Stanley Cup Finals. Discuss.

[RuthlessBurgher]

We're baa-aack!!!

It will either be a re-match of our last appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Red Wings last season, or if Chicago is able to pull off three straight wins, a re-match of the Stanley Cup Finals the last time we won the Cup against the Blackhawks in 1992.

In either case, I will look forward to Benedict Hossa crying all the way back to Slovakia when his Red Wings ultimately lose.

[RuthlessBurgher]

The matchup is set. And the schedule is out. I'm shocked that they are starting the Stanley Cup Finals with games on back-to-back nights this weekend.

Saturday, May 30 at Detroit, 8:00 pm NBC, CBC, RDS
Sunday, May 31 at Detroit, TBD-Night NBC, CBC, RDS
Tuesday, June 2 at Pittsburgh, 8:00 pm VERSUS, CBC, RDS
Thursday, June 4 at Pittsburgh, 8:00 pm VERSUS, CBC, RDS
* Saturday, June 6 at Detroit, 8:00 pm NBC, CBC, RDS
* Tuesday, June 9 at Pittsburgh, 8:00 pm NBC, CBC, RDS
* Friday, June 12 at Detroit, 8:00 pm NBC, CBC, RDS

[Jigawatts]

I'm shocked that they are starting the Stanley Cup Finals with games on back-to-back nights this weekend.

Advantage for Pittsburgh, don't ya think?

Wings are a little older and injured.

Pens are healthy and on fire. Bring on those wings as soon as possible.

[RuthlessBurgher]

I'm shocked that they are starting the Stanley Cup Finals with games on back-to-back nights this weekend.

Advantage for Pittsburgh, don't ya think?

Wings are a little older and injured.

Pens are healthy and on fire. Bring on those wings as soon as possible.

With big time players like Datsyuk and Lidstrom missing last night's game, plus the kid with the emergency appendectomy, it will be interesting to see if any of them will be ready to go for game one 2 days from now (or game two 3 days from now). I look forward to stealing home ice advantage this weekend.

[Jigawatts]

[RuthlessBurgher]

Here's to a Gonchar slapshot clanking off his Goldmember.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Not freaking out yet.

This pair of 3-1 losses has more of a feeling like the 3-2 and 4-3 games that we lost in Washington in round 2 where we came back to win in 7 than it feels like last year where Detroit dominated us 4-0 and 3-0 in the first two games of the Finals.

I still think we can come back (a series is not officially a series until a team loses at home). If we are able to hold serve at Mellon on Tuesday and Thursday, it is all evened up for a best-of-3 showdown.

I don't think that is out of the realm of possibility, because we clearly outplayed Detroit for long stretches at times, and have just had some unlucky bounces (as well as a couple of questionable calls, such as Hossa slashing Dupuis and breaking his stick prior to the eventual game-winning goal).

It would have been nice to take advantage of these two quick games against an older, more injured squad with Datsyuk and Draper out, but we can't dwell on that. We just have to feed off the home crowd this week and swing the momentum back in our favor.

[Jigawatts]

I'm a busy man this week and probably won't have too much time to comment on the
games, so I'll throw in a few while I got a chance here.

First, I it's going to be a huge uphill battle but winning this series is very possible. Like
Ruthless said, those first two games are closer than they looked. The Wings brought
their horseshoes Saturday night and put a couple in. Other than that, it looked like the
Pens were the better team.

Same thing goes for last nights game. We're so close but we're not catching any breaks,
though maybe the first goal we had a little luck on our side. MAF not catching that third
goal in his mitt was a killer. Let's get the white out going Tuesday night, get two wins in
a row and take it back to Detroit tied up.

And if I have to hear Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" besmirched in such a disgusting
manner again I'm going to have to throw up. You can't treat Journey that way.

[buckeyehoppy]

Not that they really had the luxury of losing at home in the first place. But, the Pens don't have a choice but to win the next two.

Last night would have been a golden chance to steal one in D-Town wit Datsyuk and Draper laid up. But even the announcers were admitting that the Wings advantage was largely due to more advantageous bounces. Really, that means we're just about even here and so long as the Pens hold serve it will remain that way for a three game sprint to the finish line.

MAF simply needs to be a wall right now. He's let by one goal in each game that shouldn't have passed him. Not acceptable! Plus, someone needs to break the wedge in the middle on the attack. Cracking Lidstrom one when he's clogging the middle won't hurt a thing. Plus, the passing isn't nearly as crisp as it should be. The Pens need pin-point precision on passing and a quicker release off the shot.

This might go the seven I figured it would. But the ball is in the Pens court. They really need a strong showing the next couple games to put the Wings on their heels.

[RuthlessBurgher]

[url]http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09153/974334-61.stm[/url]

You from Detroit? No octopus for you
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
By Sharon Eberson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh is a dangerous place to be this week if you happen to be an octopus.

Benkovitz Seafoods in the Strip District is inviting fans to make mush out of the Red Wings' mascot: "Smash it with a mallet. Puree it in a blender. Whack it like a pinata. Beat it with a stick." That's what Benkovitz is inviting Penguins fans to do between 4 and 5 p.m. before Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final in Pittsburgh.

Fans also can compete for prizes in an "Octopus Shoot Off," three shots at a goalie standing in for the Red Wings, using an octopus for a puck.

Benkovitz is serving octopus throughout the playoffs, grilled, steamed or in sushi. However, if you're wearing anything that identifies you as Red Wings fan, Benkovitz's rule is: No octopus for you. More at [url="http://www.benkovitzseafood.com"]http://www.benkovitzseafood.com[/url].

First published on June 2, 2009 at 12:00 am

[url]http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/sports/19626280/detail.html[/url]

Be Nice To Octopi! Pittsburgh Aquarium Frowns On Tradition
Penguins, Detroit Red Wings Meet In Stanley Cup Rematch
POSTED: 5:36 pm EDT June 1, 2009
UPDATED: 7:15 am EDT June 2, 2009

PITTSBURGH -- When a Detroit fish market owner tossed an octopus on the ice at a Red Wings game in the 1950s, he started a good-luck tradition that continues today.

On a Monday morning visit to the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, WTAE Channel 4's Sally Wiggin learned that an aquarist -- probably like many Pittsburgh hockey fans -- finds the practice to be distasteful and disrespectful.

"Their intelligence level is up there with a cat or a dog. They figure out puzzles. We have toys and things in the tank," assistant curator Dwayne Biggs told Wiggin.

In the Stanley Cup Final, the Penguins and the Red Wings are locked in a hard-hitting, seven-game series.

But in the aquarium, Wiggin found a giant pacific octopus right around the corner from the penguins, living in peaceful proximity.

"She may grab hold of your arm. She is tasting you," Biggs said.

"This girl here is only about 10 or 12 pounds," Biggs said. "They can become 100 pounds and 18 feet long, and the record is around 600 pounds."

Even though seafood is harvested from the ocean, Biggs said that because of his attachment to the octopi, he can't wrap his brain around tossing a dead one on the ice.

"They know the difference between me and another keeper at the aquarium, so it is a hard thing for me to grasp," Biggs said.

Wings fans are known to put octopi in plastic zipper bags and tape them to their stomachs to get past arena security. Last year, a Detroit fan threw an octopus onto the ice during a Stanley Cup Final game at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh.

To avoid a repeat octopus incident this year, Wholey's Fish Market in the Strip District said it will only sell octopus to customers with Pittsburgh identification during the Pens-Wings series.

Eight victories were needed to win a Stanley Cup when the tradition began. The octopus' eight legs represented each one of those eight wins.