DVD, released today, documents Pens' run

By Tricia Lafferty, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Chants of "We want the cup" erupted in Theater 12 at AMC Loews Waterfront 22 Theatre.

With the Stanley Cup raised above his head, Penguins forward Tyler Kennedy entered the private screening Monday night.

Cheers erupted before a select audience settled in to get a sneak peak of the Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 Stanley Cup DVD, which was to be released today and can be purchased for $24.98 at stores that sell DVDs.


The Penguins' Kris Letang models a newly released DVD at the AMC Lowes Waterfront Theater on Monday in Homestead.
Philip G. Pavely/Tribune-Review

Kennedy and defenseman Kris Letang were on hand to pose with the Cup and get a first look of their documented season.

Less than a month after the Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1, in Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup, the fact that Letang's name was on the Cup is still surreal to him.

"I get all excited when I talk about it," he said. "It didn't sink in yet."

Maybe watching the DVD, which was produced by Warner Home Video, will help Letang realize what transpired this past season.

This film didn't need fictional characters or exaggerated story lines.

The Penguins' season wrote its own drama, and the DVD details the ups and downs of the Stanley Cup run.

The season was retraced with clips from games and press conferences and intriguing sound bites from the Penguins. Pittsburgh radio personalities Mike Lange and Phil Bourque, FSN reporter Dan Potash and hockey analyst Pierre McGuire, among others, provided commentary.

Starting with the trip to Sweden, where the Penguins opened their season, and ending with the Stanley Cup celebration, the film focused mainly on the postseason. Each round of the playoffs was analyzed, and critical plays and moments were highlighted.

Personalities — particularly those of forwards Bill Guerin and Talbot — were exposed, and a few anecdotes were told and retold.

The storylines during the postseason were plentiful, ranging from the physical opening-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers to the Final. The DVD highlights some of the most defining moments of the dramatic season.

Talbot's game-changing fight with Philadelphia forward Daniel Carcillo was a highlight of the first round. It's no surprise that that clip drew loud applause in the theater. That was one of many clips — including a glimpse of Evgeni Malkin's parents — that inspired extra attention from the audience.


The Penguins' Tyler Kennedy stands near the Stanley Cup during a movie premiere at the AMC Lowes Waterfront Theater on Monday in Homestead.
Philip G. Pavely/Tribune-Review

There was a focus on the Sidney Crosby-Alex Ovechkin rivalry in the second-round series against the Washington Capitals. The Eastern Conference semifinal pitted center Jordan Staal against big brother and Carolina forward Eric Staal, but center Evgeni Malkin's dominance got even more attention.

The Penguins-Red Wings finale was overloaded with storylines, which were well documented in the film. There were flashbacks of a dejected Penguin team that lost in the Final to Detroit the year before.

The Penguins ended this season with a celebration, which was one of Kennedy's fondest memories.

"Probably the last seven seconds of Game 7 against Detroit should be on there," Kennedy said before the viewing.

They were, and those final seconds led to another defining moment in Kennedy's life. He had his day with the Cup last Friday.

"I went to my cottage and a couple restaurants," he said. "Mostly, I had shared it with my family, which is huge. To see my grandparents lifting the Cup up, it's pretty special."

Letang has big plans for his day with the Cup. He'll spend time with the Cup and his family before hosting a charity event and reception for former Vancouver Canucks defenseman and late friend Luc Bourdon.

First, though, he'll have some time to reflect upon his journey. He's taking a five-day vacation to the Bahamas by himself. He'll do some fishing and a lot of relaxing.

"A little trip by myself, I need it," Letang said. "I think all the guys should have a little time alone and get your mind free."

But after viewing the Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 Stanley Cup DVD last night, you can be sure Letang will take a few trips down memory lane while relaxing on the beach.

Eaton's ultimate dream a reality

Penguins' win allows Delawarean to hoist Stanley Cup

By MIKE FINNEY
The Wilmington (DE) News Journal
http://www.delawareonline.com/sports
June 21, 2009

Mark Eaton has had his share of ups and downs throughout his somewhat nomadic eight years as a player in the National Hockey League.

So Eaton, a Wilmington native and Dickinson High graduate, wasn't taking anything for granted as the clock slowly ticked down on the Pittsburgh Penguins' 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals on June 12.

Eaton made sure that he took a couple of deep breaths and just tried to hang on to the end.

And when that clock finally ran out and the horn blared, Eaton's lifelong dream of hoisting the Stanley Cup -- perhaps the most famous trophy in all of sports -- was fulfilled.

Eaton is the first player from Delaware to have his name inscribed on the Cup.

"It has just been a dream week," Eaton said Friday. "Playing in and winning a Game 7 is something you dream about as a kid, and to finally be able to accomplish it and hold the Stanley Cup above my head ... it really was an unbelievable feeling.

"Actually the full extent of it all hasn't really sunken in. It's kind of a blur right now. Just thinking that I grabbed the Stanley Cup and I skated with it. It's all almost surreal."

Eaton didn't know if he would get this chance, especially after missing most of the past two seasons due to wrist and knee injuries.

So he made sure to savor the moments in Game 7.

"We definitely stressed it out at the end, that's for sure," he said. "It was just more holding your breath and watching the clock."

Eaton's father, Bill, and mother, Sandi, traveled from their home in Deep Creek, Md., to Pittsburgh before Game 7.

They went to Eaton's house, where they picked up their daughter, Amy, who was staying at her brother's house after watching Game 6. Together, they drove to Detroit in hopes of watching Mark Eaton take part in history.

They were not disappointed.

"It was a dream come true, there's no question about it," Bill Eaton said. "We were fortunate enough to make it to Detroit. It was pretty much a last-minute decision because Mark came into a couple of extra tickets.

"This was a dream come true more than any of us had a right to expect. We're just so happy for him because he reached the pinnacle of his sport and profession."

Finally, all of those long days of taking Eaton to and from hockey practices had paid off in a spectacular way.

"We never really minded," Bill Eaton said, about helping his son chase his hockey dream. "He went from local teams in Wilmington to Philadelphia when he played with the Little Flyers.

"During his last two years in high school, he played in New York. My wife would make the three-hour trip on a Friday afternoon and he would play on the weekend.

"You could say it was a labor of love."

Eaton, 32, served as a valuable catalyst during the Penguins' run to a title.

The defenseman scored four goals and recorded three assists in Pittsburgh's 24-game playoff run. He matched the total number of goals he scored during the regular season.

None of that came as a surprise to Jerry Truitt, who coached Eaton with the New Castle County Hawks in a youth league.

"Our coaches were forced to make him play defense because other teams wouldn't play us with him on offense," said Truitt, of Elkton, Md. "The other players were like cones on the ice to him."

Truitt has watched from afar as Eaton has crafted his game in the NHL.

Eaton broke in with the Flyers in 1999-2000, and also played for Nashville before coming to Pittsburgh for the 2006-07 season.

"Mark is a steady blueliner who doesn't make mistakes with the puck. Plus, he can carry it out and is a good passer," Truitt said. "He isn't the most physical defenseman, but because he is such a good skater he's very hard for a forward to get around.

"If you watch when he blocks shots he pops right back up. A lot of guys are like throwing a dead duck on the ice when they go down to block."

Eaton was on pace for a memorable season in Pittsburgh two years ago. But he was sidelined with a knee injury and underwent surgery before missing the final 46 games.

Still, he will gladly take the pain in exchange for this season's unforgettable ending.

In keeping with tradition, every player and coach on the Penguins will get the Stanley Cup for a day during the offseason. Eaton isn't sure what he is going to do with the Cup, but said he likely won't bring it to Delaware. He said he will probably have a low-key family affair at his home in Pittsburgh.

"I'll probably just spend the day with my family and friends when I get the Cup," said Eaton, who attended former teammate Colby Armstrong's wedding in Atlanta this weekend. "Nothing too big."

Eaton visits Wilmington periodically to visit his sister, Amy, and two nephews. He plans to attend a wedding in Delaware this summer.

Many people assume Eaton's lifelong goal was to play for the Flyers, since he grew up in Wilmington, but that was not the case.

