Finals Preview

Well, Detroit ended any speculation of a Dallas comeback last night with a convincing 4-1 win. It was 3-0 after the first period, so the game was pretty much put on ice early...terrible pun. Anyway, that set up a pretty sexy Stanley Cup Finals match-up between Detroit and Pittsburgh. Two teams who can score at will and are pretty good at preventing the puck from going into their net. Many people are saying that this is the series that hockey needs to start generating some interest in the sport. Sidney Crosby, often called "The next one" meaning that he is the next record-breaking player similar to Wayne Gretzky, who is "The great one" is making his first appearance in the finals...along with several other Penguin players who are either barely old enough or aren't old enough to legally drink the champagne from the Cup if they win. (Noelle, this is uncommon. The Penguins are probably the youngest team in the history of the league to make the finals.)

Because of their youth, some people think Pittsburgh will lose. Detroit has many older, experienced players who have been here before, including both of their goaltenders. The Pens' goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, is barely older than me. I think Gary Roberts may be the only player on the team who has won the cup before.

Some experts are picking the Pens because of their youthfulness. It's one of those they might be too young to know better things, meaning that they may not cave in to the tremendous pressure because of youthful innocence.

Here's my take on the series. Detroit is the best puck possession team in the league. This begins from the breakout, is maintained through the neutral zone, and extends into the offensive zone, where they are very good at generating scoring chances. They also play in a conference where very few teams play an aggressive forecheck, if any forecheck at all, consistently. The Penguiuns consistently forecheck hard. For those who may not understand, I'll put it in basektball terms. Pittsburgh's forecheck is similar to a full court press. The Red Wings are used to (what appears to me to be) a more common basketball defense, which doesn't press as hard and allows the attacking team to come up the court easier and at their own pace. I think Pittsburgh can force enough turnovers to balance out the Detroit puck possession game, or at least force them to play a way they don't like to play.

On the other hand, Detroit also has some very big open ice hitters on their team. Pittsburgh hasn't seen a team like this yet. Their big guns like Malkin and Hossa are used to people checking and holding them up along the boards, but there's a big difference between being hit into the boards, where there's something to absorb the hit, and being hit in the open ice, where there's nothing to absorb the hit. Pittsburgh generates a lot of their chances by skating the puck hard up the middle of the ice and trying to beat the opposing defense into the zone. Knowing that there is a monster lurking in the neutral zone to hit them could cause the Pens to change their attacking style, which would be bad.

Detroit has the best defense in the league, but they also play in a defensive conference. The only team with a half decent offense that they've played yet, Nashville, gave them problems. I think an offensive team like Pittsburgh who tends to make the most of their chances can expose them. If Detroit doesn't dictate the tempo of the game, they usually lose. It's going to come down to goaltending (the two goalies in this series are the top two goalies in the playoffs), and secondary scoring, which Detroit has not consistently had yet. Their top line is dangerous but they get very few goals beyond there...Pittsburgh gets goals from all four lines.

ESPN's Scott Burnside picked Pittsburgh, ESPN's Barry Melrose picked Detroit, and LVC's Nate Yinger is going with Pittsburgh. Game 1 is Saturday night at 8 on Versus.