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VISIT ALL WORLD ALL SPORTS

by Digger

It's time for the Stanley Cup Finals (past results). This seasons matchup will thrill hockey fans. The ageless and well seasoned Detroit Red Wings face off versus a young and inspired Pittsburgh Penguins club. Both teams feature top notch offenses and strong goalies.

Pittsburgh easily won the Eastern Conference Playoffs and appears more than ready to get this series underway. Chairman and former playing legend Mario Lemieux is Pittsburgh's saviour. As a player he led this franchise to back to back Championships in 1990-91 & 1991-92 seasons. As Chairman, he saved and rebuilt this proud Penguins organization which was once on the verge of collapsing.

Head Coach Michel Therrien's second season behind the bench was tremendous as he led this team to a 47 point turnaround from a season ago. Therrien is known for his passion, discipline and attention to detail. It shows. His high flying young team is skating on all cylinders this playoff season. Leading the attack has been Sydney Crosby (21 pts), Marian Hossa (19 pts) and Evgeni Malkin (19 pts) while goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (12-2, 1.70) has been outstanding. Fleury needs to continue his winning ways against Detroit's well seasoned attack.

Western Conference Champion Detroit Red Wings are no strangers to playoff hockey. They last won the Cup in 2002 but seem to be in the thick of things season after season. Head Coach Mike Babcock (3rd Red Wing season) is determined to bring the Cup back to Detroit. Leading playoff scorers Henrick Zetterberg (21 pts), Pavel Datsyuk (19 pts) and Johan Franzen (15 pts) have been finding the net often. Franzen's status for Game 1 is in question due to injury. Between the pipes has been veteran goalie Chris Osgood (10-2, 1.60) who's been as stingy as they come.

Both teams play hockey the way it's meant to be played. Fast skaters, crisp clean passing attacks, heavy blue line forechecking and superior defensive play. Both are well disciplined and rarely take bad penalties. This series seems even on paper heading into Saturday's opening face-off. Don't be surprised to see 2-1 and 1-0 scores ruling the day.

These teams are ready. It's tough to gauge which one holds an advantage. Will it be Pittsburgh's youth and thirsty determination? Or, Detroit's veteran expertise which proves decisive? This series will be worth watching every minute.

Prediction: Pittsburgh is red hot and on a mission. Each game will be an instant classic. Beware of the Penguins... Pittsburgh prevails in 6.