His father was a longtime Pittsburgh fan, and that Steel City mentality rubbed off on his son.

"I was the only one from my family not from the Pittsburgh area," Eaton said. "When I was growing up I followed the Steelers and the Penguins.

"I grew up a Penguins fan, and it made it more special when I won the Stanley Cup as a member of their team. I guess you can say to all of those Philadelphia fans that I got the last laugh."

Eaton also knows that few things compare to winning the Stanley Cup.

"It's going to be a tough event to top," he said. "Now you have a taste for it. You know it's something you're going to want to try to experience again.

"I'll just try to enjoy it until we go back to training camp, and then we'll try to do it all over again. That's really all you can do."

Additional Facts

MARK EATON FILE

Position: Defenseman

Height: 6-2 Weight: 204

Shoots: Left

Born: May 6, 1977, in Wilmington

High school: Dickinson

NHL career:

'06-'07-present: Pittsburgh

'00-'01 to '05-'06: Nashville

1999-2000: Flyers

Goals: 20 Assists: 42

Saluting Sidney Crosby, Balsillie's next battle, more notes

Jim Kelley > INSIDE THE NHL
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/
June 18, 2009

The NHL -- for reasons inexplicable to anyone who doesn't understand that it is always sniffing for potential expansion cities -- convened in Las Vegas to hand out its rotating collection of silver not named Stanley. All and all, a slick affair worthy of a watch.

DETROIT - JUNE 12: Sidney Crosby(notes) #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins attacks the goal against goaltender Chris Osgood(notes) #30 of the Detroit Red Wings during Game Seven of the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Finals at Joe Louis Arena on June 12, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

One player you didn't get to see: Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who didn't place in the top three in balloting for the Hart Trophy (MVP). I have no problem with that, given the season-long numbers the finalists -- Alexander Ovechkin (56 goals, 110 points, +8), Evgeni Malkin (35 goals, 113 points, +17) and Pavel Datsyuk (32 goals, 97 points, +34) -- put up. All are deserving.

Crosby, past Hart winner and one of the game's most dynamic players, also didn't win the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP), though you can make a strong argument that he should have, considering his body of work through the entire two-month run. It's something of a shame, though, that he won't be there on the stage in Vegas. Over the course of the now completed season, he (along with Malkin) led what had become a dysfunctional and, given the ravages of free agency, somewhat lesser team back into the playoffs after the dismissal of head coach Michel Therrien.

Crosby played the more complete game. He didn't always score like Malkin, but he never took a night off like his superbly talented teammate sometimes did. Crosby also led with an effort and wisdom far beyond his 21 years. Simply put, he's the reason the Penguins found themselves and why they prevailed over Ovechkin and the Capitals in a dramatic seventh game in Washington during the second round. He's also the reason they never lost hope against Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Osgood and the rest of that superb Red Wings team in a great seven-game Cup final that was also decided on the home ice of Pittsburgh's opponent.

Too bad there isn't an overall award for a player who does that.

Give The Kid a break

The complaint has been made loud and long by the Red Wings: Crosby snubbed them, especially their captain who stood at the head of the handshake line for too long after the Penguins won the Stanley Cup.

The gripe won't go away, but it should. It's reached the point of absurdity in that some writers and other media types have timed how long it took the Penguins to line up and shake the Red Wings' hands after Detroit won the 2008 Cup in Pittsburgh, and compared it to the amount of time before the line formed last Friday in Detroit.

The conclusion: two minutes in Pittsburgh; two minutes 30 seconds in Detroit.

Now, 30 seconds is a professional lifetime for Usain Bolt, but it's nothing in the postgame chaos of a championship victory, especially a hard-fought series in which few people believed the Penguins would prevail. In addition, the NHL puts more media people than players on the ice immediately after the Cup is decided. The demand for interviews coupled with the raw celebration and the players' quests to locate family and friends in the stands for at least a brief connective shared moment, is intense.
So Crosby got there a little late -- literally seconds after some of the Red Wings, several of whom clearly didn't want to be in that line anyway -- had left for their locker room. This is a serious offense?

Memo to offended Red Wings: Stuff happens. If you feel the need to complain, complain to each other about how, in the most important game many of you will ever play, your vaunted shutdown defense failed, your offense didn't ignite, your imported gun (Marian Hossa) was a no-show to the point of embarrassment, and your slow start allowed the Penguins to stay in the game long enough to get a pair of goals from role player Max Talbot. Maybe you thought it was going to be a slamdunk, given your 11-1 record (the one loss coming to Anaheim in overtime) at Joe Lewis Arena, but the game proved otherwise.


Sidney Crosby caught some flak from Henrik Zetterberg (right) for being 30 seconds late to the handshake line after Game 7.
Dave Reginek/Getty Images

From here, the carping smells like the kind of whine best served with sour grapes -- a mere attempt to deflect attention from a team-wide failure to get the job done. Sure, your side had some hurts, but so did the Penguins. And it's hard to argue that you didn't get the officiating break of the playoffs when Crosby was put out of the game with a knee injury by a hit along the boards late in the second period -- when he wasn't even in possession of the puck.

The truth is that the game was there to be won and the Red Wings couldn't make it happen. Grousing about Crosby demeans Detroit's otherwise shining legacy, one built on accomplishment and class. Win or lose, the Red Wings of past seasons were bigger than that.

Devil of a decision

I still can't figure out what New Jersey Devils coach Brent Sutter did exactly when he quit the team some 10 days ago. No doubt, he takes exception to the Q word and said as much in one of several departing press conferences: "I don't feel like a quitter."

Fair enough, we'll accept that. Feel whatever way you like. We also understand the pull of family and home. Among hockey people, and this includes writers who regularly travel with teams, NHL stands for No Home Life. It seems glamorous and certainly has its upside, but it takes a toll on family, personal relationships, and the like. There are moments missed that can never be replaced, so when Sutter said his family "gave up a lot" and were "happy and excited about the decision" he made, he will get no argument here.

But if Sutter didn't quit, exactly what did he do?

He made it clear he wasn't retiring. He said he "still loved coaching" and that any team interested in obtaining his services would "have to go through (Devils general manager) Lou Lamoriello." And he didn't directly address any interest he may have in coaching the Calgary Flames, which are managed by his brother, Darryl, but he didn't rule it out, either.

All of that would be understandable if Sutter had honored the last year of his contract with the Devils. If he does return to coaching at any level, it will be hard to side with his claim that he didn't quit on them. He wasn't in danger of being fired even though did the team no favors by stating at various points in the season that he maybe didn't want to come back.

This was to be a Cup-contending year for the Devils. Any player, coach or manager who has been in that position knows it takes a total commitment to team and organization to be successful. Sutter didn't give that. His players know it and so does Lamoriello. If Sutter doesn't stay home, he'll be known not for what he says but what he does, and coaching another team after he walked away from a contract will surely fit him for a big red "Q" to wear on his chest.

Calling out the refs

Earlier, we mentioned a favorable call the Red Wings got, and we can't let the season go without stating once again that NHL rules truly are different in the playoffs -- and not just in the area of wide discretion regarding supplemental discipline or missing the occasional too-many-men-on-the-ice.


Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby(notes) reacts as he is checked by Detroit Red Wings' Johan Franzen(notes), from Sweden, during the second period of Game 7 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals in Detroit, Friday, June 12, 2009. (AP)

The late hit on Crosby in the second period of Game 7 of the Cup final is only the latest in a long string of calls that were routinely made during the regular season but not in the playoffs. Most opened the door to more physical play, and many fans -- and seemingly most TV personalities -- embraced it with their usual open arms and clenched fists. But did the game really benefit from the obvious change?

I'd argue no. I see no value in players being free to run goaltenders in the crease, as happened so often in these playoffs. I'd also argue that it's an embarrassment to the two-referee system to have missed so many obvious infractions, like closing a hand over a puck in the crease. But it's a much bigger failure to again have a set of rules that are honored first-to-third period in the regular season and then largely overlooked in the playoffs.

