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Habs Victories Mean the NHL Should Add More Playoff Teams and Start the Post-Season in January

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

It has been quite a run for the Montreal Canadiens.

First, the eighth-seeded Habs took out the No. 1-seeded Washington Capitals and then on Wednesday night, they eliminated the No. 4-seeded and defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Canadiens are living proof of two things: (1) the 82-game regular season means nothing just so long as you’re one of the 16 teams that makes the playoffs and (2) the NHL has absolute parity now and when a team with 88 points takes out a team with 121 points and then a team with 101 points, then a team with 80 points could do the same.

Wednesday night in Pittsburgh – remember, the Habs have won two series against alleged superior talent and they won both series without home-ice advantage – the Habs built a 4-0 lead and held on to win 5-2 as Jaroslav Halak made 37 saves.

The Habs got a couple of points each from Brian Gionta and Mike Cammalleri and held Sidney Crosby pointless for the fourth time in the series as Montreal pulled off what many people believe was a “monumental” upset.

But it wasn’t. Not really. The competitive level of the NHL has never been closer than it is right now and anyone who thinks he or she can predict winners on a regular basis in this loop is delusional. Granted, it’s ultimately about goaltending and clearly Halak was better in this series than Marc-Andre Fleury, but let’s not short change the play of people such as Gionta, Cammelleri, Scott Gomez, Thomas Plekanec and Dominic Moore.

The Habs got great goaltending – yes – but they also outskated and outchecked the Penguins for much of the series and that’s why they’ll move on to play the winner of the Philadelphia-Boston series in the Eastern final.

Listen, Montreal, accomplished what no team has accomplished since the current playoff format was created in 1994: They not only beat the Presidents’ Trophy winner (Washington), but also the defending Stanley Cup champion (Pittsburgh) in back-to-back series as an eighth-seeded team (OK, I know that sounds like, “scored more goals on Tuesday nights against Francophone or Russian goaltenders in cities that end with ‘n’ or ‘h’,” but you get it).

However, what they really did was prove that anybody can beat anybody in the playoffs and that’s why, as my friend Les Jackson of the Dallas Stars has suggested, more teams should be in the post-season than the current 16.

If Philadelphia comes all the way back to beat Boston in the other Eastern semi-final, it means that the Eastern final will involve the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds. It also means that the long, tedious regular season was a complete waste of effort and has no real credibility.

The NHL would be better off (and significantly better off financially) if it played a 40-game regular season and then, in January, put all 30 teams in the playoffs and started off with a bunch of best-of-15 series. There is nothing more boring or meaningless than an NHL regular-season game in October (or, more stupidly expensive, for that matter) while there is nothing more exciting than a Game 7 in May.

The Montreal Canadiens have just proven that all you need to do is change the dates.

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Crosby, Brodeur lead the way: Camp Invitees Named for 2010 Canadian Men’s Olympic Hockey Team

Posted on July 2, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

I love this list. I would add a couple of names here and there, especially an indigenous Canadian such as Jonathan Cheechoo or Wade Redden, but for the most part, the players named to the tryout camp should give the coaching staff a chance to pick a 2010 Team Canada that has a chance to win.

I would liked to have seen Vancouver’s Kevin Bieksa invited as a defenceman, but I’ll have no problem with the final lineup.

Up front, I can’t believe Dany Heatley is on the list after the stunt he’s pulled with Ottawa and Edmonton this week. There is a real integrity and character problem there. If Hockey Canada was going to take an Ottawa Senator, I really can’t believe they took Heatley ahead of Jason Spezza. At least Spezza’s a decent human being who doesn’t hurt others around him. Steven Stamkos should probably be on the list and if you’re going to take Dan Cleary, how about Darren Helm? Of course, the list has to stop at some point.

Chris Osgood should also be on the list. Fleury? Mason? Osgood? I’ll take Osgood every time. However, I still believe Brodeur and Luongo should be the Top 2 goaltenders anyway.

