The Stanley Cup Aftermath

One week later and I still can't get over it.

The Penguins won The Stanley Cup again.

So often through the course of the day, my mind wanders back to game 7 ... the series ... the seemingly improbable chain of events which led to the Penguins' championship. Not because they were incapable of winning. Just because of how surreal of an experience it all becomes when it's actually happening.

Since I've been on vacation the last week, I haven't had the opportunity to post in detail about the game, the series and its aftermath, so that's what I'm going to do here. Before that, however, here are a few final pieces of note I want to share for those interested in more good reading about the Penguins' championship win:

http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/bob_mckenzie/?id=281728

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_629555.html

With those articles out of the way, let's work backwards and get to a few notable things which have happened in the aftermath of the Penguins' Cup title.

By now, I'm sure most have heard about the congratulatory call Penguins' HCDB (Head Coach Dan Bylsma) got from President Barrack Obama the other day. Good stuff there. I don't recall any past practice of a sitting U.S. President calling the head coach of the team that wins the Stanley Cup to congratulate him, but perhaps I've missed that over the years since the Penguins haven't been the team winning that beautiful trophy. Or perhaps Obama just wanted to reach out and make another connection to the city he is notably fond of, after having made a similar congratulatory call to Pittsburgh Steelers' owner Dan Rooney after the Steelers won the Super Bowl in February.

Obama also invited the Penguins' team to the White House in the fall. Can't wait to see that happen.

I read just a few days ago about how sickened the Washington Capitals and their coach were at the Penguins' Cup triumph. Word is that, in the 20 or so minutes after the game, Caps' head coach Bruce Boudreau got about a half dozen texts from his players talking about how upset they were and how they couldn't bear to watch. Boudreau admitted he felt the same as that group of players -- a group that included Alexander Ovechkin and Mike Green.

All I can say is -- F' em. Washington was beaten by the better team in that series.

Another great story that surfaced following game 7 was the inspirational text messages from Mario Lemieux after game 5 and before the deciding contest.

Some of you may have read about this in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette already, but for those who missed it, Lemieux apparently met the players as they came off the ice following their game five beating at the hands of the Red Wings and offered his support. He then immediately met with Blysma to send the same message -- basically, "we'll be okay". Bylsma was so uplifted by Lemieux's calming presence, he told Pens' GM Ray Shero about it on the flight back to Pittsburgh after the game.

An impressed Shero then texted Lemieux to thank him. Lemieux immediately responded:

"We are a family and in this together. We don't need anyone that is only with us WIN or TIE. I really think this is our year. Let's forget about tonight ... it happens. We will win Tuesday and win the Cup Friday."

Shero showed the response to Blysma. Bylsma asked if he could forward that message to all the players.

Lemieux agreed.

Of course, after that message arrived, a motivated Pittsburgh team put forth an immensely focused effort to bounce back and win game 6, 2-1.

Then, on the morning of game 7, Lemieux asked Blysma if he could send one more text to the team. Bylsma agreed. It said:

"This is the chance of a lifetime to realize your childhood dream to win a Stanley Cup. Play without fear and you will be successful. See you at center ice."

We all know what happened that night.

I'll tell you ... that story inspires ME. And I'm just a fan.

Great work there by the Penguins' owner and legend, #66. It was great to see him lift the Cup over his head again, wasn't it?

On the ice, I still can't get over the work the Penguins did to come back and win the series. They were just fabulous in the final 2 games.

They were especially good defensively. In game 6, they only allowed 26 Detroit shots. In game 7, with their season on the line, the Red Wings were only able to put up 24 shots.

This from a team that regularly posts 35+ shots per game. The Penguins did a great job limiting Detroit when it mattered most. In the last 2 games, they only got goals from the likes of Kris Draper and rookie defenseman Jonathan Ericsson. No Henrik Zetterberg. No Pavel Datsyuk. No Nicklas Lidstrom. No Johan Franzen. And certainly No Marion Hossa.

Again, just great work there.

Pittsburgh also did a great job in game 7 creating turnovers and being physical. Detroit had 25 giveaways in game 7; the Penguins had only 14. Meanwhile, the Penguins had a whopping 44 hits in that final contest.

In short, the Penguins stuck to their game plan. They were aggressive. They were physical. They skated. They just played their game.

And it paid off in a championship.

Let's give further credit where it's due.

Marc-Andre Fleury was outstanding in the final 2 games. This guy was ripped in many media outlets for a game 5 performance that was unfairly laid at his feet. I was somewhat critical of Fleury myself. He could have been better on a few (but not all) of the goals against in game 5, but more importantly, his overall play in the series had been lacking somewhat. He was real good in game 4, but the long and short of it for Fleury after game 5 was simple:

He was capable of so much more.

We had seen Fleury steal several games in the playoffs up to that point, but none in the final round.

Well, games 6 and 7 had Fleury's imprint all over them.

Fleury played some of his best hockey in those 2 contests when it meant the most. If that won't get critics off his back, I'm not sure what will.

