By Robert Dvorchak, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Darrell Sapp and Matt Freed/ Post-Gazette
THEN ... Captain Mario Lemieux hoists the Stanley Cup after the Penguins' victory over the Minnesota North Stars in 1991. ... AND NOW Mr. Lemieux gets to repeat the act after the Penguins -- the team he now owns -- defeated the Detroit Red Wings Friday night.
DETROIT -- He wore dress shoes and a suit rather than ice skates and his No. 66 sweater, but lifting the Stanley Cup as an owner was just as gratifying for Mario Lemieux as it was when he did it twice as a player.
"When I took over the team in 1999, this was my goal. To lift the Cup again," the bearded executive said during a giddy on-ice celebration. "We've gone through some very difficult times. That's how we got the draft picks that we got, finishing last every year. And we had to go through all the uncertainty of a new arena. This definitely makes it all worthwhile."
Ten years removed from bankruptcy, and 25 years after coming to Pittsburgh as a player gifted enough to save a failing franchise, a Hall of Famer who has become a father figure saw a new generation of Penguins -- his kids -- claim hockey's holy grail.
"People don't realize how tough it is to come into this building and win a Game 7," said the player who was known as Le Magnifique. "All credit to our team. They're the champions."
The march of these Penguins erased past uncertainty the way a Zamboni resurfaces ice. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman wasn't the only one looking to a bright future when Evgeni Malkin became the youngest player to receive the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP and Sidney Crosby became the youngest captain ever to hoist the Stanley Cup, the hardest trophy in sports to win.
"I'm proud of these guys, especially Sid, to lift that Cup at center ice," Mr. Lemieux said. "These kids are 21, 22 years old. They'll be around 10, 12 years if they want to. They have a chance to do something special in Pittsburgh if they want to stick together. I like our chances going forward."
The difference between watching another team celebrate on your ice and celebrating on the other team's ice was razor thin -- a shot that clanged off the cross bar, a diving save in the final seconds. In the end, the dreams of youth trumped the cold efficiency of a big, bad red machine.
The Penguins have completed a championship hat trick involving Detroit. The Pirates won their first title in 1909 by beating the Tigers in Detroit in a Game 7, and the Steelers won the fifth of their six Super Bowls in Detroit in 2006. Now it's parade time for the Penguins after a Game 7 win in Detroit that turned Motown into Woetown.
The French Connection
To get each other ready for games, Max Talbot and Marc-Andre Fleury have a pre-game ritual performed in French. They talk about their boyhood days, their shared experiences on the Canadian junior teams, their good fortune in getting paid to play hockey on its highest level.
Last year, the goalie got so pumped up in the race to get on the ice in Detroit he took a symbolic face plant. This year, teammates were jumping into his arms after the final frantic seconds counted down. By the hair of his chinny chin chin, he went from flop to first.
Mr. Talbot, the ultimate mucker and grinder, was the game's No. 1 star for scoring two goals in less than 10 minutes, an improbable accomplishment in that the entire team scored a total of two goals in three games in Detroit. Mr. Fleury made save after heart-pounding save to keep the red tide at bay, including the final save on Nicklas Lidstrom as time was expiring.
"The chemistry's always been there for us," said Mr. Fleury. "I don't know if that was the best save I ever made, but it was the most important. This is a dream come true."
Some players try to block out thoughts of the Cup until it's actually won, but Mr. Talbot psyched himself up for his big moment by visualizing holding the 35-pound silver trophy over his head in triumph.
"You need those thoughts to motivate yourself," he said. "This was the biggest game of my life. Now it's the greatest day of my life. Everybody on this team is a hero."
It had been said by some hockey insiders that The Flower wilts in the spotlight, that he couldn't win the big game on the big stage. Now he has brushed aside those naysayers the way he sweeps away pucks with his stick.
