It ain't over till its over baby

Pittsburgh 4 Detroit 3 (3ot)
One minute, 60 seconds , two more dumpins, a few more strides, a few more shinings of Lord Stanley's mug and the Cup would be Hockey town's to party with.....

the clock ticked down....and then.....

The phone rang.
"don't answer it, someone else will" I quipped to my Dad who was by that point ready to throw in the towel.

25 seconds later the Penguins answered the call.


To be honest, the 2008 NHL playoffs had prior to last night's debacle been a bust, complete with two conference finals of if you snooze you lose or in this case if you sleep walk well you may even win kind of hockey. Watching last night's game tick down in Detroit's favour felt wrong, it felt empty, it was so preaseason, so all-star game, so American Idol...a whole lot of hype over a whole lot of nothing....there were no blood, sweat and tears, it seemed too good to be true...and it was.

The pens' cast of young stars clearly gave up too much in this game to lose...not just too many shots, too many broken teeth, too many broken noses.

Ryan Malone himself may well have given up any chances with the ladies in the near (and far) future and suffering his second broken nose in 2 weeks.

Marc-Andre will forever be a notorious figure in Motor City after ruining everyone's hopes in Hockey town of a party.

Sergei Gonchar sacrificed his noggin, Therrien sacrificed his job, everyone sacrificed their bodies

That's why Maxime Talbot's 3rd period goal and Petr Sykora's winner were so epic. It told Wings fans to shut their mouths and take a listen, put down that beer and cancel that party, save it for another day.

From the get-go the Wings were by far the better team and throughout each period they got stronger and stronger.
Datsyuk dangled
Zetterberg zigged
Franzen zagged

they dazzled, awed and amazed the hockey world and were doing it in style, but their performance was like....a roof without shingling, a burger without the patty, an in-law without the baggage, a hardwood floor without the finish.......uh wait...finish....

Detroit lacked finish.


The 2004 Calgary Flames were staring the cup in the face in overtime of game 6 up 3-2. One goal, one shot, one red light away from the Stanley Cup. Post after post, save after save. Nothing doing. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Martin St. Louis got the chance, delivered and never looked back.

Fast forward to 2008. The Wings were and still are staring the cup in the face. The Penguins having dodged death 100 times prior took their shot and never disappointed....can they defy the odds twice more?


Down in the Penguins dressing room after two overtime periods of frantic action, everyone looked around as their body language pleaded to each other to be the guy. Petr Sykora, having been through this many times before got up and delivered a wisecrack

"I've got this one guys, i'll just score one now allright?"

The call came.
Sykora answered.

The odds are still in Detroit's favour...but one things certain...Lord Stanley will not be awarded until that last dump is in, until that last stride is taken, until the last shine on the cup has to be shone, until the last second has ticked, until the last blood is dropped, until the last tear is cried.....

Until the last fat lady has sung.



BleacherBuff