Archive for Pittsburgh Penguins
Changing of the Guard: More Young Leaders in Today’s Game Than Ever
Posted by: | CommentsThe NHL rulebook (Rule 6.1) states, “One captain shall be appointed by each team and he alone shall have the privilege of discussing with the Referee any questions relating to interpretation of rules which may arise during the progress of a game.” It then continues, “Only the Captain, when invited to do so by the Referee, shall have the privilege of discussing any point relating to the interpretation of rules.” There are some other items in the NHL rules that discuss the captain, but in reality, this is their designation. At the highest level though, being a captain is so much more. In the locker room, as well as off the ice, the team captain serves as the team leader.
With 25 year old Eric Staal being named captain of the Carolina Hurricanes on January 20, 2010, Eric is the newest team captain, and one of many young captains currently in the league. The NHL seems to be going through a bit of a paradigm shift with younger leaders being identified early, and given prominent roles of leadership.
Current Pittsburgh Penguins superstar and team captain Sidney Crosby was named the youngest permanent captain in league history (19 years, 9 months, and 24 days). This action seemed to spark a change, with many teams now employing a young superstar as the captain. All one has to do to notice the shift is to take a quick look at all the current team captains to see that the league is getting younger, and many times it is the team’s best young star that is the face of the franchise.
With teams trying to lock up their good young talent earlier and for longer and longer contracts, it seems to make sense for these talented young players to get the leadership role at a younger age. Chicago Blackhawks 21 year old star Jonathan Toews is currently the youngest serving captain in the league. Other youngsters who carry the “C” are Mike Richards in Philadelphia and Dustin Brown in Los Angeles, among others.
Sometimes, there is concern that these players are being handed leadership roles too early. Most of the players who get to the NHL were probably captains of many of their teams growing up, and are now arguably their professional team’s best player. These players are all highly skilled and have been in big games their whole life. The older players seem to understand this as well, and are all about the team winning, which in the end is ALWAYS the goal.
Click here for a quick look at all current captains in the league.
Currently there are two NHL teams with no serving captain, and oddly enough, they are arguably the two most storied franchises in the league. The Toronto Maple Leafs have not had a team captain since Mats Sundin left town, and the Montreal Canadiens chose not to name a new one when former captain Saku Koivu left for Anaheim in the off-season. The fact that these two teams were not ready to name a captain reveals the pressures captains have to deal with, both on and off ice. It also shows that these long time rivals and storied franchises don’t seem to have the people in place at this stage to feel comfortable giving that responsibility to anyone on their current squad. Not having a team captain on my favorite team (Montreal) is a bit weird for me, but if you look back on history and review past captains, you’ll note the intense pressure the team leader is subject to in that market. This being the case, it is probably for the best to wait until a solid leader emerges.
While the youth movement seems to be in full effect across the league, there are still many teams who have grizzled veterans as their leaders. The first two that come to mind for me are Niklas Lidstrom for the Detroit Red Wings and Scott Neidermayer of the Anaheim Ducks. Both players are former multiple-time Stanley Cup winners, and seem to have won just about everything. Lidstrom (aged 39), and Neidermayer (aged 36) are among the oldest team captains in the league, but 40 year old San Jose Shark Rob Blake is currently the oldest serving captain. These three vets provide a stable environment for youngsters to come up, and provide upper and middle management the assurances that come with a steady influence. The fact that any player in the league would love to have assembled a career that matches theirs is icing on the cake.
Captains have a huge role on the ice, but an even bigger role removed from playing the game itself. They must be able to handle the pressures of media both before and after games, as well as providing community support for their market. The “face of the franchise” is not at all a far off reach. Many have their own charities that they raise funds for, and they are also generally counted on by management to be the focal point of the teams’ charities (not to mention outreach events and ticket drives). In the off-season, the captain can be counted on to help out with recruiting, often giving a call to perspective free agents or welcoming new additions to the area. Small things like this do not go unnoticed, and you usually hear about it when the press conference happens for the big free agent signings each summer.
In the hobby, it almost always seems that the team captain will get significant hobby love, at least at the regional level. Because a team often has their most prominent player or superstar in this position, they will get a great amount of hobby action worldwide. Some of today’s biggest hobby superstars are captains. Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames), the previously mentioned Crosby and Toews, as well as Rick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets), Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta Thrashers) are just some of the hobby heroes that act as team captain.
