Big Red Machine Rolls over Ducks

What a game! It was everything you want a Game 7 to be. I admit, it was a little too close for comfort toward the end but the Red Wings prevailed and were able to push back a very good Ducks team. As usual, Henrik Zetterberg was nothing short of a giant on the ice when it mattered the most. Pavel Datsyuk, who's been a no show up until Game 7, worked hard, and, altough he didn't score, he did contribute a lot more than he did earlier on in the series.

Except for the fans down in Disneyland, I think pretty much everyone else was hoping for a Detroit - Chicago Conference Final. It really has the making of a classic. Now, there will be at least one original six team in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Should the Bruins win Game 7, it will be the first time since 1978-79, when Montreal beat the Rangers 4-1, that two original six teams meet in the final.

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This Year's Mule

We're into the second round of the playoffs and I am trying to see some early, or semi-early, signs of a playoff winner. Almost without any exceptions, a Stanley Cup winner will include one or more players who will rise well above their normal game providing that neccesary push on the way to cup fame.

This year, several contenders show no signs of this, including Detroit, Boston, and Pittsburgh.

Sure, Sidney Crosby leads all skaters in goals after his hat trick last night against Washington, but that's him playing on his normal level. Had it been Maxim Talbot or Petr Sykora scoring eight or nine tallies with Crosby and Malkin producing at their normal rate, it would have been a different ball game. But the supporting cast in Pittsburgh is not up to snuff and that's why they are being beaten by the Caps.

Last year, the Mule, or Johan Franzen as he is also known, was the the talk of the town. His scoring frenzy was a major factor the Red Wings went all the way. This year, there is no one, at least not yet. Detroit, however, have more problems than their secondary scoring. Their best players, Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Hossa haven't been their best players so far, and they really need to be.

For Boston, Tim Thomas has been great, but then again, he was all season long. The Bruins as a team are about even with Carolina and Thomas is matched by Cam Ward, who seems to be back in his 2006 form, which is a sign as good as any.

For the teams that do have players who have stepped up, those players have all been goalies. Jonas Hiller is turning in one solid performance after another, the last included turning away no less than 59 shots against the Wings.

Semyon Varlamov (he says he will change the spelling of his name to this because no one can get it right anyway) has people talking about Ken Dryden's breakthrough playoffs and that pretty much says it all.

So what about Vancouver and Chicago? Well, there are no real standouts in either of these two teams. It remains to be seen who will take the chance and seize the oppurtunity. One interesting fact is that the Canucks (1994) and the Blackhawks (1992) have waited almost as many years to revisit the Stanley Cup Finals. Also, Vancouver is the only team still in the playoffs without any previous cup winners on the roster. The Hawks have three.

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