East Meets West, Young Meets Old
May 20th, 2008 by Jason ChenChris Chelios had already played 61 playoff games before Sidney Crosby was even born. In fact, Chelios’ 260 career playoff games is 28 more than Crosby’s career NHL games, regular season and playoffs. Nicklas Lidstrom has also logged over 200 playoff games, while the Pens’ most experienced playoff veteran is 36-year old Darryl Sydor, but he has yet to play in the playoffs this year. 41-year old Gary Roberts has only played in 6 games.
The average of the Detroit lineup is 31 years, while Pittsburgh’s is 27.5. Experience will be a key factor in this series, and will perhaps be discussed most should the Pens lose the series in a convincing fashion (they won’t). The young Pittsburgh squad is relentless on offense, and has enough talent and skill on their roster to make you pay dearly for your mistakes. Arguably, this team boasts the best 1-2 centremen in history. They thrive off their forecheck and speed, using their talented kids to quickly make the play go the other way. They have enough size and grit on the backend to force you to work in the corners and a hot goalie in net to make the big saves.
Detroit, on the other hand, thrives on puck possession, and has enough depth to make all four lines dangerous, not to mention the fact that their best players average around 25-30 minutes per game. Their best players play in all situations of the game, a testament to their hockey instincts and dependability. They will pass the puck around efficiently and cleanly until they find the open man, and if that doesn’t work they can grind it out too. They also have the odd player or two that can bust a move and make your defense look like they belong in a house league. On defense they have arguably the best to ever play the game, whose played with all-stars from three separate decades. In net they have a goalie whose renewed and solidified himself as the starter, finding himself in a situation similar to one ten years ago.
Both teams have come a long way, and no two teams that have been as dominant as these two have met in the finals in what will be the most entertaining finals in the past decade. Maturity is key in the playoffs, but so is youthful exuberance and a passion for the game. If Detroit wins, they’ll say it’s justified - the Pens were too young, and perhaps next year, when they are more mature and have seen the champions face to face, will bring better fortunes. If Pittsburgh wins, it’ll mark the dawn of a new era, led by two 20-somethings whose playoff beards make Scott Niedermayer’s look like the Amazon Jungle.
But of course, no European captain has ever lifted the Stanley Cup since the NHL became the only league to compete for it in 1926. I find it hard to argue against 82 years of history.
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2 Responses to “East Meets West, Young Meets Old”
By Ian on May 20, 2008
so your call is the Pens then?
By Jason C on May 20, 2008
Yup.