History has also shown that team captains do very well in the hobby. A laundry list of who’s who in the hobby and still get featured regularly all acted as team captains. Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier and Jean Beliveau are some of the most prominent hits that can come out of any product. These players were known for majority of their careers as team captains, and are also known as some of the greatest leaders of all time.
One of the more recent cardboard tributes to captains was in 2006/07, when Upper Deck released the Parkhurst brand. This had a “Salute to Captains” subset, as well as an autographed parallel to most of the greats. These gave the collectors new and old a bit of a history lesson in some of the game’s great past leaders. This set was done very well, and remains a highly collected: it’s one of my personal favorites releases of all time.
2009-10 also marks the return of long time Red Wings captain and hobby hero Steve Yzerman to Upper Deck products, and that should get collectors going crazy over the prospect of some amazing cards with heroes of today and yesteryear. One can only imagine the possibilities the Upper Deck creative staff will be able to come up with for him. Past Red Wings stars like Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay and Alex Delvecchio and current Red Wings captain Nick Lidstrom should provide some great combinations for multi player signatures in sets like SPA, Ultimate and The Cup to name a few. With many a rabid Detroit fans, as well as those who collect Hall of Famer autographs, Yzerman will be a welcome addition to the lineup. I for one am looking forward to it.
Christopher Carmichael has been hockey fan of over 20 years. He has been an active member on various hobby related sites, most notably www.hobbyinsider.net, and www.cloutsnchara.com. Christopher is also a long time collector, with a focus on a few select player collections, and the occasional set projects.
Popularity: 42% [?]
Taking a Deeper Look at the NHL Scoring Race
Posted by: | CommentsOne surefire way to become a hero in the hobby market is by consistently putting up numbers. When you take a quick look at the scoring leaders, you will see familiar names Sidney Crosby (currently 4th), Joe Thornton (3rd) and Alexander Ovechkin (2nd) in points. All three of these players are typical hobby heroes. We all know who they are and expect them to put up the points they do while leading their teams to glory. Last year Thornton led the San Jose Sharks to the President’s Trophy as the top team overall in the regular season. Sidney Crosby, as we all know, was the youngest captain in the history of the NHL to hoist the Stanley Cup. And all Alexander the Great did was win his second straight Hart Trophy as league MVP; were it not for an early season injury, as well as a suspension, he would no doubt be leading in scoring at this point.
If you would have said that Vancouver Canuck forward Henrik Sedin would be leading the NHL scoring race at this point, you would probably have had a few people scratching their heads. Long an important part of the Canucks team success and a big part of the offense for the team, Henrik has taken his game to another level. Consider that brother and forever linemate Daniel Sedin has missed 18 games this season due to a broken foot and the fact that Henrik is atop the scoring race becomes all the more intriguing. Henrik has been on a tear for most of the season. Now that his brother is back, with Alex Burrows playing very well on the wing, they are one of the top lines in the league.
Sedin will be heavily counted on by both the Vancouver Canucks for the rest of the season, as well as the Swedish Olympic team. The cycle and puck possession game has been one of his strengths for years now, and it seems that his offensive game has come at a more regular rate this season.
Saturday night marks a key match-up for Sedin, as he faces who some say is the best player in the league, hobby superstar Sidney Crosby. The two superstars will face each other again in the 2010 Winter Olympics, where they will be on opposing sides as they both look to help propel their home countries to Olympic Gold. Sedin already has one Olympic gold in his possession from his run with the Swedish team in 2006. Crosby was part of the taxi squad and watched as the Canadian team finished a disappointing 7th at those games. While Crosby will be counted on to improve that, it will be a tall task to win gold on home soil. Sedin is hoping for more of the same, and winning gold in his club team’s city will no doubt hold special meaning for him.
Overall Sidney Crosby’s numbers appear to be down a bit from seasons past, but the Penguin star seems to be maturing into a more complete player. He far and away leads the league in face-off wins and seems to be playing in all situations much more then in seasons past. While I am sure that he would love for his offensive numbers be up some, I believe he would trade that fact for overall team success, as evidenced by the Stanley Cup win, and his desire to help Canada win its second gold in the past three Olympics.
Another NHL superstar is looking to lead his team and country to Olympic gold next month, and his all out offensive game could be the difference. Alexander Ovechkin is coming off of a five-point night against the Toronto Maple Leafs (1G, 4A +3), and is priming himself up for another run at NHL regular season awards. Recently named captain of the Washington Capitals after the departure of former captain Chris Clark via trade, it seems as though the changing of the guard in the American capital is complete.
