Playoff Beard - The Conclusion

With last night's victory over the Penguins at Mellon Arena, the Detroit Red Wings are the Stanley Cup Champions. Congratulations to them and to their fans. Thanks for a great series.

Thanks also to the Pens themselves, who showed a lot of heart in battling to the final seconds. They deserved the cheers of the home faithful after the horn sounded last night. It's been a great season, and I look forward to many more.

Finished also is this season's playoff beard, to which I have bid a fond adieu.

Playoff Beard #25 - Penguins vs. Red Wings, Game 6 Stanley Cup Finals

No matter what happens tonight, the Penguins will take to the Mellon Arena ice for the final time this season.

No matter what happens, they have played with heart, with grit, with determination, and with unity.

No one can take away what this team has meant to its fans, to its city, and to the players themselves.

Game 6--the first Game 6 the Pens have played in this postseason, and the last home game--begins in a few short minutes.

After the marathon of Game 5, they've been beaten up.


But they're not beaten.




















LET'S GO PENS!

Game 6 isn't until tomorrow...

... but I just wanted to make note of the fact that the Pens remain alive in the Stanley Cup Finals after a cardiac-inducing, triple-overtime win on Detroit's home ice.

The lessons from all of this?

1. Never relent. Talbot scored with less than a minute remaining, even as the Cup was being polished backstage and someone was icing down the champagne in the Wings locker room.
2. Petr Sykora can channel Babe Ruth. Sykora, who hadn't scored a goal in this series and who was the subject of injury speculation, called his shot when told NBC's Pierre McGuire during OT #2 that he would score the game-winner. He also allegedly told his teammates exactly how he'd do it--"high, glove side" on Chris Osgood A man of his word, he did exactly that. Amazing.

Game 6 is tomorrow, back in the Igloo, at 8 pm. Until then, like the Pens themselves, the playoff beard (not pictured here) also remains.

LET's GO PENS!

Playoff Beard #24 - Penguins @ Red Wings, Game 5 Stanley Cup Finals

Because you can find elsewhere all manner of recaps, insight, and other related writings about Saturday's Game 4, let me sum up my own feelings about that game thusly:

If the team can't score on a 5-on-3--hell, if they can't carry the puck in on a 5-on-3--they can't expect to win.

Game 5 is tonight in Detroit. If the Red Wings bring another three periods of stifling defense and puck possession, and the Penguins again fail to solve that particular riddle, the Wings will hoist the Cup.

If there's anything going in the Pens' favor, though, it's that they know what they need to do--as evidenced by this excerpt from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

About 20 minutes after a crushing Game 4 loss on Saturday, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby interrupted a reporter's question.

Crosby felt obliged when the reporter said, "You have to win three in a row ... "

"We have to win one," Crosby said. "We have to win one to get back (to Mellon Arena for Game 6)."

It's once again do-or-die time for Pittsburgh--and back in hostile territory, no less. They've come a long way since those first two at Joe Louis Arena. We'll see if they can go far enough to bring things back to the 'Burgh one more time.

That said, here's what may be the final playoff beard pic of the season:

















LET'S GO PENS!

Playoff Beard #23 - Penguins vs. Red Wings, Game 4 Stanley Cup Finals

The Penguins pulled out a 3-2 victory in Game 3, the first of the Finals in front of the home crowd in the Igloo. At first, it lookd like a continuation of the first two contests, with the Pens on their heels, unable to get their offense going.

That all changed when Sid Crosby took advantage of a bad clearing pass by the Wings, stole the puck in Detroit's end, and made a beeline with Marian Hossa for the net. Crosby put the puck off Osgood's leg and the Pens were on the board for the first time in the series.

Once that spell was broken, the Pens were a different team.

As Pat at Igloo Dreams put it so well:

The Pens found a way.

They found a way to score first.

They found a way to score on the power play.

They found a way to get a goal from an unlikely source.

They found a way to keep Detroit in check.

They found a way to win.

Crosby went on to add another goal, as did Adam Hall (again, as Sid did, using Osgood's body to bank the puck in). Brooks Orpik went on to hit everything red-and-white in his sight. And the Pens extended their home win streak to 17 total, and 9 in the playoffs.

Tonight's Game 4 is another d0-or-die for the Penguins. Win, and they're tied with the Wings at two games apiece headed back to Joe Louis Arena Monday night. Lose, and they're in a 3-1 hole and all but done.

I think they'll win it; the confidence level is high after finally solving Osgood and the Detroit D, after witnessing the benefits of finishing checks, and after getting back in front of the Mellon Arena faithful. All of that should carry over into tonight's matchup.

With that, here's your playoff beard pic of the day; though it's hard to tell in this shot, I am wearing my Pens hat and shirt. In the words of David Puddy: "Gotta support the team."

















LET'S GO PENS!

Playoff Beard #22 - Penguins vs. Red Wings, Game 3 Stanley Cup Finals

Well, it's do-or-die time for the Penguins.

Game 2 in Detroit went much like Game 1; the Pens were stifled when trying to move the puck, could barely register any shots on goal, didn't convert on power plays, and failed to score a single goal. New to the equation this time around--obvious frustration that manifested itself in scrums and roughing calls. And while I agree that it's less than classy to dole out noggin shots to the guy who just returned from a concussion... it's just as classless for the team dominating the game to resort to flopping around on the ice like a landed fish at the barest nudge from an opposing player.

Tonight, the Pens will be back in the Igloo, in front of another white-out home crowd. Though the Pens are 8-0 at home on in the playoffs and riding a 16-0 home-ice winning streak that dates back to late February, this is the first time in this postseason that they'll play at home with their back to the proverbial wall.

Darryl Sydor will start on D for the first time in the playoffs, replacing Kris Letang. I hope this move, and whatever else Therrien might have in his bag of tricks, will push the Pens to the next level.

I hope Therrien quits whining about cheating and bad officiating.

I hope Geno Malkin shows up for a change.

I hope the Pens can salvage a little dignity by at least scoring a goal.

And though the warm summer weather approaches... I hope my playoff beard makes it to June.

















LET'S GO PENS!

Playoff Beard #21 - Penguins @ Red Wings, Game 2 Stanley Cup Finals

Game 1 saw the Penguins go down to the Red Wings 4-0 in what was initially a scoreless defensive struggle. Once the Wings broke the stalemate in the second period, though--on a wraparound goal that Fleury was very late getting to--the clampdown came. The Pens shot in the single digits in the second and third periods, and had trouble keeping the puck in the offensive zone.

In the meantime, Michel Therrien has taken the initiative to juggle his lines. Though some see this as a panic move, it's actually in character for him. When something works, he sticks with it. When it doesn't, he makes changes.

Both Gary Roberts and Johan Franzen are expected to return to the ice tonight, as well.

Game 2, tonight at 8. After that (hopefully), we go even up and head back to the Igloo for two.

And here's your beard pic du jour:

















LET'S GO PENS!