Wrapping Things Up

That was fun, wasn't it? Watching the games between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins over this last week and a bit was exactly what the NHL needed: an infusion of energy, a pinch of drama, a couple of helpings of excitement, and some pure skill from some of the best players in the game today. I spent my Wednesday night watching the game at a local sports lounge, and the atmosphere was incredible. Kudos to the Red Wings fans around me for some laughter, and watching them nearly wet themselves during that last mad scramble around the Wings' net in the third period.

Pittsburgh fans can't be disappointed whatsoever. Yes, it's heart-breaking to lose the Stanley Cup Final, but this is a team that experts were writing off at the beginning of the season after they opened the 2007-08 campaign with a record of 8-and-11. They watched their superstar, Sidney Crosby, get injured. They watched their workhorse, blue-collar hero Gary Roberts miss significant time. Their starting goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, was put on the shelf with an injury as well.

If you're a Penguins fan, though, you saw the awakening of Evgeni Malkin. You saw a reborn Ty Conklin put the city into a new frenzy, one about a goaltender that hasn't been seen since the early days of the 1990s when a guy named Tom Barrasso was leading the Penguins to a couple of Stanley Cup wins. There were the discoveries of some exciting young players who contributed in huge ways - Kris Letang, Tyler Kennedy, Adam Hall, and Rob Scuderi.

If you're a Penguins fan, you might be disappointed, but you're certainly not unhappy.

If you're a Red Wings fan, you have to be ecstatic. You saw two "playoff underachievers" in Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk shed the gorillas off their backs, putting in monster performances throughout the playoffs to establish themselves as two of the finest two-way players in the NHL.

You watched some young players take big steps as well - Niklas Kronwall, Jiri Hudler, and Valtteri Filppula were instrumental in the Red Wings' victory. Johan Franzen became a playoff legend, and looks poised to follow in the footsteps of Tomas Holmstrom as the best player to stand in front of net.

And, of course, you can't forget the veteran presence. Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Chris Osgood, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Daniel Cleary, and Dallas Drake all were major cogs in this Stanley Cup victory.

What might make this Stanley Cup win sweeter is the fact that the Red Wings will have virtually the same team for the next three years as the core of the Red Wings have been signed to major deals.

Defenceman Brad Stuart is the only looming free agent, while goaltender Dominik Hasek will most likely not be re-signed after spending the playoffs watching from the bench. Zetterberg's deal expires next season, but there's already talk of re-signing him long-term to a deal similar to Datsyuk's deal of approximately $7 million per season for a minimum of three years. With the Conn Smythe Trophy already in his pocket, plus nominations for several more awards, Zetterberg is a special player, and the Wings will be anxious to get him locked up long-term.

If there is a model franchise in which owners and general managers should be building their financial and team success models after, it has to be the Detroit Red Wings. Four Stanley Cups in eleven years. Consistently at the top of league's standings. Always a playoff threat.

And it appears there will be no letting up in the foreseeable future for these Detroit Red Wings. This should make the NHL, and its fans, very happy.

Congratulations to the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!

Calder Cup Playoffs The baby Penguins are currently in dire straits against the Chicago Wolves, and will have to play desperate hockey starting tonight.

The Atlanta Thrashers' AHL affiliate in the Chicago Wolves pushed the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to the brink of elimination, and a possible sweep, with a 6-1 victory on the road. The Wolves have simply steamrolled the Penguins thus far, and they will look to wrap up the Calder Cup Championship tonight in WBS.

This playoff year in the AHL has seen several records fall. I spoke of Darren Haydar's career AHL playoff goal-scoring and point-scoring records a few days ago. Well, the WBS Penguins saw one of their players break a record on Monday.

After a scoring correction, rookie AHL defenceman Alex Goligoski was awarded his 26th point of these Calder Cup Playoffs, setting the new mark for defencemen in the AHL Playoffs. His record was set in the same game that saw Darren Haydar break set his new marks for playoff scoring. Goligoski is now two points shy of the rookie scoring record in the AHL playoffs, set in 1992 by Mike Sillinger of the Adirondack Red Wings.