Also among the scoring leaders at this point are talented New York Ranger forward Marian Gaborik, who missed the majority of last season, playing in only 17 games. The former Minnesota Wild winger, and recent free-agent acquisition, has been one of the lone bright spots for a Ranger team that has had trouble all year scoring goals. Currently on pace for nearly 50 goals, he is putting together the season many thought he would if he could stay healthy; no one has ever questioned the talent. Gaborik has some of the most diehard collectors out there, and, with him being in New York under the bright lights, has done nothing to push his collectors into looking elsewhere for something new.
Another pleasant surprise has to be the play of Dallas Star forward Bradley Glenn Richards, who is playing his best hockey since winning the Conn Smyth trophy as playoff MVP and the Lady Byng trophy for Sportsmanlike Conduct while helping the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup way back in 2003-04. Returning to the top 10 in league scoring has to be a great boost for the PEI native and his cards.
While there is still a lot of hockey left to be played this season, it is a nice time to take a look at where the league’s superstars are and what impact they are having both in the game and in the hobby. For both Crosby and Ovechkin, hobby superstardom is nothing new, and both will remain at the top of the current player hobby chain. and Guys like Joe Thornton and Marian Gaborik are legitimate hobby stars, and the door appears to be wide open for guys like Brad Richards to reclaim a spot among the elite players and re-establish his hobby following. Henrik Sedin to is poised to push beyond the local hobby markets of the Canadian Pacific coast and his native Sweden. Their continued success this year should be able to help each of them accomplish this.
Christopher Carmichael has been hockey fan of over 20 years. He has been an active member on various hobby related sites, most notably www.hobbyinsider.net, and www.cloutsnchara.com. Christopher is also a long time collector, with a focus on a few select player collections, and the occasional set projects.
Popularity: 39% [?]
A Look Back at the First Half of the 2009-2010 NHL Season
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Now that we’re a little more then halfway through the season, we can note surprises we’ve seen for teams and individuals in the sport. As always, these have a bearing on the collectability of teams and players.
We all have our own collecting habits within the hobby. Some of us are player collectors, while others go after anything to do with their respective favorite team. Some of are old fashion set builders; but in looking back on the first half of the season, I won’t focus too much on that at this stage.
In order to find some of the surprises on the team level, all one has to quickly do is look at the standings where they are right now and then take a quick look back at the preseason predictions in your favorite magazine to see which teams are exceeding expectations (think Phoenix Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Nashville Predators and the Buffalo Sabres). Of course, there are also teams that seem to be falling below expectations (see Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets).
One of the keys to almost all of these teams’ successes and/or failures starts in the net. Good goaltending keeps you in it. Just ask Colorado and Phoenix: without their number one goaltenders, they probably wouldn’t be in the positions they are in now.
Craig Anderson is turning out to be one of the best off-season signings in the league at this point. Anderson got off to a hot start, and has carried his play to be among the top ten in wins. This has helped Colorado into a playoff spot, and within only one point of the division lead. If you want to get in on the goods, you should be able to find many of his key rookie cards at relative bargains at this point. The journeyman has bounced around a bit, but seems to have found a home in the mountains of Denver.
Ilya Bryzgalov in Phoenix also led his team to a very surprising first half. Sitting at the top of the league in shutouts and in the top five in wins, Bryzgalov has his team currently sitting in a position to host in the first round of the playoffs. Putting it all together this season has been key for Ilya. His solid play led the team to many close game victories, and has made up for the lack of scoring overall among the players (Shane Doan leads the team with a mere 28 points in 45 games). Bryzgalov’s season has earned him a trip to Vancouver to be a part of the very strong Russian squad.
Ryan Miller is another goalie who seems to have figured out how to translate talent and potential into consistency at the highest level. He looks much more comfortable in the net, and seems to be able to put together a consistent effort each and every night. His abilities have never really been in question, but he has clearly taken his play to another level this year. He seems to be one of the consensus favorites at this point for the Vezina Trophy (top goalie), and has even entered into the discussion for the Hart Trophy as league MVP. Miller has also been a steadying influence on his team, and his play has allowed some of their forwards to battle through scoring droughts.
Another big reason for the Sabres success has been the fine play of rookie Tyler Myers. A man wall of a human standing 6-foot-7 (and only 19 years old), the 2008 first round pick (12th overall) is leading the team in ice time. His impact in the hobby is still growing, but people are not unhappy with pulling this young stud, who should only get bigger, nastier and stronger in the coming years. The comparisons to Zdeno Chara may not be that far off.
