Sam Rosen says it's Over

It's over on Broad Street for sure. These Penguins remind me of the Oilers before they all became Rangers.

A look back in hockey history for today.
May 14 1987 - Montreal Canadien agitator Claude Lemieux spark's a pre-game brawl with the Flyers with his tradition of firing a puck into the oppenent's open net during pre-game warm-ups. He is pummeled by Ed 'Boxcar' Hospodar, yet no penalties are assessed since the game hadn't started yet.
For the bonus points, who was the other player that waited around with Hospodar after warm-ups to jump Lemieux before the game?

Hmmm, Hospodar was fighting with Shayne Corson, but I wouldn't say that Chico Resch was part of the jumping, he just tried to stop the whole puck-shooting thing.

Here is Hospodar's finest moment, courtesy of Clark Gillies, and with a tip of the cap to Joe Bondi...



T

All credit to the Penguins, but it is a shame that the Flyers are without Timonen and Coburn. It hasn't been the match-up that had been promised without them in the lineup.

Flyers fans that are unhappy with our team are morons, because they're playing their hearts out in every game. Derian Hatcher in game 2 was heroic, but everyone's on his case because, after 28 minutes on the ice at the age of 37, he couldn't quite get to Malone in time. It's a Greek tragedy...

The Penguins are playing some amazing hockey and the finals against Detroit should be a thousand miles an hour.

Crosby is whiny punk, though. He's terrible for hockey. A spoiled brat who's been told he's the greatest thing since Gretsky and he believes it. Even Gretsky didn't believe he was as great as Gretsky. Malkin and Hossa are far more impressive players because they're just as skillful and they play tough and confident.

And I knew the answer to your trivia question, Chris, but Terry beat me to it. There's a great version of the story in the book "In the Crease", in which Chico tells how Ed jumped on Claude and started pounding him, and Chico just thought they were there to block the shot. So he skated over and said "Ed, what the hell are you doing?", at which point Claude looked up from being face down on the ice, while Ed was punching him, and said "Yeah Ed, what the hell are you doing?"

Damn, I thought I had a challenge for you guys. I love Chico.

The whole Crosby thing is sad, really, because the kid is GREAT.  Like Mario great.  But without a really solid role model to slap him when he does stupid shit, he is turning into a little bitch.  Give me Malkin everytime, because when he does get held or hooked he fights through it, in true power forward style.  Maybe Crosby will grow up some and just PLAY instead of looking for the cheap advantage, but unless someone over there starts to call him on it I don't think it will happen.

I wish we got to see more Detroit games out here, which is a roundabout way of calling myself lazy, since I have NHL Center Ice on my computer and could probably watch 50 or 60 Wings games a year, if I just used it more often.  The things that Zetterberg and Datsyuk combine to pull off are just amazing, and a real treat to watch.  Right now Dallas is giving them all they can handle in the first period of game four, but Dallas looks desparate, and not in the good way.

T

Well the Big Red Machine made it official last night, handling the Team of Destiny, and winning the Cup.

While Fleury was able to steal a couple of games for Pittsburgh, this final was simply a good team playing a great team, and the result was really never in doubt.  Pittsburgh was outplayed, outshot and outchanced in every game, Crosby and Malkin never found the time and room they needed to generate real offense, and Fleury's heroics could only go on so long.

Zetterberg was awarded the Conn Smyth, and deservedly so, he was dangerous every time he touched the puck, and he shut down Crosby's offense almost completely.

An excellent playoffs for the NHL this year, some very exciting series and a couple of games for the history books.

Can't wait for next season, go Blue!!!

T