Penguins Don't Take Flight

So, time to haul out the record books with the Wings and Chris Osgood's second shutout in two games in this so-called "dream" matchup in the Stanley Cup Final.

In 2003, a Final (noted mainly by the Scott Stevens hit on Paul Kariya) one saw the deadly dull Devils and Martin Brodeur shut out Anaheim two games in a row but it still went seven thanks to the Michelin Man Giguere in the Ducks' net. Satan's minions still won the Cup though, of course, with a shutout in Game 7.

Have faith Pens fans, the 1945 Final had the Leafs and Frank McCool shutting out Detroit in the first three games before the Almost Dead Things stormed back to tie the series with two of their three wins being shutouts also...then losing Game 7 to the Leafs.

We have to go back to the 1926 Final to find that the Montreal (in the words of Bugs Bunny: "What a Bunch of") Maroons shut out the Victoria Cougars of the old pro Western Hockey League in Games 1 and 2 of a sweep to win the Cup. The Maroons even threw a shutout in game 4 making it a hat trick of whitewashing for Hannibal Lechter lookalike Clint Benedict in the Final.

So, there is hope of making this a series, if the Pens can get the puck off the Wings for enough time to actually pressure Ozzie.

Over...boring!

Let them play! How often have we heard this refrain? Don't call the chintzy penalties. Well, what you end up with is overtime after overtime of tired players, who even though they make mistakes due to that lack of energy, they can't get anything on their shots...or they're too punchdrunk to hit the net.

Last night's Sharks-Stars Game 6 was not exactly an NHL classic. Sure, there was enough action but when the announcers were going on about Turco and Nabokov making 50+ saves, this was no Dan Ellis performance over 60 minutes vs. the high-powered Red Wings in rd. 1.

Overtime is exciting...maybe at best through two periods but after that it's a war of attrition, and let's face facts, more tension- than action-filled. I'm not saying the NHL, or any hockey league, should change it, but stop going on and on about how "great" long OTs are. Just end it already!

Which brings us to the officiating. If the refs would call a penalty, a penalty and not revert back to the dead puck days, then games would end quicker. But, noooooo, we can't let the refs decide the games so let's let the players get away with tackle football.

This is why no matter how hard the NHL tries, it always ends up looking like the league that has no clue. A penalty is a penalty is a penalty...oh, yeah, except in overtime in the new, old and whatever NHL playoffs.