On the flip side, shaky goaltending has lead to some disappointment this year as well. One of the most notables is 2008-09 Rookie of the Year Steve Mason. Mason has struggled to this point in the season, but many believe his makeup will turn this into a learning experience, and he will bounce back. He’s still near the top of the rookie crop from last season and his items are still moving, just not quite at the levels they were at the end of last season and at the start of this season. His current goals against average of 3.31 ranks third last, and his save percentage is sitting at .890, second worst among qualified goaltenders. His play is only one part of Columbus’ struggles this year, but it certainly hasn’t provided the steadying influence he provided last year. I do look for him to bounce back, but I am not sure it will be while Ken Hitchcock is behind the bench.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were not expected to win the Stanley Cup this year by any stretch . . . but when your General Manager proclaims that the team will be in the playoffs, and then goes out and spends money on a rugged defense and brings in a sniper (Phil Kessel), expectations tend to get higher. I heard yesterday that in half of the games the team has played, they have been behind 2-0. That is simply not getting key saves.
Jonas Gustavsson has been just ok in the net, while Vesa Toskala has been nothing short of brutal. Gustavsson seems to have a high ceiling both in terms of play and within the hobby, and with a nickname “The Monster”, that is a good thing. The high profile Maple Leafs have a very dedicated collector base and they seem to be pinning a lot on the youngster at this point.
Rookies are always one of the most collected aspects within the hockey community. I have touched on a couple already in Tyler Myers as well as Jonas Gustavsson, but the king of the rookies this year is clearly John Tavares. He stands alone at the top of the rookie chain with his appearance coming out of a pack usually followed by a fist pump or a “Right On”. “JT” leads all rookies in goal scoring as well as in points, and seems primed for a big second half now with his feet wet and a half season under his belt. His cards should remain hot, especially with some of the first hard signed autographs to come out in the second half of the season. Look for a lot of movement once products like SPA, and Ultimate come out. SPx marks the first autographed rookie cards of this year’s season, so those should see a lot of action on the secondary market as well.
Second overall pick in 2007, James van Reimsdyk has not let his debut season go to waste either. “JVR”, is a big kid with big skills. With six points in his past three games, and only two points behind Tavares for the rookie lead, James also appears to be setting the tone for the second half of the season. Playing in Philadelphia should help his collectability: he has been on our radar for years, so it is great to see him making an impact, both on the ice and in the hobby.
Other rookies making an impact on their respect teams at this stage include Matt Duchene, Ryan O’Reilly and T.J. Galiardi in Colorado, Victor Hedman in Tampa Bay, as well as Evander Kane in Atlanta.
Offensive and hobby superstars Alexander Ovechkin (who has recently been named team captain in Washington), and Sidney Crosby (who recently won the Lou Marsh award as Canada’s top athlete), continue their solid play and retain their thrones as the hobby superstars. Never a bad pull and recognized by even the casual hockey fan and collector, they continue to lead the hobby along with the season’s top rookies.
A couple of nice surprises at this point in the season include Henrik Sedin currently leading the NHL in points. Some doubters previously thought he could only perform with his brother Daniel, but now his play has people wondering how far ahead he might be if Daniel wasn’t injured for a significant amount of time earlier in the season. His 61 points set him three clear of any other player at this point.
Marian Gaborik is also a nice surprise: the former Minnesota Wild third overall pick has stayed relatively healthy this year and is leading the league in goals scored. Good thing too, as the New York Rangers have really struggled putting the puck in the net, and without signing him, it’s safe to say they’d be much lower in the standings.
Other key offseason moves that have resulted in quality results have Dany Heatley paired with Joe Thronton and Patrick Marleau to form arguably the most potent line in the NHL right now, with all three being selected to Canada’s 2010 Olympic roster because of the chemistry they bring each night. Another key move was one that was actually not made, as the Chicago Blackhawks did not resign Nikolai Khabibulin (who signed with Edmonton and has battled injuries). Instead, Cristobal Huet be the number one goalie, and has combined with rookie Antti Niemi for seven shutouts to this point in the season. They are currently sitting number one overall in the league.
As the season gears up for the Olympic break, trade deadline, as well as the final playoff push, there is a lot to look forward to. I expect some big time player movement this year, as some teams are desperate to make the playoffs. While others look for that one last piece to make them a championship team, others will look to the future.