Chicago Wolves' defenceman Joel Kwiatkowski tied an AHL record on Wednesday night as he scored in his seventh straight game - a record for defencemen. Kwiatkowski tied the record set by Brian Chapman during the 1992-93 regular season while a member of the Springfield Indians. It is also thought that Kwiatkowski set a record with his tenth goal of these 2008 Calder Cup Playoffs, but, at the time of this writing, is still being researched.

Congratulations to Alex Goligoski on his record, and Joel Kwiatkowski on his record!

Kelly Cup Playoffs: The Cincinnati Cyclones ended a spectacular season in style, winning the ECHL's Kelly Cup on Thursday night over the Las Vegas Wranglers by a 4-2 series margin. In doing so, the Cyclones became just the third team to win both the Brabham Cup, the trophy awarded to the regular season point champion, and the Kelly Cup.

An ECHL record crowd of 12,722 watched the game, breaking the highest mark set by the Louisiana IceGators. The US Bank Arena holds 12,056 people, meaning it was standing-room only in Cincinnati, and the fans packed the arena. The IceGators had set several records for attendance, including four crowds of 11,800 in 1997.

Cincinnati goaltender Cedrick Desjardins was named the Most Valuable Player of the Kelly Cup Playoffs after going 11-4 in the playoffs with one shutout, a goals-against average of 1.84, and a save percentage of .939.

Congratulations to the Cincinnati Cyclones, the 2008 ECHL Kelly Cup Champions!

Other News: This section will just tie off some loose ends that need closing.

• Congratulations to Mr. Justin St. Louis on winning the NHL Playoff Line Pool with 134 points. Mr. St. Louis' line of Joe Thornton, Sidney Crosby, Henrik Zetterberg, Sergei Gonchar, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Marc-Andre Fleury paced him to the win. I will be in contact with you next week to arrange your prizes, Justin! Thanks to everyone who entered!
• The ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays have updated their logos. Gone is this logo, a cartoonish stingray, and is replaced by this logo, a "modern, sleek and realistic representation of a Stingray while creating a brand that is instantly recognizable". The Stingrays also introduced two alternate logos, seen here and here. They look alright, so I'll give it a pass. It has yet to be seen on a jersey, though, so only time will tell if this is an upgrade.
• Tuesday saw the Anaheim Ducks announce that their affiliation with the AHL's Portland Pirates was coming to end, and that the team's AHL affiliate will begin play in Des Moines, Iowa next season. There has been no announcement on a team name, logo, or team colours at this point, but I assume it will follow in Ducks' colours. The announcement of these details will come in July.
• Veteran NHL defenceman Glen Wesley announced his retirement yesterday after spending the last 20 seasons patrolling NHL bluelines in Boston, Hartford, Toronto, and Carolina. Wesley appeared in the 1989 All-Star Game, and won a Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2006. He will remain as part of the Hurricanes' franchise, accepting a role as Director of Defenceman Development.
• The end of May saw the IIHF Division II Men's World Championship being played on Australian soil. Much to the delight of the host country, the Aussies ended up winning the gold medal at the World Championships last month, seen here as captain Anthony Wilson hoists the winner's plate. The win puts the Aussies, known as the "Mighty Roos", into the IIHF Division I World Championship for the first time ever. Here are views of their home and road jerseys, and a link where you can get merchandise if you're interested. Congratulations to Team Australia!
• A big thanks to everyone who reads this blog. You guys are truly incredible, and this community rocks. I do, however, want to identify one person. Someone from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was the 50,000th person to come to my humble blog. He or she visited this page and didn't stay very long, but was still the 50,000th person who stopped by none-the-less. That happened yesterday at 4:35pm, and I am humbled by the amount of people who stop by. Thank you to everyone who checks this site out, and I encourage you to leave comments about anything and everything regarding hockey.
  

Ok, I think that's about all today. The announcement of my summer project will come tomorrow. Again, I am excited about doing this project, and I hope to bring some light to something that rarely gets talked about when it comes to players and the NHLPA.

Take care, prepare for the draft, enjoy the Red Wings parade, and keep your sticks on the ice!