Here’s the list of invitees to the 2010 Men’s Olympic Hockey Team. Team Canada’s camp goes Aug. 24-27 at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary:

Only five of the 16 defencemen invited have Olympic experience: Jay Bouwmeester (Calgary Flames), Dan Boyle (San Jose Sharks), Scott Niedermayer (Anaheim Ducks),  Chris Pronger (Philadelphia Flyers), and Robyn Regehr (Calgary Flames). Rounding out the list of D-men are: Dion Phaneuf (Calgary Flames), Marc Staal (New York Rangers), Shea Weber (Nashville Predators), François Beauchemin (Anaheim Ducks), Brent Burns (Minnesota Wild), Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings), Stéphane Robidas (Dallas Stars), Mike Green (Washington Capitals), Dan Hamhuis (Nashville Predators), and the Chicago Blackhawks pairing of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook.

Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby heads up the list of forwards. The list of 25 has 11 from the 2006 Olympic team roster, including Shane Doan (Phoenix Coyotes), Simon Gagné (Philadelphia Flyers), Dany Heatley (Ottawa Senators), Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames), Rick Nash (Columbusn Blue Jackets), Joe Sakic (Colorado Avalanche), Martin St-Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning), Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes), Joe Thornton (San Jose Sharks), Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Ryan Smyth (Colorado Avalanche). The rest of the list includes Jeff Carter (Philadelphia Flyers), Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks), Milan Lucic (Boston Bruins), Patrick Marleau (San Jose Sharks), Andy McDonald (St. Louis Blues), Brenden Morrow (Dallas Stars), Corey Perry (Anaheim Ducks) Michael Richards (Philadelphia Flyers), Derek Roy (Buffalo Sabres), Patrick Sharp (Chicago Blackhawks), Jordan Staal (Thunder Bay, Ont./Pittsburgh, NHL) Jonathan Toews (Winnipeg, Man./Chicago, NHL) and Dan Cleary (Detroit Red Wings).

The list of five goalies includes three-time Olympian Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils), 2006 Olympian Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks), Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-André Fleury, Steve Mason (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Cam Ward (Carolina Hurricanes).

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Red Wings Lose, Balsillie and Real Hockey Fans Lose More

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

DETROIT — The Pittsburgh Penguins might have shocked the Detroit Red Wings, but they didn’t shock themselves.

Last Friday night at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena, the Penguins got a pair of goals from Maxime Talbot and a great goaltending performance from Marc-Andre Fleury en route to a 2-1 victory over the Red Wings in Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup final.

With the win, Sidney Crosby got his first Stanley Cup and the Penguins avenged last year’s six-game loss to the Wings in the final. It’s unlikely anyone in hockey — except for the true Penguins believers and all those folks who hate the Red Wings for being winners — expected Pittsburgh to win four of the last five games of the series to claim the Cup.

“Dream come true. It’s everything you work for,” said Crosby, the youngest captain ever to win a Cup and a young man who was also criticized by the Red Wings for not shaking hands with Wings captain Nick Lidstrom after the game. “It just feels so good. This is exactly how you picture it, what you play for.”

It was only the 14th Game 7 in Stanley Cup finals history, although it was the fifth Game 7 of this decade. It was also the first time a road team had won a Game 7 since the Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Blackhawks in 1971.

This year’s final was sensational, perhaps one of the best Cup finals in more than two decades. It was an amazing comeback by the Penguins, who trailed 2-0 in the series and came back to win four of the last five games.

Evgeni Malkin, who was the NHL’s leading scorer in the regular season and in the playoffs was named playoff MVP, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy.

“For us, it was a different guy every night,” Crosby said. “That save that Marc (-Andre Fleury) made with one second left, he’s done that a number of times in the series.”

Crosby was referring to Fleury’s desperation save on Lidstrom in the dying seconds that preserved the Penguins victory.

Meanwhile, for winning coach Dan Bylsma, a former draft pick of the  Winnipeg Jets, the victorty was almost hard to believe.

“Life’s a bugger,” Bylsma said during his post-game press conference. “I had dreams about this day. I hoped this would happen someday, but good coaches have coached a long time and never gotten an opportunity like this. A lot of times, your first opportunity doesn’t come with a team that’s this talented or this group of players. I’m very fortunate in that regard.”