In the hobby, we as collectors can look forward to some of the higher end releases to come, which should keep us all busy as we track down the cards that we look to add to our collections. This time of year can be really fun both on the ice, and in the hobby shop!
Christopher Carmichael has been hockey fan of over 20 years. He has been an active member on various hobby related sites, most notably www.hobbyinsider.net, and www.cloutsnchara.com. Christopher is also a long time collector, with a focus on a few select player collections, and the occasional set projects.
Popularity: 38% [?]
Brag Photo of the Week: The Giant Sidney Crosby In Our Lobby
Posted by: | CommentsLast weekend was a pretty exciting one for sports: the Lakers won the NBA Finals, and the Penguins took the Stanley Cup from the defending champion Detroit Red Wings in enemy territory. Doesn’t get much better than that. And while everyone here at Upper Deck has their favorite athletes and teams (especially those who came here from areas other than San Diego), we all find ourselves cheering for athletes who work with our company. Like Kobe Bryant and Sidney Crosby.
So right after Marc-André Fleury made those incredible saves in the final seconds of Game 7 to bring the Cup back to Pittsburgh, I immediately knew what this week’s Brag Photo had to be. Behold: the giant Sidney Crosby in our lobby!
Sidney is actually located right by the steps to the second floor, so if you work up here (as I do), you’ll see him first thing in the morning, and at the end of the day on your way home. Being that it’s an Upper Deck item, no detail is too small.
If you spotted the sign on his base, or are familiar with Upper Deck products, you’ll notice that this Sid the Kid is actually a much larger version of the All-Star Vinyl product that also bears his likeness. I can say with a good amount of confidence that you’re unlikely to ever obtain this giant one that greets us each day, but luckily the market version is just as detailed, and can fit comfortably on your desk without crushing it.
Fortunately for collectors, these items have a fairly limited print run, so you may have some trouble finding this particular Sidney (though I encourage you to look at your local hobby store). If the Penguins aren’t your team, or hockey isn’t your thing, we currently have Eli Manning, Kevin Garnett and LeBron James in stock in the online store, so click here to check those out. Not to mention, two very cool Vinyls from the Legends Series:
I’m not aware of any current plans for a giant Muhammad Ali, but if we did produce one, the champ would provide me with deep inspiration to come up with great one-liners on a daily basis. A boy can dream.
Keep visiting every Friday for more Brag Photos: even though we have lots of cool items in the warehouse, the game-used room or deep in the vaults under lock and key, some of our most unique items like the Giant Sidney are in plain sight on a daily basis. You’d normally only see these if you’re an employee, a visitor or a lucky sweepstakes winner, but I’ll be showing them off right here on the blog.
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Penguins Skate the Cup: C’est Magnifique!
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s a good bet a lot of the revelry Friday night in the Penguins locker room after they clinched the Stanley Cup in Detroit was in French.
Friday’s climactic Game 7 had a very French-Canadian flavor to it, with six of the players skating the Cup for the winning team hailing from the province of Quebec — including Max Talbot, who scored both goals in Pittsburgh’s 2-1 victory at Joe Louis Arena, and Marc-Andre Fleury, whose goaltending in Games 6 and 7 was the single-most crucial factor in the Pens successfully overcoming a 3-2 series deficit. In addition to Talbot and Fleury, Kris Letang, Pascal Dupuis, Phillipe Boucher and backup goalie Mathieu Garon were all born in Quebec.
Talbot and Fleury are good friends, and have a pre-game ritual performed in French in which they “talk about their boyhood days, their shared experiences on the Canadian junior teams, [and] their good fortune in getting paid to play hockey on its highest level,” explains Robert Dvorchak of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The Penguins carried play in the first period, but went to the dressing room unrewarded on the scoreboard. Then Talbot serendipitously found the puck on his stick after Brad Stuart’s ill-advised clearing attempt out of his corner glanced off Evgeni Malkin’s skate and right to the Lemoyne native, and Talbot didn’t miss. It was a huge goal, and sucked the life out of the Joe Louis Arena crowd. After Talbot went down the line in front of his bench to get the customary fist bumps, he took a few strides toward his buddy, exchanged a meaningful glance and a fist pump for Fleury, as if to say “OK, we got one. Now it’s your turn.”
