Let me start out by apologizing for not having my finals preview posted in time. But, if you read my previews for each round then you should know who I thought was going to take home the cup. Or was that the case?

With their sweep of the Hurricanes in the Conference Finals, and the injuries the Red Wings were facing, I jumped off the Red Wings bandwagon and hopped on to Pittsburgh’s (Luca as my witness).

Pitt went down 0-2 in the series, as the away team is supposed to. Then they took the next two at home, as the home team is supposed to. Game 5 was a blowout. Detroit won 5-0. The Penguins didn’t even show up and everyone thought the series was over, especially since Malkin and Crosby weren’t having a “Malkin” or “Crosby” type series. That didn’t matter because great goaltending wins cups and Marc-Andre Fleury took his game to the next level. Game 7 would not have been without the play of Fleury. He saved 24 of the 25 shots he faced including a save that would have tied the game on Dan Cleary’s breakaway with less than two minutes left.

That took us to a game 7. There is no better sporting event than a game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals and these teams did not disappoint. If I told you Max Talbot was going to be the only Penguin to score and Crosby would get hurt, and the Penguins would win game 7 on the road, you’d say I’m stupid. Well that was case as Max Talbot scored two second period goals and Fleury, again, played the game of his life. He stopped 23 of 24 shots and again stopped a game tying goal with 1 second left as he dove across the crease to save a Nicklas Lidstrom slap shot. The city of Pittsburgh gets another parade. Congrats to Malkin and damn it I hate saying this but congrats to Sid the Kid as it was only a matter of time before he hoisted the cup.

I’ll finish up by saying Marian Hossa has to be the sickest man on the planet right now. Hossa played for the Penguins last year as he watched the Red Wings hoist the cup. Then he took less money to play for the Wings, only to watch his former team hoist the cup. Talk about the worst feeling in the world!