While most hockey fans were pleased with the outcome of the Stanley Cup final, not many were happy with Judge Redfield T. Baum’s decision to block Jim Balsillie’s attempt to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and move them to Hamilton.

In a 21-page document Baum wrote that the court didn’t feel there was enough time to resolve all the issues before the offer for purchase of the insolvent team to Balsillie (for a hefty $212.5 million) closed on June 29.

The question now is: Who IS going to pay for the disaster that is the Phoenix Coyotes. The league says it will find an owner. It also claims the reason for the financial demise of the Coyotes was rotten ownership and bad management, meaning NHL commissioner Gary Bettman believes owner Jerry Moyes is nothing more than a bank, Wayne Gretzky is a buffoon and Doug Moss is an idiot.

I wonder if Bettman has the stones to say that to their faces?

Regardless, Bettman loves to say he saved the Pittsburgh Penguins and can do the same with the Coyotes. Great! So is he going to demand that the Penguins give Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury to the Coyotes? Because if you understand anything about hockey — or North American sport, for that matter — the only way you can turn shit into Shinola is if you give a city a winner.

Pittsburgh, when it was in trouble, was able to draft some of the best players ever to play the game. Unless Phoenix can use that sixth pick this year to come up with the next Gretzky (player Gretzky, not coach Gretkzy), Bettman won’t be able to save anything. After all, the Coyotes already have a new arena.

Hockey is dead in Phoenix and Gary Bettman along with his hand-picked new owner won’t bring it back to life.

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Helm gets Red Wings to within Four Games of Back-to-Back Stanley Cup Crowns.

Posted on May 28, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Thanks to a kid from tiny St. Andrews, Man., the Detroit Red Wings have advanced to the Stanley Cup final to face the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second straight year.

Wednesday night in Detroit, the Wings ended the Cinderella playoff run of the young Chicago Blackhawks with a 2-1 overtime victory as Darren Helm was the hero. Helm scored the game winner at 3:58 of overtime as the Western Conference champs are now just four wins away from their second straight Stanley Cup. The final starts Saturday night in Detroit.

Amazingly, Helm became the first player in history to score his first five NHL goals in the playoffs. He still hasn’t scored a regular-season goal. He breaks the record of another Manitoban, Winnipegger Eddie (Spider) Mazur who scored his first four NHL goals in the playoffs with the Montreal Canadiens in the 1950s.

Here’s our look at the upcoming Stanley Cup final:

Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings (No. 2 seed in the West) vs. Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins (No. 4 seed in the East):

The Red Wings are clearly the favourites, and for good reason. They just won the Western Conference title without Hart Trophy (MVP) finalist Pavel Datsyuk and Norris Trophy finalist (Top Defenceman) Nicklas Lidstrom is the lineup for the final two games of the Western Conference final.

However, when the Wings beat the Penguins in five games in last year’s final, the Pens’ top scorer Evgeni Malkin was injured and now, with a healthy Malkin, the Pens disposed of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern final in four straight games. Meanwhile, Malkin was not only the leading scorer in the regular season this year, but is currently tied with teammate Sidney Crosby for the scoring lead in the playoffs.

But here is why I like the Wings to repeat: Youth, experience and speed. Granted, with the addition of Bill Guerin, the Penguins have those elements, but Detroit just might have one of the great teams in NHL history. Almost every member of the Wings already has a Stanley Cup ring with two exceptions: off-season acquisitions Marian Hossa and Ty Conklin, who both played in Pittsburgh last year. I also like Detroit’s goaltending. Chris Osgood will outplay Marc-Andre Fleury when it counts.

The Wings and Pens split the season series 1-1. Detroit won 3-0 in Pittsburgh on NBC, on Feb. 8 while Pittsburgh won 7-6 in overtime way back on Nov. 11 in Detroit as Jordan Staal had a hat-trick. No team has repeated as Stanley Cup champions since, you guessed it, the Red Wings in 1997 and 1998. And that’s why I like the Red Wings in six games.

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Wings win the Cup. Game 6: Detroit 3 Pittsburgh 2.