Interference didn't just happen with goaltenders, it happened all over the ice. Late hits were constantly ignored, supposedly because players were allowed to finish their checks, but the amount of time they have to finish checks has been fairly well established by rulings from the director of hockey operations office the past two seasons.

The move back to "letting them play" won't just be an isolated event, either. GMs build their teams around the way they see the game, and if more physical play trumps skating and speed, then more physical players will be making their way back into lineups instead of the occasionally smaller but more talented variety. The league needs to be aware of that and must try to keep a balance.

The NHL came back strong from the lockout by giving fans what they said they wanted. Fans responded by pouring through the turnstiles and liking what they saw. It's a wise league that listens to what its paying public wants, even if it draws the criticism of a stuck-in-the-'70s corps of commentators who want the knuckle-dragging elements of the game back in a starring role.

Balsillie's in the other court

There's a perception, especially in the U.S., that the NHL won its battle with mavreick Jim Balsillie over the rights to the Phoenix Coyotes and his attempt to move them to Southern Ontario. Not so, according to several legal scholars and Balsillie's lead attorney, Richard Rodier.

Rodier claims that Judge Redfield T. Baum made the narrowest of rulings in stating that he couldn't meet Balsillie's June 29 deadline for being awarded the team because there were too many complicated matters that can't be resolved in time. Rodier also said that bankruptcy court is a somewhat strange animal and a great many things can still happen between now and the time the judge does have to rule.

A lawyer we spoke to, who is not associated with any of the parties, said a second filing made shortly after the bankruptcy has the Coyotes' owner of record, Jerry Moyes, asking the court to also deal with anti-trust issues. That one is of great concern to the NHL and the commissioners of the three other major leagues. In that filing, Moyes (likely with the support of Balsillie) claimed the NHL is a cartel operating as a monopoly that's keeping him from doing what is best for his business.

That's a case built largely on U.S. anti-trust law, and it has some deeply-held precedents that do not favor the NHL. In that kind of proceeding, rulings that led to free agency in baseball and football, and to franchises like the Oakland Raiders moving to Los Angeles (and later back to Oakland) as well as the Colts going from Baltimore to Indianapolis, are likely to come into play.

Moyes and his lawyers will have a formidable adversary in NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who cut his sporting teeth as an anti-trust expert when he was with the NBA. But there are formidable obstacles for Bettman if anti-trust comes to the forefront in this case, and the majority of legal rulings are presumed to go against what all the commissioners will be attempting to defeat here.

Many thought that Rodier was just trying to put a positive spin on a setback when he said he fully expects the Coyotes to be playing in Hamilton by the start of next season, but he may well have a case. Anti-trust or the threat of same has been known to make for some "creative" settlements regarding issues that leagues would rather not see in a courtroom.

It remains to be seen if that's the case regarding Phoenix, but it is definitely on the judge's agenda.

Penguins' run to the Cup started with coaching change, key acquisitions and a leader's return

Sunday, June 21, 2009
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/penguins/

It's easy to pick out the high point in the Penguins' 2008-09 season.

Rule of thumb: Anytime you win your final game and someone hands you an oversized trophy a couple of minutes later, odds are pretty good that is it.


Peter Diana/Post-Gazette

In a roller-coaster season of ups and downs, Hart Trophy candidate Evgeni Malkin was a constant. He was the leading scorer in both the regular season and playoffs.

Identifying the nadir -- the time when things were at their absolute worst -- is a bit tougher. Mostly because there were several possibilities.

"We had a couple of low points," right winger Tyler Kennedy said.

Like a 4-3 loss to Washington at Mellon Arena Oct. 16, when the Capitals scored the final four goals. Being shut out, 2-0, by lowly Tampa Bay at home Dec. 23. A 5-1 home defeat by Boston Dec. 30 that inspired a players-only meeting. Blowing a 3-0 lead at Nashville Jan. 8 in what became a 5-3 loss.

The logical choice, though, probably would be a 6-2 defeat at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto Feb. 14.

Not just because they gave up six -- count 'em, six -- unanswered goals to a team that shouldn't have been at threat to anyone but itself, but because the Penguins self-destructed so spectacularly.

"We just fell apart," center Sidney Crosby said at the time.

Enough that the return of defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who had missed the previous 56 games while recovering from shoulder surgery, didn't help, even though getting him back was the first development that made that parade through Downtown Monday possible.

Enough that, less than 24 hours after the Toronto game, general manager Ray Shero concluded that Michel Therrien, who had guided the Penguins to the 2008 Stanley Cup final and had been rewarded with a three-year contract, no longer was the man to lead his team.

Shero, with few options, decided the Penguins would be better off under the control of someone with two-thirds of a minor-league season of head-coaching experience. Guy named Dan Bylsma, who would turn out to be the second step toward the playoffs.

Bylsma's debut the next afternoon -- a 3-2 shootout loss to another bottom-feeder on Long Island -- wasn't particularly encouraging, but the Penguins took their first halting steps in the right direction with a 5-4 victory over Montreal three days later.


Chris Young/AP

Toronto's Alexei Poinkarovsky (23) scores to add to the humiliation of Sidney Crosby, left, and the Penguins as one of the worst teams in the NHL routed the Penguins, 6-2, on a February night in Toronto -- a turning point in the season.

The third development was the arrival -- via trades -- of Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin and Craig Adams, who joined the Penguins as the March 4 trade deadline closed in. By then, the Penguins were in full gallop, immersed in what would become the first 5-0 road trip in franchise history.

"When we saw everything happen, we felt the urgency," defenseman Kris Letang said. " 'Hey guys, we have a good team. We shouldn't be in 10th place. We should wake up.' "

Not that anyone would have begrudged the Penguins a nap or two along the way, because they not only had reached the Cup final last spring, but had played the first two games of the 2008-09 regular season against Ottawa in Sweden.

That's a formula for a sputtering start, but the Penguins actually began pretty well. When they beat Buffalo, 5-2, at Mellon Arena Nov. 15, they owned a six-game winning streak and an 11-4-2 record.

That was the final time they would win back-to-back games until Jan. 16-18, however, and it happened only one more time before mid-February, at which point the Penguins were marooned in 10th place in the Eastern Conference.

"We had a good start," Letang said. "After that, we were winning two games and losing three, winning one and losing two. There was no consistency. We were 10th or 11th and losing important games against average teams."

That humiliating loss in Toronto left the Penguins five points out of the final Eastern playoff spot, and with a 15-21-2 record over a 38-game stretch. A team that had entered the season as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender was looking a lot like one that couldn't -- or wouldn't -- succeed without a new coach.

"I didn't like the way the team was playing, and ... Michel Therrien, unfortunately, had to take the fall for that," Shero said. "As a manager looking at the team, something wasn't right."


John Dunn/Associated Press

Dan Bylsma began his Penguins coaching career with a 3-2 Presidents Day loss to the Islanders. Who could have imagined what was to come.

That Bylsma could have such a profound impact became apparent just a few days into his tenure. The Penguins, who played a cautious game under Therrien, adopted a more aggressive, up-tempo style tailored to the strengths of players like Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, among others.

Bylsma also took a decidedly different approach to relationships with his personnel. Players say Therrien would berate at least some guys when he was displeased with them; Bylsma wasn't afraid to point out mistakes, but was more tactful and positive about it.

There are different ways to push a team's buttons, and his obviously suited this team well.

Precisely how much of the credit for the Penguins' transformation from confused to contenders that Bylsma deserves is impossible to say -- Gonchar's return and the addition of Kunitz, Guerin and Adams also were major factors -- but he certainly was not just along for the ride.

"After the changes, the energy was different," Gonchar said. "Maybe three to five games after the changes, you could seem the team playing better, with more energy.

"That was the point where we started improving our game every night. That was the time we started realizing we could make the playoffs."

The Penguins clinched the spot that once seemed so far from their grasp with a 6-4 victory in Tampa April 7, part of an 18-3-4 surge after Bylsma moved behind the bench.