"When you win, it stops all that talk in a hurry," said Eddie Johnston, a former goalie who has worn many hats for the Penguins. "He proved to everybody he's one of the premier goaltenders in the league. Not too many 24-year-olds have won a Cup. If (the Canadians) don't consider him for the Olympics, shame on them. He should be their No. 1 choice."
Hossa's choice
How does the arrival of an ambulance, parked outside the arena as a precaution, become part of Stanley Cup subplot?
"That's for Hossa. He's going to need it when his heart is broken," said Peter Duncan of Toronto.
The reference was to Marian Hossa, considered by Pittsburgh fans as a Benedict Arnold who turned redcoat. As a free agent, he decided that his best shot to win his first Cup was to spurn an offer from the Penguins and join the Red Wings for a year. Without having scored a goal in the final series, he was on the losing side of the handshake line for the second year in a row.
"That's life. Sometimes, you make choices," Mr. Hossa said later in the morgue-like quiet of the Red Wings locker room. "You have to move on. Regrets? I don't regret it. You just have to keep battling."
None of the Penguins rubbed it in during the post-game handshake. Frankly, his defection was a bigger issue with fans.
"It was his decision, a hard decision. I got nothing but respect for the guy. He was a great teammate. He's a really, really good person, too. ... He'll probably be a better person for it," said defenseman Brooks Orpik. "Be careful what you wish for, I guess."
Mr. Orpik was a free agent in the summer, but he opted to sign again with the Penguins. His reasoning was different. He thought the Penguins had the best chance to win the Cup.
"I had a chance to go with other teams, but this is exactly why I came back here with this core group of guys we had here," he said. "I wouldn't change it for anything."
Like father, like sonAs coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, Fred Shero motivated his troops before a Stanley Cup game by writing on the chalk board: "Win Today, And We Walk Together Forever."
Those words echoed across time as his son, the general manager of the Penguins, relished the winning of the Cup.
"All the players, coaches, trainers, we'll all be on the Cup forever," said Ray Shero. "We'll have some great lasting memories. They'll never take the victory away from us."
Mr. Shero jump-started the run to the Cup in mid-February with a coaching change, firing Michel Therrien and replacing him with Dan Bylsma.
"As a manager, I've been told by the guys I work with that when you have a gut instinct, you have to make decisions," said Mr. Shero. "Obviously, it worked out great. But when I made the decision, I never thought we'd be standing here tonight. Dan and his staff have made me look really good."
A dream come true
As a boy, Sidney Crosby played Game 7 for the Cup in his head thousands of times, and the burden of expectations has been his to carry. So it was tough when he was injured and could take only one shift in the third period.
"I didn't want to hurt our team," said the Penguins captain.
Still, he finished second in playoff scoring, and it was his right to accept the Stanley Cup on behalf of the Penguins.
"It was heavier than I thought," he said, holding a champagne bottle in just his fourth season in the NHL. "But it was everything I dreamed it would be. I feel lucky to be part of this group."
During the playoffs, several teammates had noted that Crosby was born for these moments. A slightly different perspective came from his parents, who were at his side during the celebration.
"He was born with the determination to do it. He has a strong will," said his father, Troy Crosby. "He grew up a lot in four years. He's had his ups and down. I think he's shown he's a good leader."
After a moment of jubilation, and a kiss for the Cup, Mr. Crosby handed off the trophy to Billy Guerin, and each player and coach got their turn. Ultimately, it reached Mario Lemieux, who returned it to Mr. Crosby -- the championship torch passed from one generation to the next, from one captain to another.
"This kid, that's all he thinks about, winning championships," Mr. Lemieux said. "His whole life is about training and playing hockey and practicing. He's the perfect hockey player. He prepares himself every day. It's amazing. I wish I would have had that discipline back then."
And now their names will be engraved together on the Cup. Forever.
Robert Dvorchak can be reached at bdvorcha@post-gazette.com.
First published on June 14, 2009 at 12:00 am
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