Dispeling Common Wisdom

Before I post my Stanley Cup Final series breakdown tomorrow, I have to get something off my chest.

Although most observers seem to feel this series can go either way, it appears that those who are picking the Red Wings to win commonly cite one main reason why they have the edge:

Experience.

A team needs to go through the playoff wars and experience failure before success, the theory goes.

This theory is especially convenient for those thinkers to apply to this series because of the obvious comparisions between the current Penguins squad and the early 1980's Edmonton Oiler teams who were built with so much similar offensive flair. The likeness this year is to the 1983 Oiler team who were about to take the league by storm and rolled through the playoffs only to lose in the Cup Final to the New York Islanders, who won their 4th straight Cup that year before handing control of the league to Edmonton beginning the following season.

Despite those similarities, I don't believe the Penguins take a back seat to the Red Wings in this series because of their general youth and overall inexperience.

The league is different now than it was 25 years ago in the early 1980's. It's even different than it was 10 years ago. There's more parity in the league and greater pressure on teams to win now. Dynasties are harder to forge. For the last 3 or 4 years running, the teams that have won the Cup, including Anaheim, Carolina and Tampa Bay, all did so almost out-of-nowhere, without having previously suffered some meaningful playoff failure in the years beforehand. Even their opponents, by and large, were relative newbies to playing for the prize.

There's absolutely no reason why the Penguins can't take the Cup this season, and recent league precedent backs it up.

So to all of those who think Detroit has the edge in this series because of Pittsburgh's relative "inexperience", you get an "F" in history. As punishment, the Penguins may just have to take you back to school ...