Five nights later, in the final game of the regular season, the New York Rangers upset Philadelphia at the Wachovia Center, locking the Penguins into fourth place in the Eastern Conference and giving them home-ice advantage in a first-round playoff series against the Flyers.

Just how critical that was is conjecture -- after all, the Penguins would get seven of their 16 playoff victories on the road, including the clincher in every round -- but it certainly didn't hurt.

They made an unmistakable statement by rallying from a 3-0 deficit in Game 6 at Philadelphia to earn a 5-3 victory and did it again in Round 2. After losing Game 6 in overtime at Mellon Arena, they went into Washington and blew out the Capitals, 6-2, in Game 7.

Bylsma likes to talk about different players having a chance to "wear the cape" as the hero in a particular game if the Penguins play the way they're supposed to, and that proved to be the case.

Malkin, who followed up a regular-season scoring title by leading the playoffs with 36 points and winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as postseason MVP, and Crosby were regular contributors to the offense, especially through the first three rounds, but didn't often have the spotlight to themselves.

Whether it was Guerin or Letang or Malkin scoring in overtime, Marc-Andre Fleury making key saves on the likes of Jeff Carter, Alex Ovechkin, Eric Staal and Nicklas Lidstrom, Max Talbot taking one for the team by fighting Daniel Carcillo in the final Flyers game or scoring both Penguins goals in Game 7 of the Cup final or Rob Scuderi's strong defensive work against the most-gifted players opponents could deploy, there always was someone ready to do whatever was needed to assure success.

"Everything it took to win, we did," Crosby said. "Blocking shots, great goaltending, different guys stepping up. We did exactly everything it takes to win."

The Penguins swept Carolina in the Eastern final to earn a rematch with Detroit, which beat them in six games in the 2008 Cup final.

The Red Wings won the first two games and, after the Penguins regained their equilibrium with two victories at Mellon Arena, watched the Penguins melt down in a 5-0 loss in Game 5 at Joe Louis Arena.

The Penguins regrouped and extended the series with a 2-1 victory at home in Game 6, then earned the championship with a 2-1 victory in Detroit three nights later, becoming the first NHL, NBA or Major League Baseball team since the 1979 Pirates to win Game 7 of a championship round on the road.

And so a team that was going nowhere less than four months earlier reached the summit of its sport, giving the franchise a view from the top of the NHL for the first time in 17 years.

"Who would have thought in February, when we were in 10th place, we'd be here?" Crosby said. "It's an incredible feeling."

Dave Molinari can be reached at dmolinari@post-gazette.com.
First published on June 21, 2009 at 12:00 am

Reliving an unforgettable and incredible Cup trek

From Crosby's opening goal against Flyers, to his hoisting of the trophy, the highlights abound

Sunday, June 21, 2009
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/



Peter Diana/Post-Gazette

A fisheye lens for a team in the fish bowl. The Penguins were on the end of seemingly every camera in Detroit after winning Game 7 June 12 in Detroit. Sidney Crosby, left, and Dan Bylsma didn't seem to mind as the team celebrates.

Steelers Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll used to say the hardest part of the Super Bowl seasons of the 1970s was the moment after they handed the Vince Lombardi Trophy to owner Art Rooney Sr. That meant the team's incredible journey was over. For Noll, the journey always was the best part.
So it was for these Penguins.

Was theirs an amazing odyssey or what?

It started on a chilly April night in Pittsburgh when Sidney Crosby banged in the first goal of Game 1 against the hated Philadelphia Flyers. It ended on a warm June night in Detroit when Crosby was presented the Stanley Cup after a 2-1 win against the Red Wings in Game 7 of the final. These memories of the team's fascinating ride will last a lifetime:

• Big hits in Game 1 by Chris Kunitz and Rob Scuderi on the Flyers' Kimmo Timonen and Darroll Powe send a clear early message: Broad Street bullies? Yeah, right.

• Marc-Andre Fleury's toe save on the Flyers' Jeff Carter in Game 2, which was his best save of the playoffs until he robbed Washington's Alex Ovechkin on a breakaway in Game 7, which was his best save until he said no to Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom at the end of Game 7. "You show me a young goaltender that's done what he's done at his age," Penguins general manager Ray Shero says.

• Bill Guerin's winning goal in overtime in Game 2 to beat Philadelphia. Later in the playoffs, little Liam Guerin holds up a sign at Mellon Arena that says it all: "My Dad Rocks! No. 13!"

• Fleury's 45 saves to beat the Flyers in Game 4 in Philadelphia. It brought back great memories of his 55-save effort in Game 5 of the final at Detroit the spring before.

• Max Talbot's one-sided loss in fight with the Flyers' Daniel Carcillo in Game 6. To a man, the Penguins will tell you that ignited their comeback from a 3-0 deficit in their 5-3 win.

• Did you hear the silence? That was from the vulgarity-spewing Flyers fans after Crosby officially turned out the lights on their team's season with an empty-net goal in Game 6. Silence has never been more beautiful.

• Crosby's hat trick in Game 2 in Washington. Yes, it was in a 4-3 loss, but it still was spectacular.

• Evgeni Malkin scores the winning goal in overtime in Game 5 against the Capitals when defenseman Tom Poti knocks the puck into his net. "You need a little luck to win the Stanley Cup," Shero says.

• Sergei Gonchar returns to play Game 7 against the Capitals despite a serious right knee injury from a knee-on-knee hit from Ovechkin in Game 4. "He means everything to our team," defensive partner Brooks Orpik says.

• Fleury's save on Ovechkin. It was so good, it's worth mentioning again.

• Crosby and Craig Adams score eight seconds apart later in the first period of that Game 7 to provide a 2-0 lead and break the Capitals' spirit.

• Ovechkin lines up Malkin for a big hit only to miss and smack teammate Nicklas Backstrom instead. Somehow, that just seemed right.

• As superb as Crosby's first goal in Game 7 is -- he kicked the puck from his right skate to his stick in the blink of an eye -- his final goal in the 6-2 win is even better. He steals the puck from Ovechkin and beats goaltender Jose Theodore on a breakaway.

• A guess at Crosby's message to Ovechkin in the handshake line: "Have a nice vacation, Ovie."

• Jordan Staal wins the opening faceoff against brother Eric of the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final. It is a sign of things to come; the Penguins take out the Hurricanes in four games.

• Malkin scores twice in 3:35 in the third period to break a 4-4 tie and complete a hat trick in Game 2 against Carolina at Mellon Arena. His third goal is absolutely remarkable. "The Geno," coach Dan Bylsma calls the play. Malkin takes the faceoff, races behind the Carolina net to get the puck, circles around the net to come out in front and, as he's fighting off defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, spins to his left and beats goaltender Cam Ward high with a backhander. "An amazing display of skill," Crosby says.

• Is there anything better than the sight of all of those hats on your team's ice?


Matt Freed/Post-Gazette

Rock stars? Vladimir and Natalia Malkin, Evgeni's mom and dad, became the honorary first parents of Pittsburgh during the Cup run.

• The sight of Malkin's parents -- Vladimir and Natalia -- kissing in the stands also is adorable.

• Miroslav Satan -- anything but a noted fighter -- wails away at the Hurricanes' Patrick Eaves at the end of Game 2. "Team toughness is sticking together," Bylsma said.

• Crosby and Malkin score goals 31 seconds apart late in the first period of Game 3 in Carolina to break open a 1-1 game. "It's unbelievable. You're lucky to have one [player like that]. We have two," Kris Letang gushes.

• Then, there was the sight of former Steelers coach and current Raleigh, N.C., resident Bill Cowher cranking up the Hurricanes' warning siren before Game 4. He looked like a clown.

• Orpik's hit on old friend Marian Hossa of the Red Wings early in Game 1 sends Hossa flying onto his fanny. Is it me or did that hit all but knock Hossa out of the series? He didn't get a goal in the seven games.

• Fleury, defiantly, after the 3-1 loss in Game 2 in Detroit puts the Penguins in an 0-2 hole: "Nothing is over yet."

• Steelers coach Mike Tomlin on tape on the Mellon Arena scoreboard early in Game 3 of the final: "This is our house! Let's go Pens!"