Let's also give some credit to the Penguins' depth players because without them, the Penguins' wouldn't still be reveling in the franchise's 3rd championship.

While Evgeni Malkin had a good series against Detroit, Sidney Crosby was put on lockdown by the Red Wings, finishing the series with only 3 points. Neither he nor Malkin scored in the final 3 games. Yet, the Penguins -- almost incredibly -- still won 2 of those contests to take the Cup.

Mainly this had to do with guys like Jordan Staal, Tyler Kennedy, Rob Scuderi and one other guy.

What's his name?

Oh yeah.

The Gamer, as the guys have come to label him.

Max Talbot.

While Staal, Kennedy and Scuderi were huge for the Penguins in those last 2 games, nobody was bigger than the game 7 hero who scored both goals, Mad Max.

I still think back to how big his goals were. His first goal gave the Penguins an all important lead.

When he scored his top shelf 2nd goal for a 2-0 Pens' lead, I almost lost my mind. I couldn't believe he was coming through for the Boys like that.

I'll never forget Talbot going down to his knees and pumping his fists after that second goal.

Talbot really is a "Superstar". I guess those A&L Motors commercials were true after all.

(On a side note, think Max is getting in that girl's pants now? Ha).

Anyway, in the championship round, Talbot scored 4 goals (more than any other player in the final) and added 2 assists. He finished the post-season with 8 goals, 2 more than the guy who wore #18 in Detroit.

We remember him, right?

The guy who left our team after last season's loss in the Final just to play for the enemy because he thought they had a better chance to win the Cup?

How gratifying it was to see him on the wrong end of the handshake line again this year.

If there's any justice in this world -- boy, that was it.

F- Hossa.

The fact is, Hossa had a bad playoff. He had only 6 goals, and all of those came in only 3 of the Red Wings' 23 playoff games. More importantly, when the games were the largest, he came up lame. Hossa had only 3 assists in the final and was mostly invisible in each game. Obviously he was affected by the pressure surrounding him in that series, but it's a bed Hossa made for himself.

With the Penguins' victory, HCDB became only the 2nd coach to be hired in mid-season and lead his team to the Holy Grail, and I think he was the latest to do it -- having been hired in mid-February.

It's just amazing to see what Blysma did with the team after he took over. I know there isn't a single fan who ever would have imagined him leading the Penguins to the Stanley Cup.

Speaking of leading Pittsburgh to the Silver Chalice, let me talk about Geno for a second or two.

Malkin, the winner of the 2009 Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, was outstanding in this year's post-season, after coming up a little lame in the playoffs for the Penguins' when it mattered most the last few playoff seasons.

Malkin was consistent throughout the playoffs. He posted 9 points in each round and had the most points in one post-season (36) since Wayne Gretzky had 40 sixteen years ago.

Malkin also was the youngest player to ever win the Conn Smythe. And the first russian-born player to do so.

While Sidney Crosby led all post-season goal scorers with 15, Malkin clearly was deserving of that award.

Speaking of Crosby, many people will end up forgetting the job the Penguins did without him in game 7 after he took that hit from Red Wings' LW Johan Franzen on the near boards early in the 2nd period. He was so banged up after the hit that, despite taking injections and painkillers, he could only take one shift the remainder of the game and was completely ineffective out there in doing so.

Our Captain -- the guy with perhaps the greatest drivetrain in the league, despite what Detroit coach Mike Babcock says about Zetterberg -- had to sit and watch his teammates do the job for him in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Really, though, it was only more justice.

Crosby has done so much for the Penguins. It was only fitting that the other guys lifted him up and helped finish the job for him.

I will never forget the feeling I had when Crosby finally lifted that Cup.

Seeing him carry that thing, and then hand it off to veteran guys like Bill Guerin (who last carried the Cup 14 years ago) and Sergei Gonchar (who had never won it and, in fact, had been outsted at Detroit's hands on 2 prior occasions) was something I can't put into words.

It had to be especially sweet for Gonchar who -- it was revealed in the days after the victory -- had been playing with a torn MCL thanks to the knee-on-knee hit laid on him by Ovechkin in game 4 of the 2nd round against Washington.

Even seeing the young guys like Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy get excited carrying that Cup was fabulous.

I don't want to say it was a once in lifetime event because the Penguins are well positioned to compete for the Cup in future years, but ...........

In my 26 years of following this game, I know how hard the Cup is to win, and how special it is when you do carry it. It's the hardest trophy to win in all of sports, and that's one of the things that makes it the best. You have to put forth an immense and unparalelled effort to lift that 35 pounds of silver and nickel above your head.

Only the most deserving team gets to do it.

The Penguins were definitely that team this year.

Where they rose from and where they finished is one special story.

More in the coming days, including a few more photos and some other team news as we approach the draft in 6 days, and free agency about 6 days after that.

I'll end this the same way I started.

I still can't get over it.

The Penguins won the Stanley Cup.