Posted on June 4, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

OK, so we called it. Big deal. Nothing could have been easier.

 

The Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup in six games with a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Mellon Arena last night.

 

What more can you say, really? The Wings are the best team in the National Hockey League. Period. They won the President’s Trophy and were the best team all year and Wednesday night, despite a late goal on a power-play (the result of another phantom call by two officials who must have had a wager on the game), they won the Cup on the road by outshooting the Penguins 30-22 and by getting a timely (OK, cheap) winning goal from the great Henrik Zetterberg. 

Still, this one was a no doubter. Zetterberg was a wonderful choice as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner and it was great to see old Dallas Drake get his first Stanley Cup after 16 years in the game.

Congratulations, as well, to Darren Helm and Derek Meech, the two Manitobans who contributed to Detroit’s fourth Cup in 11 years.

Granted, Pittsburgh was full marks for taking this series six games. After all, with a defence that includes Brooks Orpik, Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill, it was amazing that they had the bullets to win the Eastern Conference championship. Heck, young Meech, the eighth defenceman in Detroit, would be the fourth D-man in Pittsburgh.

Detroit was clearly the better team. They forechecked better, they skated better and they created more chances to win. They were tougher in the neutral zone, broke out quicker and beat a brilliant Marc-Andre Fleury enough times to win another title.

They even won that title with shaky ol’ Chris Osgood in net. Good on ‘em

Now, watch out for Pittsburgh. If they improve their defensive unit, they’ll start winning Stanley Cups, and they’ll win them for a long, long time. 

But mark my words. They won’t win any at all until that defence gets better.

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Talking points: Prevent defence. It doesn’t work in football and it sure doesn’t work in hockey.

Posted on June 3, 2008 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

After thinking about Pittsburgh’s 4-3 triple-overtime victory over Detroit in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup, here are five talking points to discuss amongst yourselves…

 

1. Assuming that the NHL really wanted a Game 6 on NBC this week, was there some kind of conspiracy to change the way the game was officiated in overtime so that phantom goaltender interference penalties (and not dives) would be called just to give the Penguins a couple of OT power-plays? My answer is no, simply because I have never been given any evidence that the NHL is smart enough to concoct a conspiracy (see the report on ticket revenue in the Toronto Star).

 

2. Marc-Andre Fleury doesn’t get enough credit. On Monday night, the shots were 58-32 in favour of Detroit. The Red Wings dominated the game. Still, Pittsburgh won. On 92-CITI-FM on Monday morning, Joe and I asked fans to suggest a Conn Smythe Trophy winner. The overwhelming number of respondents chose Detroit goalie Chris Osgood. That suggests to me that most people who phone radio stations haven’t been watching the Stanley Cup final.

 

3. Sidney Crosby is as good as the hype.

 

4. If you get a four-minute power-play in overtime, you should win the game. But the game never should have reached overtime.

 

5. I have a theory. It goes like this: I’d make a horrible football owner because I’d write into my coach’s contract that the moment he went into “prevent defence,” I could fire him on the spot and replace him with myself. Crazy? I don’t think so. That’s because, I believe that after you’ve beaten the crap out of a team for 59 minutes, why fall back into a defensive shell, in fear of what they might do to you? Sorry, coach, but you keep kicking the crap out of them until they curl up into the fetal position and yell “Momma!!!” Detroit gave us the hockey equivalent of prevent defence on Monday and as a result the Wings blew a 3-2 lead in the dying seconds and lost in overtime (and might have lost the Cup, as a result). Playing any sport scared is an invitation to the other team to come and beat the bee-jeezus out of you. No matter what happened in overtime on Monday night, Detroit lost Game 5 in the final 10 minutes of regulation. 

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Penguins get breaks and better goaltending. Game 5: Pittsburgh 4 Detroit 3 (3 OT).

Posted on June 2, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

Nothing better than three power plays (the last one potentially four minutes long) in overtime. Eventually you’ll win.

 

That’s what made the difference for the Pittsburgh Penguins late last night and, with the Pens 4-3 triple overtime victory over a Red Wings team that outshot them 58-32, we’ll get more hockey this week. That’s not a bad thing.