• Gonchar, playing virtually on one leg, breaks a 2-2 tie in the third period of Game 3 with a power-play goal.

• Staal scores a short-handed goal against the Red Wings in Game 4 and the first goal in Game 6. They might have been the two biggest goals of the series.

• Petr Sykora, playing in Game 6 for the first time in more than five weeks, gives up his body to block a shot, breaking his right foot in the process. Hey, it's what a good teammate does.

• Fleury, who was yanked three days earlier in the 5-0 Game 5 loss, after rebounding and playing brilliantly in the 2-1 Game 6 win: "We're still alive. It's awesome."

• Team owner Mario Lemieux in a text message to each player the morning of Game 7: "Play without fear and you will be successful! See you at center ice."

• Two goals by Talbot -- "This is the best day of my life!" -- and 23 saves by Fleury, including that final one on Lidstrom, make The Boss' promise come true.

• Malkin is handed the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after getting 36 points in 24 games, the most points since somebody named Gretzky had 40 in 1993.

• Crosby, who missed all but one shift after being injured early in the second period, finds the strength to lift the precious Cup after accepting it from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

• Tell me, was Lemieux's smile when he hoisted the Cup even bigger than when he hoisted it as a player in 1991 and '92?

• Bylsma, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach Feb. 14 and a Stanley Cup-winning coach June 12, after seeing a photo of himself drinking champagne from the Cup in last Sunday's Post-Gazette: "I can't believe that's me in the picture."


Michael Henninger/Post-Gazette

Marian Hossa was not forgotten in the hoopla that was Penguins' triumph.

• Sign of the day at the mind-blowing victory parade: "Hossa Are You Watching?"

No, the bearded man holding it wasn't nearly as cute as Liam Guerin, but his brilliant work probably best captured the spirit and meaning of the Penguins' extraordinary journey.

Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com. More articles by this author
First published on June 21, 2009 at 12:00 am

Nothing ordinary about Penguins' march to the Cup; instead, extraordinary ruled at every turn

By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Sunday, June 21, 2009

Robin Rombach/Post-Gazette

Ordinary does not make young fans -- and old -- scream in delight when you pass by as was repeated time and again during the team's Victory Parade through Downtown.

On the morning of Game 7, the nine-hundred millionth and final hockey game of the season, two of the game's charmed head coaches were searching earnestly for pretty much the same thing.

Mike Babcock, dean of the dynastic Detroit Red Wings, who were in their 18th consecutive postseason (the longest current streak in the major team sports) and on the verge of their 12th Stanley Cup championship, was looking for "ordinary."

Ordinary people? Ordinary shoes? Ordinary speech?

He didn't say.

Dan Bylsma, the only recently tenured coach of the persistently precocious Penguins, back in the building where the club had been outscored, 21-6, in consecutive playoff runs but still on the verge of its first Stanley Cup championship in 17 years, was looking for "normal."

Normal temperature? Normal procedure? Normal, Illinois?

He didn't really say, either.

No one had the heart June 12 to tell either one of them, but the train for Normal and Ordinary pulled out of the station sometime late last month. As Austin Powers, international man of mystery, might have put it, "That train has flown."

Between the two, both looking for some kind of calming element for their teams hours before a Game 7 that will not soon be forgotten, Bylsma should have known better.

For all his quotidian, bespectacled everyman demeanor, there was simply nothing ordinary about a man who was pushing pucks around in Wilkes-Barre on Groundhog Day coaching in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final.
Bylsma's Baby Penguins had won eight in a row when general manager Ray Shero drafted him to replace Michel Therrien as the main Penguins herder, then they had won 18 of the remaining 25 regular-season games, then they had won 15 of the first 24 playoff games.

Had the playoffs lasted another week, Bylsma might have had as many playoff wins as regular-season wins. As it is, he is 42-11-4 his previous 57 times behind the bench, and a full season of Bylsma figures to look something like 59-11-12.

Don't tell me about ordinary.

Ordinarily, a team with the top two scorers in the postseason -- Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin -- would not skate for 951/2 minutes without a goal, but that's what was going on when Ruslan Fedotenko's shot hoisted the Penguins off the deck in Philadelphia in the opening round. Little more than an hour later, they had five goals and a 4-2 series victory right there where ambiance is defined as an unrelenting din of "Crosby sucks!" vocals.

Ordinarily, you don't hand the captaincy of your NHL team to a 19-year-old, which the Penguins did May 31, 2007. The Penguins haven't failed to make the Stanley Cup final since.

Ordinarily, the best goal-scorer in the NHL is a person of substantial humility, at least publicly, and is rarely given to definitive statements regarding future events. But May 12 of this recent postseason, a night before his team would play host to the Penguins in Game 7 in Washington, Alexander Ovechkin said this: "When we're desperate, we have more power than anybody."

Perhaps, you'll remember how powerful they looked with the Penguins up, 5-0, on the way to 6-2. But you have to forgive Alexander the Great. He was the only player on either side that a Chambersburg, Pa., teen actually threatened to kill during the series. Which doesn't happen ordinarily.


Matt Freed/ Post-Gazette

Marc-Andre Fleury was anything but ordinary in the Cup-clincher, particularly after being run from the net in Game 5. He makes a save on Detroit's Johan Franzen late in Game 7.

Ordinarily, a franchise's all-time leading playoff scorer can be counted on to influence the course of events in a conference final, but Eric Staal disappeared in that round thanks to his brother, Jordan, and to Tyler Kennedy and Matt Cooke, who checked the elder Staal into oblivion. The Carolina Hurricanes were 7-0 in the postseason when Eric got a goal. Against the Penguins, he didn't get one until it was too late, early in Game 4. By that point, the Hurricanes were being swept from the playoffs for the first time since they were the Hartford Whalers.

Ordinarily, a former head coach of the Super Bowl champion Steelers wouldn't turn up in the arena of a Penguins playoff opponent specifically to crank a hurricane siren.

Ordinarily, a goaltender hounded from the net by five goals in the fifth game of the Stanley Cup final does not turn into its hero's hero in Games 6 and 7, but Marc-Andre Fleury did not only that, but survived to play out the ultimate street hockey/deck hockey/pond hockey/donkey hockey fantasy. He made a Cup-winning save with about one second on the clock.

Anybody who thinks that will happen again should volunteer for siren duty.

There will be more than enough historical adjectives to describe the sustained Penguins brilliance of 2009. Let us not leave out extraordinary.

Gene Collier can be reached at gcollier@post-gazette.com. More articles by this author
First published on June 21, 2009 at 12:00 am

Penguins had hidden helpers

By Joe Starkey, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Sunday, June 21, 2009

Ryan Malone watched Game 7 from a bachelor party, but we'll get to that in a minute.

First, let's be frank: If a man owns even an ounce of humility, he will, at some point, find himself in a reflective mode during his most triumphant moments, thinking of those who lit the trail for him.

So, it was for the Stanley Cup-champion Penguins of 2009.


Pittsburgh Penguins winger Ryan Malone tries to score on Detroit Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood during the first period of game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on May 24, 2008. (UPI Photo/Brian Kersey)

Executives, coaches, players and scouts echoed a similar refrain in the wake of a dramatic Game 7 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

"I'm going to celebrate with the people who helped me get here," assistant coach Mike Yeo said Monday, during the parade, when asked how he would spend his day with the Cup. "That might sound boring, but it's the truth."

How about you, general manager Ray Shero, what was running through your mind when the horn sounded in Game 7?

"I thought of everyone who helped me get here, quite honestly," he said, during the post-game revelry at Joe Louis Arena. "I thought of my wife and kids and (Nashville Predators GM) David Poile, who hired me in Nashville. Just everything comes through your mind."

Long-time scout Chuck Grillo, a holdover from the Craig Patrick era, will never forget the moment the clock hit zero. He has been working in the NHL since 1981. He'd never touched the Cup 'til Friday night.

"What happens," Grillo said, "is your whole life flashes in front of you."

Grillo stayed up late into the night with the Penguins' hockey operations staff at a Detroit hotel. His colleagues had one request of him: Be sure to thank the men who came before us in this organization.

