It’s Time To Eat Crow . . .
PITTSBURGH WANTS DETROIT: No one in the Pens organization will say this. So I’ll say it for them. Bring on the Red Wings. Even though the Chicago Blackhawks aren’t dead yet, they are excrutiatingly close to their demise and to be honest, I’d rather take on Detroit.
Sure, there’s that sense of redemption in having the oppotunity to beat the team that beat you last year on the biggest stage in your sport. And that would add to the ecstacy of hoisting the Stanley Cup and bringing it back to Pittsburgh. But could it get any better than that?
Oh yes. It could . . . being able to wash the sour taste Marian Hossa left in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization and
Marian Hossa's Lasting Image As A Penguin
fanbase’s mouths as he choose a single year deal to play for the team that won the Cup over them just a season ago, would be a bonus.
After playing in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals with the Penguins, Hossa said he’d “definitely take less money to play on a winning team.” So he promptly spurned a four to five year deal at over $7 million annually, that would have given him stability on a squad fresh off a finals run, featuring the league’s two best players, opting for a one year deal at $7.4 million to play for the Champion Red Wings who can’t put butts in the seats.
I guess Detroit got the SELL OUT they were looking for . . .
The question is, did Hossa’s departure actually help the Penguins? Would Pittsburgh have had the cash to sign more players and gain the depth and experience needed to make their incredible second half season and playofff run if they had inked him?
The addition of Stanley Cup Champions Billy Guerin, Chris Kunitz and Ruslan Fedtenko have injected a stability and calmness that has enhanced the Pens’ conspicuous “we’ve been here before” attitude that they have adopted throughout the playoffs. They seem more confident and driven having experienced the bright lights of a deep playoff run and aren’t fazed by the magnitude of their success so far. We’ll see if the outcome is different if the Red Wings beat Chicago tonight to make it the first Stanley Cup Finals rematch since the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders in 1984. And we all know what happened then . . .
By the way, Guerin (14) has 2 more playoff points that Hossa, who has equaled the production of the other winger Pittsburgh brought on this year to play on Crosby’s line, Chris Kunitz, and not to mention Pens’ defenseman, Sergei Gonchar, with 12.
It’s time to eat crow, Hossa.
Or should we say, it’s time to choke on Penguin? Pittsburgh is going to be shoving the puck down Detroit’s throat.
But I’m not bitter . . .
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