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.
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.
After watching his team get thumped on its home ice, 6-1 on Sunday afternoon, Chicago Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville sounded off in the postgame press conference, berating the officiating crew of Marc Joannette and Kevin Pollock for issuing Matt Walker a roughing penalty at the end of the first period, leading to Detroit's third goal of the game.
Quenneville called it the worst call in the history of sports, and essentially used it as an excuse for his team not showing up in the second and third periods. As punishment for his rant, the NHL announced on Monday that Quenneville will be fined $10,000.
After Marc-Andre Fleury and Cam Ward put on a goaltending clinic on Monday, prompting the discussion of whether or not they're legitimate franchise goaltenders, the two players, along with their collective defenses, seemingly took the night off on Thursday as Pittsburgh picked up a 7-4 win in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. Just 12 minutes into the first period, the two teams had already scored as many goals as they did in Game 1, while Carolina held a 3-2 lead after the opening 20 minutes.
Evgeni Malkin recorded his first career playoff hat trick in the win for Pittsburgh, registering his fifth consecutive multiple point game.
Penguins 7, Hurricanes 4: Recap | Box Score Penguins Lead Series 2-0
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.
Everyone has been looking forward to the Pittsburgh-Washington series, and fans were treated to a dandy in the opener on Saturday. Pittsburgh had all the momentum early, but Washington eased into their game. After Pittsburgh tied it 2-2 in the second period, the Penguins had an odd-man rush with Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby. Kunitz sent a pass to Crosby for what appeared to be a layup, but Washington rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov had other ideas.
It's the series everybody is talking about, as Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin prepare to hit the ice in a one-on-one, steel cage battle for NHL supremacy. Wait. What's that? There's actually other players involved in this series? We take a look at the series after the jump.
When Dan Bylsma took over behind the bench as the Penguins interim head coach, the season was looking bleak. They were sputtering along at a 27-25-5 pace, sitting outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Some people (including yours truly) were so down on the current squad that it appeared as if a coaching change wouldn't make much of a difference. So much for that.
A coaching change and a couple of astute roster moves later (hello Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin), and the Penguins are one of the hottest teams in the NHL, awaiting a second-round opponent after dispatching the Flyers. Apparently that was all the Penguins front office needed to see, as they signed Bylsma to a long-term contract extension on Monday night, removing the "interim" tag.
Forget for one second, if you can, that Bill Guerin scored a pair of goals -- including the game-winner in overtime -- in Pittsburgh's 3-2 win over Philadelphia on Friday night. The biggest moment of this game, and the highlight of this game, was without question Marc-Andre Fleury's ridiculous save on Jeff Carter midway through the third period.
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. 
After watching his team get thumped on its home ice, 6-1 on Sunday afternoon, Chicago Blackhawks head coach 
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