"They wanted to pay tribute to those guys," Grillo said. "And I will."

That is appropriate, because so many perhaps-forgotten contributors helped pave the way to the Penguins' third Stanley Cup title.

Obviously, the people on hand — everyone from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to Philippe Boucher and Pascal Dupuis, to Shero, Lemieux and coach Dan Bylsma — deserve most of the acclaim, in varying degrees, for this championship.

They get credit for the goal, so to speak, but a bunch of folks who've since moved along deserve to share in a second assist.


*********


As the minutes tensely ticked away in Game 7 nine nights ago, ex-Penguins winger Ryan Malone watched from a bar in Faribault, Minn.

Malone was attending a bachelor party for Carolina Hurricanes winger Patrick Eaves.

"When we first got there, the Penguins were up going into the third period, and I was like, 'Oh my God, Pittsburgh's going to win it,' " Malone recounted Friday. "You're happy for 'em, but it was weird watching, because you know so many of the guys, and you were in that position last year."

Last year, Malone was on the ice at Joe Louis Arena, unable to breathe out of his nose because of an injury, but battling gamely with his teammates to win a memorable Game 5.

One image this reporter will take from that series is Malone slumped at his locker after the crushing Game 6 loss, a baseball hat pulled low over his face, unable to move a muscle. He had literally given everything, and that is the main point here:

Guys like Ryan Malone helped to create the culture and spirit that carried the Penguins one step farther in 2009.

Gary Roberts is another one. When he and Mark Recchi were teammates in Pittsburgh, they modeled a champion's work ethic to the younger players.

Roberts, now retired, texted defenseman Brooks Orpik before Game 1 of the Final.

"He said, 'I know this is your guys' year; you guys are going to do it,' and, 'I know everybody is doubting you, just stay with it,' " Orpik said on the ice after Game 7.


Getty Images

PITTSBURGH - MAY 31: Niklas Kronwall #55 of the Detroit Red Wings pushes off on Gary Roberts #10 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during game four of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals at Mellon Arena on May 31, 2008 in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania.

Ex-Penguins defensemen Darryl Sydor and Ryan Whitney texted Orpik on the morning of Game 7.

"I think it says a lot about all those guys," Orpik said. "They had a huge effect on the guys here and how professional we are. Obviously, they're not here to enjoy it, but I think we probably should share it with those guys. They were genuinely, really, really pulling for us."


*********


Ryan Malone's father, Greg, remembers general manager Craig Patrick's game plan when the Penguins sank to the NHL basement shortly after the turn of the millennium.

A former Penguins player, Greg Malone was Patrick's long-time chief of scouting.

"Craig told us, 'We may not be here to reap the benefits, but we're going to do it the right way; we're going to rebuild through the draft,' " Greg Malone recalled Friday.

It's not like they had much choice — they weren't going to rebuild with high-priced free agents — but give the Patrick regime its proper due for drafting several key members of this year's team.

I'm not talking about Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Those were gimmes. I'm talking about goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, taken first overall in 2003, and several other picks, including defenseman Rob Scuderi (fifth round, 1998); Orpik (18th overall, 2000); forward Max Talbot (eighth round, 2002); winger Tyler Kennedy (fourth round, 2004); and defenseman Kris Letang (third round, 2005).

Talbot was the 234th pick of a 291-pick draft. Hard as it is to believe now, the knock on him was his skating ability. Veteran scout Gilles Meloche, who has added goaltending coach to his duties, lobbied for Talbot a few rounds earlier. Patrick and Malone finally relented.

On picking Orpik, who's had a better career than most of the players drafted in front of him, Greg Malone says, "We had him rated much higher than 18th, so that was an easy one."

In 2003, the Penguins were torn between Fleury and Eric Staal with the top pick, when scout and long-time NHL goalie Les Binkley piped up, saying, "When are we ever going to be positioned this high to take a goaltender?"

Credit also must go to Patrick for signing Sergei Gonchar to that five-year, $25-million contract (looks pretty good now, eh?) and hiring Michel Therrien as Wilkes-Barre's coach and later promoting him. Ironically, Therrien wound up revamping the laissez-faire locker-room atmosphere that had germinated in Patrick's later years.

Shero's former top assistant, Chuck Fletcher — another guy who helped immensely before moving on — spoke eloquently to Therrien's impact, two months into Bylsma's tenure.

It was Fletcher, by the way, who brought Bylsma into the organization.

"Michel Therrien did a terrific job of bringing accountability, bringing a sense of defensive responsibility and structure to a team that had a lot of inexperienced players," Fletcher said. "He took the team a long way. Dan was able to come in and open up the spigot a little bit, if you will."

Greg Malone, still living in Pittsburgh but now a pro scout with the Tampa Bay Lightning, sent a text to Craig Patrick after the Penguins won the Cup last Friday. Malone declined to reveal the message but indicated it was a reminder to Patrick of Patrick's positive impact on this team.

"When you're at the bottom, that's hard, from the trainers right through to the coaches on up," Malone said. "Those are the guys who made a lot of sacrifices in keeping this thing together. They are the ones who had to bear the brunt of losing."


*********


Born and raised in Upper St. Clair, Ryan Malone was a Penguins fan long before he was a Penguins player. One wonders if he felt a part of this title.

"You kind of feel a part of it," he said. "My dad being in the organization when I was kid, knowing Mario on different levels, knowing Ed Johnston, to see all those guys have success is great.

"To me, it's always been kind of like a big family."

After our conversation, Ryan Malone texted an additional thought: "I'd like to add it was nice to see them win for the fans! They were patient and now they have the reward."

He'd just arrived in Atlanta, where some current Penguins players and some former ones, including Roberts, were expected to be in town for ex-teammate Colby Armstrong's wedding.

How fitting that such a group would have a chance to celebrate together.

Malkin and family begin their Yinzerfication

By Rob Rossi, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Saturday, June 20, 2009

Penguins center Evgeni "Geno" Malkin was surprised to hear the words leave his mouth during a conversation two years ago with his father.

"We talked after my first year, and he asked how I like Pittsburgh," Malkin recalled Sunday, fewer than 48 hours after winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the playoffs. "'Pittsburgh is very good for me,' I tell him. Other cities in America are too big, so fast. Nice to see, not good to live. Pittsburgh is good place to live. Nice people. Helpful. Leave you alone, but also support you.

"'Pittsburgh is the place for me,' I tell him. Now he agrees."


The Malkin family
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review file

Since 2006, Evgeni Malkin has matured from a shy 20-year-old with tons of potential into one of the National Hockey League's best offensive players. Now 22, he grew into manhood under Pittsburgh's lauded skyline.

Russia is his native land, but Pittsburgh is becoming home — even if he remains leery about slamming french fries and coleslaw onto a sandwich.

A lay of the local land as Malkin has come to know it: grocery shopping at Whole Foods in East Liberty; dining at Shadyside's Umi; shopping for clothes at Ross Park Mall; enjoying a night in South Side at Diesel; or watching from the kitchen of his Sewickley home as his mother, Natalia, prepares borscht.

The Yinzerfication of Malkin took another step when Malkin decided he wanted a Terrible Towel during the Steelers' Super Bowl run. But teammate Matt Cooke could not convince him to forgo the warmth of his living room for a seat in the cold at Heinz Field.

"Nowhere better for me to live and play," Malkin said before jetting to Las Vegas for the NHL Awards. Malkin was a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy, which hockey writers select, and Lester B. Pearson Award, which players determine.

"Pittsburgh loves sports," he said. "People cheer when you do good, and they try to help when you don't."

Another Pittsburgh convert is not surprised.

"Pittsburgh is a great place, and I think you'd find a lot of hockey players that think so," said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, 21, who arrived from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, in 2005. "A lot of guys come from towns -- some of us in Canada, guys like Geno in Russia -- that Pittsburgh reminds us of in some way.

"It's probably the people here, who are great. That's what it was for me."

