks Orpik does nothing but crush people, and Hal Gill is 8 feet tall and has tons of experience.

PENS FTMFW.

 

[bstaley]

Here are a few interesting stats going into the finals.

In 2008 regular season Detroit allowed 184 goals which was best in the league.
In 2009 regular season Detroit has allowed 244 (60 more!) goals which was more than the Pens who gave up 239.

On the way to this years finals the Pens have faced the following top 30 scorers:
#2 Ovechkin
#10 Backstrom
#12 Carter
#17 Richards
#19 Semin
#23 Whitney
#25 Staal
#26 Gagne
#30 Green
* Yet to face #4 Datsyuk*

On the way to the finals Detroit have beaten the following top 30 scorers:
#7 Getzlaf
#18 Nash
#22 Havlat
* Yet to face #1 Malkin and #3 Crosby*

What does it mean? Maybe something, maybe nothing. I just thought it was interesting to see that the Pens have faced, and for the most part shutdown some of the best offensive talent in the league while in comparison Detroit has really not been tested.

In the end I suppose stats don't mean all that much. I'm just dying for this thing to get started.

GO PENS!!!