On the other end of the ice, it was clear early that Fleury was just as engaged in Game 7 as he was in Game 6 in Pittsburgh, and it was going to be really tough for the Red Wings to beat the Sorel native on this night. He was reading plays very well, his positioning was flawless and there was a sense he might just pitch a shutout. Indeed Detroit didn’t get on the scoreboard until only about 6 minutes remained in the contest, on a goal by rookie defenseman Jonathan Ericsson through a screen that Fleury likely never saw. While he may have caught a break when Niklas Kronwall’s blast smacked loudly off the crossbar with about 2 minutes left, he saved his best stop of the evening for last, desperately flinging his body in front of Nicklas Lidstrom’s last-gasp shot from point-blank range with a second remaining. It was a pretty good scoring chance, given the circumstances, and Fleury’s lunging save will be one of the enduring images from the game, along with the scruffy-looking, yet baby-faced Sidney Crosby triumphantly holding the Cup over his head, a coronation not just for Sid the Kid and the Penguins, but seemingly a new generation of NHL superstars.
Another image that will stay with me is that of another Quebecer, Mario Lemieux, the new unofficial mayor of Pittsburgh, again hoisting the Cup over his head 17 years after winning the second of back-to-back championships with the Penguins in 1991 and ’92, and listening to the effusive praise from Talbot, who was being interviewed by Pierre McGuire on NBC at the time, for Mario:
“When he’s in the room, he pushes us,” Talbot said, mentioning that Lemieux delivered a note to the team before Game 7. “He’s an unbelievable guy, and he’s a winner. Once again.”
Lemieux hoisting the Cup, then and now.
Earlier last week, another of the Pens Francophiles, spare defenseman Boucher from St. Apollinaire, told Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review what Lemieux means to French Canadians: “When French Canadians think of hockey, [Lemieux’s name] is the one that comes to mind.”
Having said that, while French Canadians can and should continue to take pride in the gracious Montreal native, Lemieux now belongs as much to Pittsburgh as he does to his native province, and probably more so.
Mario Lemieux Upper Deck Original Art
Is it possible for any person in sports history to endear themselves to a fan base more than Lemieux, who is as much a part of the fabric of Pittsburgh as the steel industry, and the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers? He has now saved the Penguins franchise in Pittsburgh twice over, first vaulting the club from irrelevant, laughable bottom-dwellers to perennial Cup contenders upon his entry into the league in 1984-85. He played his entire spectacular 17-year career with the Pens, then bought the team in 1999 by turning the money owed him by the team in the form of deferred salary into equity in the franchise, saving the Pens from bankruptcy that very nearly led to the team’s extinction in Pittsburgh. They were close to either moving or folding completely, but Lemieux’s plan to pay all the team’s creditors was successful, and now they will play one more season in the NHL’s oldest building, Mellow Arena, affectionately known as “The Igloo,” before moving into a shiny new home beginning with the 2010-11 season, thanks to Mario.
And of course, he’s been Crosby’s landlord and surrogate father since Sid joined the Penguins in 2005.
Rossi says the Penguins are thinking of placing a statue of Lemieux outside the new Consol Energy Center when it opens, but the humble owner would have to OK that arrangement.
Some random thoughts and notes: As mentioned Friday, it had been 30 years since a visiting team in either the Stanley Cup Finals, World Series or NBA Finals won a Game 7 on the road — the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s only happened three times in NHL history, the last time coming in 1971, when the Montreal Canadiens bested the Chicago Black Hawks. That series played out the same way as this one did, with the home team winning the first six games before the Habs broke serve in Game 7.
• For those that may have forgotten, it was Talbot who scored with 35 seconds left in regulation last year that tied Game 5 and denied Detroit the privilege of celebrating another Cup on home ice, when the Penguins went on to win that contest in three overtimes before bowing out in Game 6.
• I enjoy playing fantasy hockey in the winter, and next year I’m making it a priority to target Jordan Staal, who I think grew by leaps and bounds this postseason. I think Letang is another guy who will be undervalued heading into 2009-10.
• One of this offseason’s more interesting unrestricted free agents, in my opinion, is stay-at-home defenseman Rob Scuderi. He will surely require a raise from his $725,000 salary of 2008-09.
• When commissioner Gary Bettman handed the Cup to the 21-year old Crosby, Sid became the youngest captain in NHL history to hoist sports most treasured trophy, just as he was the youngest player in history to be named an NHL captain before the 2007-08 season. Malkin (22) is the third-youngest player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.
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