Vladimir Malkin, Geno's father, told the Tribune-Review this month that areas around Pittsburgh -- specifically communities such as Aliquippa -- reminded him of Russia's Magnitogorsk, the family's hometown.

Magnitogorsk is a mining town by the Ural River. It originally was intended to serve as Russia's version of Pittsburgh by Josef Stalin, who sought an industrial stronghold.

"Like ours, Pittsburgh is a steel town," Vladimir Malkin, a former steelworker, said through the Penguins' unofficial Russian interpreter George Birman. "Pittsburgh is bigger, more like a city than a town."

That, Natalia Malkin said, is what appeals to her son, who has spoken fondly of New York and Los Angeles.

"Geno likes big cities, but not too big like those -- not to live," she said through a translator. "Pittsburgh is best size for him, with good people like from back home in Russia."

Pittsburgh won favor with Evgeni Malkin immediately because Pittsburghers treated him like one of their own, according to close friend and Penguins teammate Sergei Gonchar.

Until last fall, Malkin lived with Gonchar and his family in Sewickley. He ate at restaurants they frequented, shopped where they shopped and knew what they knew about the city and region.

"We would be out, and people would come up to him to say hello," said Gonchar, who arrived in the United States in 1994 and owns homes here and outside of Miami.

"He had only been here for a few weeks, and everything was so very new to him, and I think he was surprised the fans here were so friendly. Now they don't bother him at all, other than to say, 'Good job, Geno.' He just fits in."

That is especially true at Diesel, a popular nightclub. Malkin enjoys that he is never the center of attention among fun-seeking fans who rarely disturb him.

People often recognize him when he shops for casual clothing at the mall. Penguins teammate Max Talbot said fans "always respect that he's trying to shop, just like them."

Malkin joked that nobody asks him to sign anything if he's carrying "bags in both hands."

At Japanese restaurant Umi, where Malkin prefers tartare-prepared dishes of salmon, yellow tail and toro, smaller and familiar crowds appeal to his reserved nature. Sous chef Jesse Wilson does not believe Malkin avoids attention because he remains uncomfortable with the English language.

Gonchar said he had played in North America nearly 10 years before he was comfortable speaking English in public. But he said Malkin could speak his second language fluently and still not feel comfortable at the head table.

"He's very shy, but that's because he's young," Wilson said. "The thing that sticks out to me is how polite he is to people when they do approach him. He's always saying thanks, and he seems genuinely happy -- maybe a bit embarrassed, too -- that so many people like him.

"And if he's awkward in a certain situation, people just go with it. Everybody ends up laughing about it a few minutes later because everybody that kid meets loves him."

The feeling is mutual, Malkin acknowledged.

But about those Pittsburgh-style sandwiches ...

"No, not for me, not yet," he said, smiling and insisting he means no disrespect to "those guys" at Primanti Brothers.

Vladimir Malkin was an instant fan of Pittsburgh's most famous sandwich, and Evgeni figures he'll become one eventually.

"Only been here three years," he said. "Maybe in a few more I can try one again. Then I can be a real Pittsburgh guy."

Malkin loses Hart Trophy to Ovechkin

Penguins star prefers winning the Stanley Cup

Friday, June 19, 2009
By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/penguins/

LAS VEGAS -- Washington Capitals outgoing left winger Alex Ovechkin stole the NHL Awards show last night, winning the Hart Trophy as regular-season MVP and the Lester B. Pearson Award as the players' choice for most outstanding player.


Ryan Remiorz/Associated Press/Canadian Press

Penguins center Evgeni Malkin poses with the Art Ross Trophy and the Conn Smythe trophy at the NHL awards show in Las Vegas last night. Malkin finished second to Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin for the Hart Trophy.

That did not bother Penguins center Evgeni Malkin much. He was a finalist for both awards and runner-up to Ovechkin for the second year in a row, but was still walking on air less than a week after he led his team to the Stanley Cup championship.

"My dream was to win the Stanley Cup. I'm not thinking about MVP. I know I won the Stanley Cup. I'm happy," said Malkin, who carried the Cup during the red carpet procession leading into the Pearl Theater at the Palms Resort and Casino.

Ovechkin garnered 115 of 133 first-place votes in Hart balloting by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Malkin received 12 first-place votes, 71 second-place votes and 787 points. Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk had four first-place votes and 404 points.

If anything, Ovechkin was a bit jealous of Malkin.

"It's pretty important when people and players give you this trust," Ovechkin said. "I don't want to stop. I want to be the best next year. I want to be in the same situation Pittsburgh is in. Personal stats are good. Personal awards are good, but I just want to win one award, the Stanley Cup."

Malkin was formally was presented with the Art Ross Trophy for winning the regular-season scoring title with 113 points. He also was named the center on the NHL first-team all-star team.

Those go along with the Conn Smythe Trophy he won as playoff MVP after leading the postseason with 36 points.


Ryan Remiorz/Associated Press/Canadian Press

Evgeni Malkin signs autographs as he arrives for the NHL awards show.

Datsyuk, the third finalist for the Hart and Pearson awards, also had a bigger night than Malkin. He won his second consecutive Selke Trophy as the top defensive forward and his fourth Lady Byng Trophy in a row for sportsmanship and skill.

Malkin admitted beforehand to being anxious, but not about winning.

"I'm nervous," he said. "My English is not good.

"But it's fun. It's OK. We won the Stanley Cup. I won the [Art] Ross, Conn Smythe Trophy. It's OK.


Malkin did not have to say anything the first time he walked on stage. He and linemate Max Talbot, the hero with two goals in the Game 7 win against Detroit in the final, carried the Cup on stage, accompanied by Penguins coach Dan Bylsma, early in the show.

Malkin's other appearance at the podium came when he accepted the Art Ross Trophy and Ovechkin accepted the Maurice Richard Trophy for leading the regular season with 56 goals.

Malkin again expressed nervousness over his English, then haltingly thanked the Penguins and his parents.

Ovechkin, using Malkin's nickname, then joked, 'Well, Geno, your English is better than Pavel Datsyuk's English."

In addition to the Hart and Pearson awards, Ovechkin, who was second to Malkin with 110 points in the regular season, was another member of the first all-star team.

It was the first time all three Hart finalists were Russian.


Ryan Remiorz/Associated Press/Canadian Press

Washington Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin poses with the Hart Trophy, center, the Lester B. Pearson Award, left, and the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy.

The Penguins' Sidney Crosby was the third-team all-star center. He also was a finalist for two awards -- the first Fan Fav Award, an MVP-type honor decided by a fan vote, which went to Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo; and the Mark Messier Leadership Award, which went to Jarome Iginla of Calgary.

As for Malkin, he planned to remain in Las Vegas today, go to Florida for a short vacation, then home to Russia for the summer, where he is anticipating a huge celebration in his hometown of Magnitogorsk when he gets his day with the Stanley Cup.

"I had a great season and the team had a great season, but I [need to] rest now," he said. "I feel awesome. I celebrated a couple days and I was so tired. Now I rest."

Malkin was joined on the first all-star team by Ovechkin and Iginla at winger, Washington's Mike Green and Boston's Zdeno Chara on defense and Boston's Tim Thomas at goaltender.

First published on June 19, 2009 at 12:00 am

Malkin could add to trophy collection

Thursday, June 18, 2009
By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/penguins/

LAS VEGAS -- Sunday, Evgeni Malkin looked a bit like he belonged in Las Vegas when he walked into the Penguins' locker room at Mellon Arena wearing shades and carrying the Conn Smythe Trophy he had just picked up as NHL playoff MVP.


Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette

Penguins broadcaster Paul Steigerwald (right) takes a photo of center Evgeni Malkin entering the locker room with the Conn Smythe Trophy Sunday. Malkin could add to his trophy collection at tonight's NHL awards show.

Malkin already had clinched the Art Ross Trophy as the regular-season scoring champion, and he has had his hands all over the Stanley Cup the Penguins clinched last week.

Tonight, amid the glitz and glamour of the first NHL awards show in Vegas, Malkin could add to his collection.

The 22-year-old center is one of three finalists for the Hart Trophy as regular-season MVP and the Lester B. Pearson Award, which goes to the best player in a vote of fellow NHL players.