 

So, let me digest “the best thing that ever happened to the NHL” — and I say that with all the sincerity of a gambler facing an opponent who knows the cards are marked — before making a final assessment on Tuesday morning.

 

In the meantime, throw all this into a blender and turn it on: Marc-Andre Fleury was magnificent and Chris Osgood was not. The Wings decision to play prevent defence with a 3-2 lead in the final 10 minutes of regulation time was disastrous. Toss in a couple of phantom goaltender interference calls in OT and an overtime decision by the officials to make hitting-from-behind legal again. And always remember that the league really, really, really needed at least one more game on NBC. Smell that…it has the odour of a PIttsburgh win. 

 

We’ll digest that cocktail and hook up tomorrow. I’m on the radio in less than six hours.

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Penguins get breaks and better goaltending. Game 5: Pittsburgh 4 Detroit 3 (3 OT).

Posted on June 2, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

Nothing better than three power plays (the last one potentially four minutes long) in overtime. Eventually you’ll win.

 

That’s what made the difference for the Pittsburgh Penguins late last night and, with the Pens 4-3 triple overtime victory over a Red Wings team that outshot them 57-28, we’ll get more hockey this week. That’s not a bad thing.

 

So, let me digest “the best thing that ever happened to the NHL” — and I say that with all the sincerity of a gambler facing an opponent who knows the cards are marked — before making a final assessment on Tuesday morning.

 

In the meantime, throw all this into a blender and turn it on: Marc-Andre Fleury was magnificent and Chris Osgood was not. The Wings decision to play prevent defence with a 3-2 lead in the final 10 minutes of regulation time was disastrous. Toss in a couple of phantom goaltender interference calls in OT and an overtime decision by the officials to make hitting-from-behind legal again. And always remember that the league really, really, really needed at least one more game on NBC. Smell that…it has the odour of a PIttsburgh win. 

 

We’ll digest that cocktail and hook up tomorrow. I’m on the radio in less than six hours.

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Despite the officials’ odd calls and the media’s cheers, Wings on the verge of Stanley Cup. Game 4: Detroit 2, Pittsburgh 1.

Posted on June 1, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

Congratulations to referees Mark Joannette and Brad Watson. It was apparent from the opening faceoff that if Joannette and Watson could get the Pittsburgh Penguins enough power play opportunities, the Pens could win Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final and send the series back to Detroit all even at 2-2.

 

So Joannette and Watson did their jobs. Dallas Drake, Brian Rafalski, Kris Draper, Brett Lebda and Johan Franzen were all sent to the penalty box in the first period. Sure, their infractions were penalties — well, sort of — but the fact that most of the stuff was going both ways didn’t have any effect on the officials’ inexorable march toward complete homerism.

 

Sadly — what happens in these situations as often as as not — the Pens didn’t co-operate. Even though only three Penguins were penalized (gotta make it look good, right?), the game was still tied 1-1 after 20 minutes. Sure, Pittsburgh got that big power-play goal to open the scoring, but somehow, at even strength, Nicklas Lidstrom tied it. Damn that even strength.

 

Now, let’s be fair, the officials certainly couldn’t be criticized. After all, they bought into the media hype. They bought into the league’s apparent delight in having Pittsburgh tie up the series (a delight created by the mainstream media). They even bought into hockey’s latest myth — which is Gary Roberts according to Don Cherry. Heck, Joannette and Watson even gave the Penguins a two-man advantage for a minute and 26 seconds in the third period!. That’s unheard of in a Stanley Cup playoff game. 

 

Didn’t matter. The Red Wings were just too good. Detroit won Game 4, 2-1 on Saturday night. Despite fewer power-plays and NO two-man advantages, the Wings outshot Pittsburgh 30-23 and even outhit the bigger, younger Pens 35-33.

 

Even though Detroit had eight minor penalties to Pittsburgh’s five in the first, even though the Pens had a long two-man advantage in the third, it didn’t matter. Even on the other guy’s ice, the Red Wings were just too good.

