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Friday, June 12, 2009
Just after the media throng cleared from his locker Thursday at Mellon Arena, sweat-soaked Penguins captain Sidney Crosby considered a final question.
Penguins' Sidney Crosby and the team are ready for their last game together. Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review
His team had just completed its last practice of the season, a tune-up for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final tonight in Detroit, which meant it was the last time this particular group of men would share this particular space together.
Weird feeling?
"It's funny you say that," Crosby said, "because the road to this point has seemed so long, and all of a sudden, we're less than 48 hours from this group being together for the last time. I mean, it's pretty hard to keep every single guy together these days."
Impossible, actually. Consider that seven of the Penguins' 18 skaters from Game 6 of last year's Final (including that Hossa guy) played elsewhere this season. That's just life in professional sports.
One wonders what Crosby sees as he looks around the room, into the eyes of his teammates, a group that has bonded like brothers in the four months since Dan Bylsma replaced Michel Therrien as coach.
"I think we trust each other more than we ever have," Crosby said. "We've come this far together. The belief and trust is there. It's up to us to go out there and do the job."
Of course, yesterday was not the time for reflection. It might have been the last day of classes, but a doozey of a final exam lay ahead, so it wasn't like anyone was signing yearbooks.
"Just with the way the league works, guys are completely aware of the situation and realize (the complexion of the team will change)," said defenseman Brooks Orpik. "It doesn't even need to be addressed."
Win or lose, the Penguins are a pretty incredible story. Their final practice was reflective of the upbeat approach Bylsma brought to the job.
In fact, Bylsma started the workout by briefly playing goalie on his knees.
"I think he was just trying to emulate Scuderi," said winger Matt Cooke, referring to defenseman Rob Scuderi's memorable goal-line stand late in Game 6.
A group of reporters -- smaller than one would expect on the eve of Game 7 of the Final -- watched the practice. So did general manager Ray Shero, as per usual, and a couple of recognizable dads, Vladimir Malkin and Troy Crosby.
The Penguins worked on their power play for a spell and took a bunch of 2-on-1's against assistant coach Mike Yeo (not exactly Nicklas Lidstrom, but he looked pretty good out there). There were a few meetings at the grease board, with Yeo and Bylsma each making points.
An intense, hour-long session had its lighter moments. Among the sights you probably won't see in a game: Miroslav Satan scoring a lacrosse-style goal, scooping the puck onto the blade of his stick and stuffing it into the net, and towering defenseman Hal Gill standing in front of the net deflecting Scuderi's slap shots.
"Not any looser than we normally are," Crosby said. "That's good to see. You don't want to force relaxing. I think guys just brought their normal moods to the rink."
Veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar was the first man off the ice when practice ended. Bylsma soon followed, in full sprint down the runway.
One gets the feeling Bylsma is relishing every moment of this, his second Stanley Cup Final in six years (the other was playing for Anaheim in 2003). The same is true of veteran winger Bill Guerin, who went 14 years between trips to the Final and only made it this year because he escaped Long Island.
Guerin was 25 when he helped New Jersey win the Cup. He is 38 now, almost two months older than his coach.
"You know, I just appreciate it a lot, being here at this point, the excitement of a Game 7," Guerin said. "I've enjoyed every step of the way. Four months ago, I didn't think I'd even be in the playoffs. Now, it's pretty awesome, because I'm in this position, with these guys."
One last time tonight.
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