Penguins in seven?

By Joe Starkey, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Saturday, May 30, 2009

I'm tortured.

One minute, I am convinced that the Penguins are as good as they looked against Carolina and will beat the banged-up Detroit Red Wings in five or six games.

The next minute, I remember that playing against Niclas Wallin isn't quite the same as playing against Nicklas Lidstrom — injured or not — and Niklas Kronwall. I remember that the Red Wings tend to overwhelm people — they've outshot their opponent in 34 of their past 38 playoff games, including 26 by double-digits — and really like to win championships.

Red Wings in three.

No, that won't fly.

A talk with Canadian hockey analyst Don Cherry on Tuesday morning hardly cleared things up. Cherry said he thought the Red Wings were saving Lidstrom, which would make a lot of sense if it, you know, didn't make any sense.

"I think there's nothing wrong with him," Cherry said. "He's just getting a little rest."

This whole thing has me perplexed, especially the part about how the Penguins allegedly hold nothing against Marian Hossa.

Does anyone really believe that?

I think the Penguins were convinced that Hossa liked their offer last summer and was ready to sign. I think he stunned them by taking a one-year deal from Detroit after negotiating only multiple-year deals with the Penguins.

I think some of them — from ownership on down — felt burned, and I think they didn't appreciate Hossa's comment at the time, which, you'll recall, came shortly after he'd fought and bled with the Penguins all the way to a six-game Stanley Cup final loss to Detroit.

"When I compared the two teams," Hossa said, "I felt like I would have a better chance to win the Cup in Detroit."

Maybe he was just being honest, but after somebody breaks up with you, wouldn't you rather they keep quiet or lie than be brutally honest — especially in public?

"When I compared the two," she said, in front of all Bob's friends at the party, "I felt like I would have a better chance for a happy life with Jim."

Max Talbot was one of the few Penguins players, at the time, who admitted to hard feelings. And even if Talbot was being politically correct on the subject Friday, before the Penguins left for Detroit, his eyes steeled when he was reminded of Hossa's "better chance" quote.

"That's what he thinks," Talbot said. "We'll just try to prove him wrong."

How about you, Marc-Andre Fleury. Any hard feelings?

"A little disappointed," Fleury said. "But he was a real nice guy. I have to respect his decision. He's been in the league for a while, and he felt he had to go. ... But we're here, too."

Yeah, that's the problem, and it leads us back to my tortured mind. Maybe if we let the voices play out, we'll determine a winner (if not, let's just recycle last year's prediction and go with the Penguins in seven.).

Voice No. 1: The Penguins are older, wiser, better than they were last year, Joe. Pick them. Sidney Crosby's on a mission. Evgeni Malkin might be the best player in the world, as compared to the worst player in the world, which he was during much of last year's final. The Red Wings are ravaged. Lidstrom and Datsyuk? They can't win without those guys healthy. Penguins in five.

Voice No. 2: Be serious, Joe. These are the Red Wings. You think a few injuries are going to stop them? They still have Zetterberg, Hossa, Franzen, Kronwall, Rafalski and terrific role players. They're going to crash the net and feast on those fat Fleury rebounds. Red Wings in five.

Voice No. 1: No, Penguins in seven. The Red Wings are getting long in the tooth (quick, who's older - Chris Chelios or John Wooden?) and have to play three games in four nights. Their penalty kill stinks. Plus, the Penguins' new style will generate way more shots than last year, thus exposing Detroit goalie Chris Osgood like a flying octopus. Who's his backup, anyway?

Voice No. 2: Ty Conklin, who left the Penguins as a free agent last summer, right after the final. Anybody mad at him?