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Stanley Cup Finals: Game Six Live Blog

Posted: Jun 4th 2008 7:30PM by Eric McErlain (author feed)
Filed under: Detroit, Pittsburgh, General NHL, Penguins, Wings, NHL Live Blogging, Stanley Cup

0 COMMENTS


Welcome back to the Igloo. Can the Penguins extend the season one more game, or do the Red Wings tighten things down and collect Lord Stanley?

Join us beginning at 7:30 p.m. U.S. EDT to find out. See you then.
Continue Reading Stanley Cup Finals: Game Six Live Blog

Game Six Pre-Game Live Chat With Bret Hedican

Posted: Jun 4th 2008 12:15PM by Eric McErlain (author feed)
Filed under: Detroit, Pittsburgh, General NHL, Penguins, Wings, NHL Fans, NHL Live Blogging, Stanley Cup

0 COMMENTS


Be sure to stop by at 1:00 p.m. this afternoon as we host another live chat session. I'll be co-hosting along with Ted Starkey, NHL Editor for AOL Sports as we talk to Bret Hedican, currently a defenseman with the Carolina Hurricanes. It's sure to be interesting, as Hedican won a Cup himself just two seasons ago with Carolina, and he's been in the headlines thanks to his wife, Olympic Gold Medal winner Kristi Yamaguchi, the current champion at Dancing With the Stars. See you at 1:00 p.m.
Continue Reading Game Six Pre-Game Live Chat With Bret Hedican

Tiger Woods Doesn't Watch Hockey

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 1:35PM by Eric McErlain (author feed)
Filed under: General NHL, Penguins, Wings, NHL Media Watch, Stanley Cup

274 COMMENTS
Tiger Woods is undoubtedly a busy man. I'm sure that for somebody with commitments like he has, there literally aren't enough minutes in the day. So I guess I can't be surprised to discover that Woods doesn't watch hockey -- a little detail that leaked out at the end of a conference call yesterday ahead of this year's PGA Championship (from the transcript):

JULIUS MASON: Mr. Woods, Julius Mason here. We're joined by about 75 of your closest friends and I think off the top of their head they have one burning question for you, Detroit or Pittsburgh tonight? In the Stanley Cup finals. (Laughter.)

TIGER WOODS: That's pretty good. I don't really care, let's talk about the Dodgers. (Laughter.)

JULIUS MASON: Politically correct as always and that's what we ?

TIGER WOODS: I don't think anybody really watches hockey any more. (Laughter.)

Woods' comments come at a pretty interesting time, as they were made just a few hours before the Penguins and the Red Wings triple OT thriller that scored a 4.3/8 rating -- the highest rating for a Game Five since 2002's Finals between the Red Wings and the Carolina Hurricanes.

And if any hockey fans are offended by Tiger's words fear not. Because as we all know too well, ratings for golf are slipping too. And while Tiger might think nobody cares about hockey anymore, we all know that if Tiger isn't in the hunt, nobody really cares about golf either.

The Ice Sheet: Red Wings Can End it Tonight

Posted: Jun 2nd 2008 7:00AM by Eric McErlain (author feed)
Filed under: Detroit, Pittsburgh, General NHL, Penguins, Wings, NHL Media Watch, Stanley Cup

1 COMMENT


Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

It's tough to find a whole lot more to say about Game Four of the Stanley Cup Finals that hasn't already been written. The Pittsburgh Penguins, a young team that had looked so promising at the start of this series, is now staring down the barrel of a 3-1 series deficit. And if it hadn't been for Tomas Holmstrom striking a post in the 3rd period of Game Three, this series could very well already be over.

What was the difference in Game Four? It all came down to two moments: Jiri Hudler's second third period goal, one that would have been impossible if defenseman Brad Stuart hadn't managed to hold the puck in the zone just seconds before; and Detroit's masterful kill of a 5-on-3 power play midway through the third period, one where Henrik Zetterberg proved just how much he deserved that Selke Trophy nomination by tying up Sidney Crosby while he had a chance to stuff a puck in on Chris Osgood's doorstep.

That's usually all it takes in the Stanley Cup Finals, just one or two moments when the other guy is willing to sacrifice a little bit more than you are. Of course, you never exactly know when those moments are going to come, which means you need to be sure to sacrifice like that on every last shift. The Wings have. Pittsburgh hasn't. It really is that simple.
Continue Reading The Ice Sheet: Red Wings Can End it Tonight

Stanley Cup Finals Roundtable

Posted: May 23rd 2008 10:00AM by Eric McErlain (author feed)
Filed under: Detroit, Pittsburgh, General NHL, Penguins, Wings, Stanley Cup

0 COMMENTS
Click here for more NHL playoff previews.

After what seems like an interminable wait, the Stanley Cup Finals are finally here. As more folks than I can say have already mentioned, we'll be treated to what the league reportedly thinks is a dream matchup: The best team in the regular season, the Detroit Red Wings, against the Pittsburgh Penguins and their young superstar, Sidney Crosby.

Of course, we all know that there's a heck of a lot more to the Pens than Crosby, where Evgeni Malkin may ultimately prove to be Crosby's equal -- or dare I say his better?

That means it's time to bring out our panel once again for our look at the Finals.

