This year stanley Cup was Close. but if you look at it the pens could've beaten the wings. do you agree?

Question

This year stanley Cup was Close. but if you look at it the pens could've beaten the wings. do you agree?

Answer 1

The Wings were flat-out dominant. They had depth, balance and a game plan that Therrien could not counter. The Pens were out-manned, Out-gunned, out-played and out-coached. Sorry

This was the first series in a long while where coaching was a significant factor in deciding the winner. When you consider the experience and talent on the Detroit lineup, the fact that Babcock's contributions were so critical says a lot for his coaching ability.

Answer 2

No I don't.

No matter how you shake and bake it, the Wings were going to win this one. Of course there is always a chance any team can beat any other team. But I don't think there is a team in the NHL this season that was going to stop the Big Red Machine.

Answer 3

everyone has mentioned the skill tools the red wings came in with... I think many people forget a couple of other factors.

The front office has made the right moves to put the team in a position to win it all. I'll never understand how to build a Stanley Cup champion with a salary cap!

Also, I think the red wings' attitude is something that all the guys have bought in to and that comes from earlier successful experiences the past 11 years. At least to the casual observer, the core of players have kept hockeytown's traditions in place for the younger players to accept with regard to getting the work done and putting team first.

Sprinkle on a little 'family' seasoning ( bringing back McCarty, Drake, and Osgood) and the recipe seemed complete.

Answer 4

Not really. Detroit out played the Pens for a vast majority of the series. They controlled the puck a lot, limited the amount of shots on goal the Pens got, and kept the Pens star players away from the net. Plus Detroit's depth offensively was getting a majority of the goals. (seriously 3 goals by Samuelsson?!?)

Answer 5

they really never had a chance, detroit skates 4 lines deep, and when they lose, its always the same story, they lose by a goal, and outplay, and outshoot their opponents by a huge margain...just like in the triple overtime game....pens fans are probably not gonna like next year for sure, they cant afford all those young stars...gonna be a WAY different team next year

Answer 6

Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda .. at times Fleury played like God and at others like a Sieve (don't take that personally Gonch)

Answer 7

No.  The pens were lucky to win two games.

Answer 8

I have to agree with the majority of the posters. The Redwings outplayed the Penguins in every aspect of the game.

If it were not for Bettman this series would have been over in 4 games. He wanted the exposure to increase revenue for the NHL.

Matter of fact, Bettman is still buttsore that Detroit won game 6, against his wishes. Detroit will be in the doghouse next year with the NHL. Expect even more lopsided officiating against them as that is the only way he can keep the Redwings down.

Answer 9

hindsight is always 20/20 if Osgood wasnt Osgreat if Lidstrom was injured and wings in a slump then yeah. then we could always say if Fluery wasnt on his marks it could have been over in 4. the stars were lined for another wings cup. take nothing from the pens they were a great challenge and had every right to be thier

Answer 10

COULD have won, ANY team COULD win, but they didn't.

Answer 11

No, it was inevitable that the Wings won.  They almost won in 5.

Answer 12

wings were just more experienced. the pens are a great team i agree...and in a few years...with good management and coaching; they can be the dynasty of the east.

Answer 13

No, because it was never close to begin with. Everybody knew the Wings were going to win, except for the Penguins bandwagon. If you want a close Final, look up the stats for the 'Canes/Oilers right after the lockout.

Answer 14

No. If you actually watched the games, you'd have seen the Penguins were badly outplayed even in their two wins. Fleury was the only thing keeping them alive.

Answer 15

No, I knew the Red Wings were going to win it.  My hope was for Dallas to beat them, but that did not happen.

Answer 16

Well, they didnt, so I guess that means they could'nt, huh??? Its not stats that win games, its heart, effort, desire and all your players coming to play every night. When  a guy the Pens depend on, like Malkin for instance, puts up a series like he did,  winning is not an option. Some guy brought it each game, others just looked happy to be there.

Answer 17

they could've won if osgood wasn't so amazing

but don't worry pens will get it once they're older

and more experienced.

Answer 18

Nope.  Pens could barely keep up to the wings and without fleury i dont think they would have won any games in the cup finals

Answer 19

no the red wings have more talent than the pens...i mean c'mon datsyuk and zetterberg are the deadliest duo EVER...i mean yzerman and shannahan was good...but not this good...not to mention that they had the best defense...they just were not letting anything get by the blues lines...im sorry but the pens would have never won

Answer 20

Not really, the last four games were close score-wise, but it was clear the Wings dominated them.  Two long 5-on-3's were also killed by the Wings.  The Wings had a goal disallowed in Game 1 which they had to fight against.  The Pens were outshot 222-142 in the series.  That is an average of 13.3 per game.  The Pens were shut out twice.  Detroit clearly was the better team.  Of course this is hockey and anything can happen with injuries and bounces, so if you look at it that way then any team could have beaten the Wings or Pens.  But usually the best team wins, and in this case it is most definitely true, and if it wasn't for the bad injuries to Schneider, Kronwall, and Holmstrom last year... this probably would be a repeat.  Another factor in the Cup winner is usually they are the healthiest.  They only had to contend with one "major" injury... Franzen's headaches.  This wasn't a problem because Detroit's success comes from their defensemen.  If they lost one of their top four defensemen, then it would have been different.

Odds are that a healthy Wings team in the spring of 2009 will spell Stanley Cup once again.

Answer 21

Final Score.. Wings 17, Pens 10

Final SOGs... Wings 222, Pens 142

The Wings Outhit the Pens by almost double

The Wings won more than 33% more Face-offs

The Wings won on the PENS ice 2 times

The series wasnt as close as you think it was when you total up all the stats. The only game that the PENS outplayed the Wings in intensity was game 3.

The PENS gave it a shot and never quit, but they were outmatched from the start. In fact, without Fleury stepping it up in game 3 and game 5, it would have been a lot uglier than it was.

Answer 22

No the red wings are awesome and no team could have beaten them

Answer 23

It wasn't as close as you are projecting it.  The biggest factor is age.  The core players from the Red Wings are between 27 and 30 with some exceptions higher and lower.  The core players from the Penguins are between 19 and 22.  The Penguins will have their time and I predict that they will win at least one cup in Sid's time but they went through a situation similar to what the '83 Oilers did.  They needed to lose this series in order to learn how to win the next opportunity they get.  It's part of the process.

Answer 24

If these were football games instead of Hockey games this question wouldn't have been asked.

Football has a stat called Time of Possession. Pittsburgh almost never had the puck in 5 of the 6 games. Their win in the OT game was more fluke than management and they weren't in the four games that Detroit won. It was a one sided series and a romp for Detroit.

Sorry

Answer 25

If If If and only pens won they would have struggled alot wings wrapped up the series in game 5 almost and 2 shutouts

pens won game 3 and 5

wings won game 1, 2, 4, 6

4-2

pens couldnt have won

Answer 26

Yeah they were nervous the 1st 2 games it was obvious!

Answer 27

I'm a Pens fan, always have been, but the Wings were the better team this year. Even behind 60-year-old Nick Lidstrom, they didn't win the President's Trophy--and the Stanley Cup--for nothing.