SCF: Penguins VS Wings

The 2008 Stanley Cup Finals begin this Saturday, pitting the Original Six Detroit Red Wings against the risen from the ashes Pittsburgh Penguins. The young Penguins, led by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, will look to run roughshod over the older, ‘more experienced’ Wings.  Still, you have to respect Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Holmstrom (Zetterberg in particular saved my fantasy team on more than one occasion).  In goal, both Chris Osgood and Marc-Andre Fleury have been doing excellent work, Osgood especially as he had to step in after Hasek tried to give their opening round series away.

My excitement for Game 1 (8:00pm start time) has waxed and waned, thanks in no small part to the NHL having the teams sit on their hands for days and days so they can start the series on a weekend.  I know they are trying to take care of their core market (namely, the millions of people who watch on HNIC) but it’s really hard to stay interested for that long when the Sabre-guys aren’t involved!  I’m picking the Penguins in 6, and I hope America tunes in to watch this clash of two US teams whose cities actually know what hockey is when their teams aren’t in the finals.