 

The Pens had everything going for them on Saturday: Home ice advantage, a place where they’d won nine straight in the playoffs; an international mainstream media that was virtually leading their cheers; a coach who had been given hours of meeting time with the NHL’s brass so he could whine about obstruction calls; more power play opportunities (6-3); and even Sidney Crosby (the NHL’s real “latest myth”).

 

And still they couldn’t outplay a President’s Trophy-winning Red Wings team that is destined to win the Cup. 

 

Again, I couldn’t care less who wins this thing (Detroit? Pittsburgh? Doesn’t affect my life), but after awhile, this media cheerleading for the Penguins has become annoying. C’mon guys. 

 

In Game 3, Marc-Andre Fleury was spectacular and Crosby was out there almost by himself. No question, those were brilliant performances. 

 

But in every other aspect of Game 3, Detroit was clearly the better team. There was really no reason to believe that Pittsburgh was suddenly going to get back in the series. Crosby got away from Draper et al and scored twice and Fleury stood on his head, but that was it. Evgeni Malkin was invisible (again). The Pittsburgh defence was confused. This “awesome” forecheck and “fearsome” hitting (the media’s words) got them a meagre 24 shots and they were barely in the game in the third period.

 

Saturday night, despite every reason to believe the Penguins had been handed a playoff game on a platter by two officials who really got caught up in the hype, Pittsburgh fell at home. Now, in four playoff games, Detroit has outshot the Penguins 134-88 (36-19, 34-22, 34-24, 30-23).

 

Everybody likes a good story and the Pittsburgh Penguins are a good story. But if you like a good (great?) hockey team, the Detroit Red Wings proved how good they were despite all odds on Saturday night. 

 

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Penguins alive. Game 3: Pittsburgh 3 Detroit 2.

Posted on May 28, 2008 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

That’s why we watch hockey. That’s what those folks who don’t love the game miss when they choose to watch the Pistons and Celtics play the American version of European Team Handball. (How many steps is Kevin Garnett allowed going to the basket? Eight?)

 

But who really cares about basketball? Nothing on earth is better than great hockey. Up and down. Big hits. Tape-to-tape passes. Outstanding chances. Terrific goaltending (at least, at one end).

 

Oh yeah, and how about the superstar factor? Sidney Crosby scores the first two goals of the game. Nice. 

 

When the final score in a game in the Stanley Cup final is 3-2, it’s hard to find fault. Although if Detroit fans want to blame somebody, they could probably get away with blaming Chris Osgood.

 

The winning goal was a deflection from behind the net off Osgood’s back by Adam Hall, a guy who wouldn’t be considered a big goal scorer. At the other end, Marc-Andre Fleury showed us why he’s now 9-0 in the playoffs at Mellon Arena.

 

The only criticism I had of the entire evening was the chicken-livered penalty calls early in the game. It’s silly, you know. In the first two periods, players can hardly breathe on each other. There were seven penalty calls in the first two periods and one in the third. The early penalties were all cheap. In the third period, everything — including hitting from behind — became legal. No wonder Americans don’t understand the rules and no wonder it’s difficult to grow new fans. If you actually try to understand the rules of this game you’ll never get it. Canadians who have lived with it all their lives know the entire sport is completely different in the third period of a playoff game.

 

Thank the lord for that.

 

The final period last night was spectacular and while Don Cherry really wanted to make Gary Roberts the hero, ol’ Don wasn’t even close. The hero was Fleury.

 

Detroit outshot Pittsburgh 34-24 and, by my count, outchanced the Pens 26-6. The Wings also outhit Pittsburgh 34-31 — only two Wings didn’t register a hit. 

 

Let’s not lie, here. The Red Wings dominated this game in every aspect but one. That’s right. Fleury was much better than Osgood. 

 

But hey, the goalie is part of the team and in hockey, a goalie can win you a championship. Detroit’s skaters might have been better, but Marc-Andre Fleury was spectacular and while it’s unlikely Pittsburgh will win three of the next four games, it’s not impossible.

 

A great goalie can pull it off and this Saturday night, Marc-Andre Fleury gets another chance. 

 

One can only hope Saturday’s Game4 will be as good as Wednesday’s Game 3. 

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