Weekend/Monday Stuff: Stanley Cup Finals, Lebron's disappearing act, Habs new coach, and more

Monday, June 1, 2009

History repeats itself, Wings up 2-0

Because of the short lay off and back to back games to open the Stanley Cup Finals, the Detroit Red Wings were supposed to be at a terrible disadvantage.

Flash forward 48 hours, and they have a stranglehold on the series, going back to Pittsburgh.

From a Pens fan's perspective, I can't even begin to tell you how frustrating the first two games have been. Chris Osgood has been unreal. His right goal post has been even better.

The last thing I want to do is complain about the officiating. The Pens have had their chances, plenty of them in fact. For large stretches of both games, they were the better team. They haven't caught one bounce yet.

BUT...

Nobody should ever complain about an alleged "Penguins bias" agenda. The Detroit Red Wings get a way with A LOT. Even Pierre McGuire and Ed Olcyzk were smart enough to catch the "mild interference" the Wings run. I won't even mention the non call on Hossa or the Zetterberg covering the puck in the crease (twice) incident.

Stay the course, Pens. Series is a long way from over.

Jacques Martin to right the Hab's ship

The Montreal Canadiens introduced Jacques Martin as their new Head Coach today.

Martin now leaves the Jay Bouwmeester dilemma in Florida for someone else to worry about.

Smart move.

Is this really a good hire?

The guy really hasn't accomplished anything since leaving the Ottawa Senators, and even there, only had moderate success. By "moderate" I mean "regular season."

He's French though, and that seems to be all the media and fans in La Belle Province care about. Good luck with all that.

Lebron James' quick getaway

By now you all know that the Orlando Magic elminated the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 6 of the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals last week.

And you have all heard about the disappearing act done by Lebron James after the final buzzer sounded in Orlando.

James was off the court, showered, and out of the building in 21 seconds.

Thats not really the way an ambassador, and for all accounts, the face of the NBA, should conduct himself.

First of all, he should have shown a bit of class by congratulation the team that just triumphed over his, with handshakes on the court. They can be half-ass hand shakes... just should have happened one way or the other.

But his biggest mistake was not talking to the media. He will pay for that for a while, in a way that media makes people pay for such things.

Be a man. Face the music. You think you can get away with crap like that when you bolt for New York after next season?

Carlos Zambrano is still a tool

Exhibit # 351...

Roid Rage Central.

Rematch City

It writes itself.

The best part about the Wings winning last night is that we don't have to wait 4 months for the Stanley Cup Final to start.

Game 1 is Saturday night. Game 2 is Sunday night. God help us all.

From the Pens perspective, the series can't start soon enough. Niklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk are major cogs in the Red Wing wheel. For those guys to take the last two games of the Conference Finals off, you know they are hurting.

The Pens, by all accounts are healthy heading into the Finals.

Everything that needs to be said has already been said (Does that make sense?).

The big storyline is Marian Hossa. Penguins fans are pissed at him. Call him a traitor. But look. Here are the Penguins back in the Finals, and they did it without him. Not to mention, if Hossa would have signed in Pittsburgh, the Pens salary cap situation would be a mess.

I'm not one of the bitter Penguins fans who hold a grudge against Hossa. Having said that, there would be nothing sweeter than watching him lose again.

I have a lot of good friends who root for Detroit. I wish Stevie Y and Mario were around to battle in this, and last year's series. That would make it even sweeter.

Everybody believes the Pens are a lot more prepared to face the Big Red Machine this year. The fact remains that the Big Red Machine is still a well-oiled powerhouse. This series is going to be great. No prediction from me. Yet. Just more photoshops. (If you have any pro-Wing shops, be sure the send them my way. Just to show i'm not prejudiced).

Going to miss pressers like this

This may be dated now, what with him being fired three weeks ago, but its a video that will never get old. Michel Therrien lays into his players after a loss a few years ago, hilarity ensues.

Eat it, Pierre!

So, as a Penguins fan, its fair to say I had a vented interest in the Stanley Cup Finals rematch tonight in Detroit. I don't have TSN 2, so I was stuck watching the Habs shutout the Sens, while listening to the Pens/Wings online. Things weren't going well in the second period. TSN broke to a highlight when the Wings scored to make it 5-2. When they got back from the clip, here is what Pierre "Turtle, Turtle" McGuire had to say: "Thats just men playing boys there. It was like that all the Finals last year and its still like that now." Nice call, Pierre. Sure enough, the Pens come back, tie it at 6 in the last minute and win the game in overtime. Oh how I wish I could somehow ram his tiny, albino foot down his skrawny turtle neck. Maybe that would make me one of McGuires Monsters. For anybody else looking to hate on this loud, arrogant hockey "expert", there are no shortage of anti-Pierre groups on the Facebook. I decided on People Against Pierre McGuire.