Since taking over the behind the Penguins' bench in mid-February, Dan Bylsma could do no wrong during his head coaching debut in Pittsburgh. His hiring, combined with the return of defenseman Sergei Gonchar, and the in-season acquisitions of Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin and Craig Adams, helped the Penguins win their first Stanley Cup in 17 years.
I don't know how Penguins general manager Ray Shero pulled it off, but he managed to not only retain the services of Ruslan Fedotenko and Bill Guerin, two of the teams top-six forwards from their Stanley Cup winning team, but he did so while getting them to take paycuts.
After signing Guerin to a one-year deal on Monday, the Penguins announced that they agreed to terms with Fedotenko Friday afternoon. Rob Rossi of the Tribune Reviewreports the deal as being worth $1.8 million, down from the $2.25 million he made a season ago.
I don't think there's any question that hockey players are the most approachable, fan-friendly athletes in sports. I still remember being in high school and hanging around Mellon Arena after games and getting a chance to meet (and score autographs!) from guys like Alexei Kovalev, Johan Hedberg and Andrew Ference (hey, these were the lean years), not to mention the one night we had the opportunity to ask Owen Nolan why he backed down from Kryzsztof Oliwa in a fight.
The Penguins are still reveling in their win, while they spent Saturday night on the town with their new friend, Stanley.
The Pittsburgh Penguins ended a 17-year Stanley Cup drought on Friday night with a 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings, giving the franchise its third championship. While current general manager Ray Shero will get his name on the cup for overseeing the hockey operations the past three seasons, former general manager Craig Patrick also had a hand in putting this team together.
After the jump, a player-by-player look at how the 2008-09 Penguins were built over the years.
So the rematch is set: Pittsburgh vs. Detroit. For the first time in 25 years, the same two teams will meet in back-to-back years for the right to fight for Lord Stanley's Cup, and while one of these teams is relatively similar to last year's version (with one big exception) the other is very, very different.
It's kind of an unwritten rule in hockey that when your team wins the conference championship, you're not supposed to touch the trophy (in the case of the Eastern Conference, the Prince of Wales Trophy) because, in theory, that's not the piece of hardware you strive for. You're not supposed to show it the same respect you would show the Stanley Cup, so, by tradition, few teams ever actually acknowledge its existence, let alone touch it.
Following Pittsburgh's 4-1 win on Tuesday, which gave the Penguins a clean four-game sweep over Carolina in the Eastern Conference final, captain Sidney Crosby not only touched it, he actually carried it off the ice. His reasoning?
After giving up six goals in Game 2, Cam Ward did everything he possibly could to keep the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 and give them an opportunity to win. Then, with about 10 minutes to play in the third period, the flood gates opened and Pittsburgh took a commanding 3-0 lead in the series with a convincing 6-2 win.
As hard as it might be to believe after giving up five goals (Pittsburgh also scored an empty net goal), Ward actually played a really strong game, turning aside 34 shots, some in spectacular fashion. The Penguins were simply relentless in their offensive attack, while Evgeni Malkin led the way with his sixth consecutive multi-point game, setting a franchise record.
Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals certainly didn't disappoint, as the Penguins and Hurricanes took part in an up-and-down track meet while both goalies put on a clinic in net. In the end, Marc-Andre Fleury was just a touch better than Cam Ward, while Phillipe Boucher's power play goal with just over eight minutes to play in regulation proved to be the game-winner in Pittsburgh's 3-2 win.
The Penguins came out smoking in the first period, overwhelming the Hurricanes with an offensive barrage that was highlighted by Miroslav Satan and Evgeni Malkin beating Ward just 80 seconds apart to stake the Penguins out to an early 2-0 lead. For Satan, it was his first goal in the NHL since March 1.
Penguins 3, Hurricanes 2: Recap | Box Score Penguins Lead Series 1-0
Well this is kind of a letdown. After watching the Penguins take on long-time rivals Philadelphia and Washington in the first two rounds of the Eastern Conference playoffs, they're now taking on the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference final. It's a match-up that offers nothing in the way of hatred, bitterness or rivalry. Hopefully the Staal brothers pull a Keith and Wayne Primeau and fight sometime in the first two games. You know, just to stir the pot a little bit.
Having said that, this is an interesting match-up when it comes to hockey and that, of course, is the most important thing. It should be an exciting series, and who knows, perhaps by the end of it both teams will end up hating each other anyway.
It's not exactly a national secret that hockey teams tend to go through coaching changes about as often as a high school kid goes through a change of clothes (speaking on personal experience, that's about once per year). As we begin the conference finals, it's probably worth pointing out that three of the four teams taking part -- the Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks -- experienced a change behind the bench during the regular season.
Since taking over the behind the Penguins' bench in mid-February, Dan Bylsma could do no wrong during his head coaching debut in Pittsburgh. His hiring, combined with the return of defenseman Sergei Gonchar, and the in-season acquisitions of Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin and Craig Adams, helped the Penguins win their first Stanley Cup in 17 years. 
I don't know how Penguins general manager 
I don't think there's any question that hockey players are the most approachable, fan-friendly athletes in sports. I still remember being in high school and hanging around Mellon Arena after games and getting a chance to meet (and score autographs!) from guys like Alexei Kovalev, Johan Hedberg and Andrew Ference (hey, these were the lean years), not to mention the one night we had the opportunity to ask Owen Nolan why he backed down from Kryzsztof Oliwa in a fight. 
Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals certainly didn't disappoint, as the Penguins and Hurricanes took part in an up-and-down track meet while both goalies put on a clinic in net. In the end, 
Well this is kind of a letdown. After watching the Penguins take on long-time rivals Philadelphia and Washington in the first two rounds of the Eastern Conference playoffs, they're now taking on the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference final. It's a match-up that offers nothing in the way of hatred, bitterness or rivalry. Hopefully the Staal brothers 