The awards show, in the Pearl Theater at The Palms Casino and Resort, can be seen at 7:30 p.m. on Versus.

Teammatee and fellow Russian Sergei Gonchar described Malkin's improvement better than most. The two played together for Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Russian Elite League during the 2004-05 NHL lockout, before Malkin's rookie NHL season of 2006-07.

"I knew before he came here how talented that guy is," Gonchar said. "To me, there was no question that he would be able to play at the level he's playing, but what I can see of him now, he has more confidence.

"As you can see, he's doing things that he's never done before. You could see it coming. I knew it was going to be there, but he probably surprised everybody with how quickly he developed himself into probably one of the best players in the league."

Malkin won his first Art Ross Trophy with 113 points and also led the regular season with 78 assists and -- in a testament to his two-way play -- 94 takeaways. He led the playoffs with 36 points.

Voting for the season awards took place before the playoffs, and Malkin has some strong competition from two players he and the Penguins faced in the playoffs.

Washington winger Alex Ovechkin, widely considered the most dynamic player in the league, led the regular season with 56 goals and was second to Malkin with 110 points. He beat out Malkin last year for the Hart.

Detroit center Pavel Datsyuk, widely considered the most complete two-way player, finished fourth in scoring with 97 points.

This is the first time all three Hart finalists have been Russian. The same three are up for the Pearson.

Datsyuk also is chasing his second consecutive Selke Trophy as the top defensive forward and his fourth consecutive Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship and skill.

Penguins center Sidney Crosby -- who, in 2006-07, had the kind of year Malkin had, winning the Art Ross, Hart and Pearson -- is up for two lesser honors, the Mark Messier Leadership Award and the NHL Fan Fav Award, the first MVP-type award decided in a fan vote.

Shelly Anderson can be reached at shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721.
First published on June 18, 2009 at 12:00 am

Stanley Cup embarks on long journey

By Kevin Gorman, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Tuesday, June 16, 2009

In its first three days with the Penguins, Lord Stanley's Cup has been suspended outside a second-story window on the South Side, taken a dip in Mario Lemieux's swimming pool and served as the grand marshal of a Downtown parade before hundreds of thousands of cheering fans.

PITTSBURGH - JUNE 15: Head coach Dan Bylsma of the Pittsburgh Penguins holds aloft the Stanley Cup for the crowd during Stanley Cup Champion Victory Parade on June 15, 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

The adventures are just about to begin for that crazy Cup.

Before hockey's Holy Grail embarks on its 100 days of celebration, it will head Wednesday to Las Vegas for the NHL Awards Show, where Penguins center Evgeni Malkin is a finalist for the Hart Trophy and captain Sidney Crosby for the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award.

"To see the Cup among that many people and the attention it draws, no matter if you're a hockey fan or not, there's just something about it that's so special," Crosby said of the reaction to bringing the Cup back. "That's the great thing about it that I don't think you see in any other sport, where guys get to spend so much time with the trophy they worked so hard to get."

Of North America's four major professional sports leagues, only the NHL awards a trophy that has the names of every member of a championship team engraved on it. Where the others re-create replicas of their trophy and award them annually to the champions, there is only one Stanley Cup. And that changes everything.

The NFL awards the football-shaped Lombardi Trophy to its champion. Major League Baseball gives its champion the World Series Trophy, featuring pennants of every team. In 1978, the NBA changed its hardware, with a basketball about to enter the net, from the Walter A. Brown Trophy to the Larry O'Brien Trophy after its former NBA commissioner and past U.S. Postmaster General. The league also started a Legends Tour to make it more accessible — and recognizable — to basketball fans.

None of them have the cache of the Cup.

The 35-pound, 34 1/2-inch cylinder is a magnet for everyone from movie stars — it stands taller than actor Verne Troyer, famous for his role as "Mini-Me" in the Austin Powers series — to sporting superstars. The Cup spent Sunday at PNC Park, took at trip to Detroit's Comerica Park last year and has appeared in ballparks and stadiums in nearly every city it has visited.

"I've had the Stanley Cup lined up with the World Series trophy with the Red Sox, and the Stanley Cup had a bigger crowd in Boston. The same thing with Steelers and Lombardi Trophy," said Mike Bolt, one of the four men who serve as Keeper of the Cup for the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. "The players say, 'You get to have your name on it, take it home, eat out of it and drink out of it.' It's funny. I've heard ballplayers' say that, in other sports, they play for a ring. In hockey, they play for the Cup.

"That's why it's the most famous trophy in professional sports."

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury ride with the Stanley Cup along the victory parade route in Pittsburgh, Monday, June 15, 2009. The Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 in game 7, Saturday in Detroit. (AP)

One with a reputation for skinny dipping.

The Cup has twice ended up at the bottom of the pool at the home of Lemieux, who the Penguins to back-to-back championships in 1991-92 as a Hall of Fame center and is now the club's majority co-owner. The first time came in '91, when Phil Bourque got the party started by tossing it into the water, causing it to get water-logged and tarnished (which is why the Hockey Hall of Fame created the position of Keeper of the Cup).

Not to be outdone...

"We did that already," said Penguins right wing Bill Guerin, noting that he was one of the players who rescued the Stanley Cup Sunday night. "A couple of us did ... a couple of times."

What makes the Cup even more famous is its tradition of allowing every player from its champions to spend a day of his choosing with it, one that has seen it straddle the Siberian border of Europe and Asia (by Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk) and be flown by helicopter to the top of Bull Mountain in Cranbrook, B.C. (by Anaheim's Scott and Rob Niedermayer) in years past.

When Penguins left wing Chris Kunitz won the Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007, he split the first half of the day at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., before boarding a private plane to his native Regina, Saskatchewan. When Penguins right wing Craig Adams won the Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in '06, he visited a children's hospital in Calgary, Alberta. When Penguins left wing Ruslan Fedotenko won the Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in '04, he returned for the first time in six years to Kiev, Ukraine, where 8,000 people lined its main street and the party was broadcast live nationwide.

The Penguins players are still planning their day with the Cup, working with Hockey Hall of Fame vice president/collections curator Phil Pritchard to plan a geographically feasible schedule that will allow each player and member of the front-office management their 24 hours with the prized possession.

"I have no idea what my plans are for the summer, but I've got lots of ideas for the Cup," said Crosby, who plans to take the Cup to his hometown of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. "This is something we've all dreamed about, had a long time to think about. I'll bring it home and, hopefully, share it with a lot of people back there and spend as much time as I can with it.

"You look back to all the people that helped you to get to this point, and they all had a hand in it, whether it's midget hockey coach or Junior. In a way, it's almost like a way to say thanks to have them see you with the Cup and achieve your goal. They can feel part of it, too."

PITTSBURGH - JUNE 15: Sidney Crosby(notes) #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins holds the Stanley Cup as Maxime Talbot #25 of the Penguins sprays the crowd during Stanley Cup Champion Victory Parade on June 15, 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

Penguins forward Maxime Talbot will get to live out his dreams twice. Not only did he score both goals in the 2-1 Game 7 victory over Detroit last Friday, but he will get to return to his native Montreal with the Cup.

"That's the day that you dream of," Talbot said. "I'm going to go back home to Montreal and do something with charity to raise a little money for my foundation and share it with the city where I grew up with hockey and my family, friends and old coaches — everyone who helped me get here.

"I can't wait for that day."


Twice as nice

A look at the 11 times that cities with teams in the four major sports (NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL) won multiple championships in the same calendar year:

Year: City — Teams

2009: Pittsburgh — Steelers, Penguins

2004: Boston — Red Sox, Patriots

1988: Los Angeles — Dodgers, Lakers

1979: Pittsburgh — Steelers, Pirates

1969: New York — Jets, Mets

1956: New York — Yankees, Giants (NFL)

1952: Detroit — Lions, Red Wings

1938: New York — Yankees, Giants (NFL)

1935: Detroit — Tigers, Lions

1933: New York — Giants (MLB), Rangers

1928: New York — Yankees, Rangers