DATE WITH DETROIT
Get ready to hed to the Lower Peninsula. Dallas Drake and Henrik Zetterberg each had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings in a 4-1 win at Dallas last night. The win clinched the Western Conference title for the Red Wings and set up a meeting with the Penguins Stanley Cup final.
PICTURES FROM GAME 5
(Lisa Bohm)
(War Penguin)
(Sal DiPietro)
(Jason Long, from his honeymoon in the Cook Islands. We have absolutely no clue why he's reading a hockey blog on his honeymoon either.)
PEOPLE READ US
We get a lot of letters from loyal EN readers and we should print a lot more of them. We're just really lazy though. That said, we got one following Sunday's win that really struck a chord with us:
"I was glad that you mentioned the 2003-2004 season. I did not go to any games, living in Brazil and everything. But I did listen to pretty much every game that season on Internet radio.
Watching this team go to the Stanley Cup finals (now on Internet video feed!) makes staying up until three-ish in the morning to celebrate an overtime goal against Phoenix (after losing 16 games in a row, or something like that) back in 2003-04 not look silly at all.
I was a proud fan back then, and I am happy, so happy right now. We'll be together on the Stanley Cup finals. Keep up the good work and thanks for the great fun I have reading your blog.
Luiz Mello, Vitoria, Brazil
EN-Yeah, sending us praise is always a good way to have your letter posted, but also telling us you were awake in Brazil at 3 a.m. to listen to that 4-3 overtime win against the Coyotes that snapped an 18-game losing streak Feb. 25, 2004 is an even better way.
EMPTY NETTER ASSISTS
Playoff Stuff
Eastern Conference
Penguins-Flyers
-If the phrases "Jarkko Ruutu" and "anti-aircraft gun" don't entice you to click this link, nothing ever will.
-If the Penguins are going to win the Cup, now is the time to do it.
-Ron Cook says free agent defections won't hurt the Penguins.
-Who should be the Penguins' top priority with free agents? Vote on it here.
-People are buying Penguins stuff.
-Remember "The Rant?"
-Ryan Malone is following in his father's footsteps.
-Nothing is optional with Sidney Crosby.
-Crosby's beard is still pretty weak.
-Remember that "Hossa! Hossa! Hossa!" song we posted the other day? The Pensblog has the lowdown on who sings it.
-The Flyers need to get faster on defense.
-Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News says the Penguins aren't used to the defense a team like Detroit has.
-Check out this pretty good video about the Penguins' playoff run set to "The Adventure" by Angels and Airwaves:
-From the "Not A Good Sign Files" former Penguins punching bag Kelly Buchberger getting the tar beat out of him by Red Wings enforcer Darren McCarty in the 2003-04 season:
Western Conference
Red Wings-Stars
-Detroit will play in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2002.
-A special season didn't end in a very special way for the Stars.
-An early barrage by Detroit led to a win.
-Stars captain Brenden Morrow showed why he has a "C" on his chest.
-After the game, the Stars revealed Morrow had been dealing with leg and shoulder injuries while defenseman Mattias Norstrom was suffering from a sports hernia.
-Detroit forward Dallas Drake is happy he didn't retire.
-Even if they go off his face, Kris Draper doesn't care how he gets pucks into the net.
-Draper actually damaged some teeth scoring the game's first goal.
-The Stars had several players emerge for them this posteason.
-Dallas has a few free agency issues to address in the offseason.
-2008 looked a lot like 1998 for the Stars.
-If Detroit wants to win the Cup, they need to score goals any way possible.
-The Red Wings regained their composure.
-Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press says the Red Wings are back where they belong.
-If you love hockey, the Penguins-Red Wings matchup is for you.
-Red Wings forward Johan Franzen is still dealing with a head injury.
-Vegas is favoring the Red Wings in the final.
AHL
-The top line for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins has been shutout by Portland so far.
Non-Playoff Stuff
IIHF World Championships
-Greatest YouTube Find of The Day: The Russians in the locker room celebrating their win in the World Championships:
(Call us crazy, but any video with a bunch of drunk, sweaty Russians screaming and blasting everything from techno to what we suspect is Ragtime is alright with us.)
-Don't get on the bad side of Thrashers and Russian forward Ilya Kovalchuk's mom.
Penguins
-The Penguins signed 2007 first-round draft pick Keven Veilleux.
-Trouvaille aleatoire de YouTube du jour: The RDS broadcast of Marc-Andre Fleury getting drafted in 2003:
-The audio is a little scratchy, but check out this video of former Penguins general manger Craig Patrick's induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame:
Northeast Division
-Canadiens forward and former Penguin Alex Kovalev even moonwalks on a soccer field:
Smythe Division
-Random YouTube Find of the Day: This is a video of Stars forward Mike Modano getting clobbered by former Rangers forward Mark Messier. At the 1:18 mark, Modano can be seen being carried into an ambulance via a stretcher. The paramedics actually dropped the stretcher with Modano strapped to it and he landed on his side:
-That's like something out of a bad movie.
First Published: May 20, 2008, 10:15 a.m.