This morning I was kicking around Mirtle's place reading his SC Compendium, and I couldn't help but notice that not only are the Pens significantly younger, they're also significantly bigger -- to the tune of an average of almost two inches and 13 pounds per man. Granted, I'm sure Hal Gill skews the bell curve a little in Pittsburgh, but might this not be significant? Given how disciplined they've been defensively thus far, might the Pens have the opportunity to bang the Wings in much the same way the Ducks did in last year's Western Conference Final?
Continue Reading Stanley Cup Finals Roundtable

5 Reasons Detroit Will Win the Cup

Posted: May 21st 2008 2:56PM by Matt Saler (author feed)
Filed under: General NHL, Penguins, Wings, Stanley Cup

6 COMMENTS
Detroit Red Wings fans hope for this moment every season, the moment where their team advances to the Stanley Cup Finals. It hasn't happened in six years and every season in between has brought disappointment as a fanbase used to winning sees its team fall short of its expectations.

As a Wings fan who has watched the team falter in the first, second, and third rounds for the past four seasons, I've had my share of disappointment since watching them compete for the Cup in 2002. Each season, the team has been built to win only to fall short. That ends this season with a Red Wings squad that may be as good as any before it.

I've got five reasons the Wings will take the Cup over Pittsburgh.

1. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk

They may not have the glamour of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but to me there is no doubt that Detroit's dynamic duo of Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk is made up of the better overall players. Crosby and Malkin are offensive masterminds, but Datsyuk and Zetterberg excel at both ends of the rink. Malkin and Crosby are becoming more defensively responsible, but they still cannot compete on that front with the Wings' "Eurotwins." Those two can shut down the opposition and remain active offensively.


Continue Reading 5 Reasons Detroit Will Win the Cup

The Ice Sheet: The Wait Begins

Posted: May 21st 2008 9:18AM by Eric McErlain (author feed)
Filed under: Detroit, Pittsburgh, General NHL, Penguins, Wings

0 COMMENTS


With another three days before the Stanley Cup Finals begin, we're taking some time to resurface The Ice Sheet. No worries, as we'll be hockey blogging all the way through this ridiculously long break. Look for our Stanley Cup Preview edition of The Sheet come Friday morning. As for the Finals, we're already getting ready with roundtable discussions, as well as preparing for a number of special guests from the world of hockey blogging to ride shotgun with us through our live blog coverage of the entire series.

Red Wings Early Favorite in Finals

Posted: May 20th 2008 12:20AM by Eric McErlain (author feed)
Filed under: Detroit, Pittsburgh, General NHL, Penguins, Wings, NHL Gambling, NHL Rumors, Stanley Cup

0 COMMENTS
Though we don't often boast about it, FanHouse has sources everywhere, and a little bird just gave us a preview of how the odds makers in Sin City view this year's version of the Stanley Cup Finals.

As always, these numbers are passed along for recreational purposes only. And I mean that in the most sincere way possible.

In short, Detroit is the favorite to win the series. According to the people who talk to us, the early moneyline for the series should be somewhere around Detroit (-160) and Pittsburgh (+120).

For those of you who aren't used to betting the money line on the NHL or anywhere else, the odds are pretty simply to understand. In order to win $100 on the Red Wings, you'd need to lay $160. On the other hand, if you laid $100 down on Pittsburgh, that bet would pay off at $120.

As to how they derive these numbers, I'm at a loss to say, especially since the two teams haven't met in the regular season since the beginning of the 2006-07 NHL campaign, when Detroit won a 2-0 decision at Mellon Arena. Kris Draper and Johan Franzen scored for Detroit, while Marc-Andre Fleury had 23 saves for Pittsburgh.

Game One is Saturday night in Detroit.

Conference Finals Roundtable

Posted: May 8th 2008 4:13PM by Eric McErlain (author feed)
Filed under: Dallas, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, General NHL, Flyers, Penguins, Wings, Stars, Stanley Cup

0 COMMENTS

Click here for more NHL playoff previews.

After what seems like forever, the NHL gets back on the ice tonight with the start of the Western Conference Finals tonight in Detroit as the Red Wings host the Dallas Stars. The Eastern Conference Final gets in gear tomorrow night for the battle of Pensylvania as the Penguins host the Flyers in Pittsburgh.

I'm not sure anyone is surprised that Detroit and Pittsburgh made it this far, though seeing Dallas and Philadelphia still alive this late in the game has to count as something of a shocker. As you'll see from our panel, while the discussion was nearly unanimous regarding predictions for both series, there were plenty of folks who were hedging their bets.
Continue Reading Conference Finals Roundtable

NHL West Finals Preview: Detroit vs Dallas

Posted: May 7th 2008 4:30PM by Bruce Ciskie (author feed)
Filed under: Dallas, Detroit, General NHL, Wings, Stars, Stanley Cup

5 COMMENTS


Click here for more NHL playoff previews.

One team is supposed to be here. The other is probably (at least to some extent) using the "No one is giving us a chance" motivational ploy.

Throw the seeds out the window and forget who is favored. This should be a very entertaining series.

The Dallas Stars are probably not supposed to be here. It was expected that Anaheim would run them off to the golf course in the first round. That didn't happen.

But surely, the great San Jose Sharks weren't going to take Dallas lightly. In the end, it didn't matter how the Sharks took the Stars. Dallas won the series.
Continue Reading NHL West Finals Preview: Detroit vs Dallas

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