The Rangers Tribune

3-1 Detroit In Third

Justin Abdelkader has just scored to give the Wings a more comfortable lead with 12 minutes to go in the game. Fleury has to have that shot and that mistake might have put the Pens out of reach.

The Pens are playing better in this game than they did in Game 1, but they still find themselves behind, despite Malkin giving them the early lead. For the Red Wings, Hossa created a great play to develop a goal on the powerplay, Detroit also scored off of the faceoff, and Abdelkader's just gave them the two goal lead.

So we will see if the Wings can hold on to win this and take a 2-0 series lead going to Pittsburgh.
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2009 Stanley Cup Finals Preview

The 2009 Stanley Cup Finals series will kick off in Detroit tonight, as the Red Wings will host the Penguins of Pittsburgh in Game One. Media Day was held in Detroit yesterday, as it was the previous year, but many of the players had the same mentality and that is to get the early lead in the series and to come out hard. Now obviously the hype is a bit higher than normal in this series as it will be a rematch from last year's finals. The Wings defending, and the Pens seeking revenge.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, a big storyline in this match-up is Marian Hossa, and not just because he has been red hot as of late, but beacause he will now see the same match-up, but from a different perspective. Hossa played against the Wings in the finals last year while on the Penguins, and will now be going against the Penguins while in a Red Wing uniform. We will see if Hossa can get his hands on the Cup, or be shut out of it once again.

Now to look at the teams as a whole. The Red Wings and Penguins are both very threatening offensively, the Wings with Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Hossa, abd then the Pens with Crosby and Malkin. That is some list of players, as all are among the top 20 hockey players in the World. Now defensively I believe that Detroit has the advantage. The Wings have a lot of experience with Lidstrom and Chelios, who can be both offensive and defensive. The Penguins, on the the other hand, lay most of their defensive duties on the shoulders of Sergei Gonchar, who is better offensively than defensively. While looking at goaltending, you have the proven playoff contender Chris Osgood in goal for the Wings, and then you have the French-Canadian Marc-Andre Fleury in net for the Pens, and he has been stellar all throughout these playoffs.

All considered, this will be a great match-up and will contain a great level of excitement. But when you get down to it, I will say the Wings are the better team, and I predict they will win it all for the second consecutive year in Seven games. We will see if Pittsburgh can prove me wrong. Enjoy!

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Wings 1 Pens 1 After First

Great action-packed period to kick off these Stanley Cup Finals! The refs are really letting these two teams play, and some huge hits have resulted from that. Besides the hitting, the flow of the game has been fantastic. North and South, up and down the ice the teams went, and some great chances were created on the fly by both teams.

Kind of an even period as the Wings got a flukey goal that went off the backboards and off of Fleury and in. The Pens got their goal from Ruslan Fedetenko scoring on a great play by Malkin and a bad rebound given up be Chris Osgood. Hopefully the terrific pace continues in the second.
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Zherdev Rejects KHL

Reports from a Hockey Journalist that is currently in Russia are saying that Nikolai Zherdev has rejected an offer to play in the KHL next season. Zherdev continued to say that he would like to come back and play for the Rangers in the 2009-10 season.

The only way that Tortorella and the rest of the coaching staff would want Nik Zherdev back on this team is if he is going to show the effort that he did in the first half of the season. Nik was a clutch player in the months of October and November, and even in December but he then he then faded away. So in terms of contract, I wouldn't give him much of an increase in money, mainly because you are not sure what you are going to get out of him. So it is all up to Slats now, but I would go after the needed sniper before re-signing Zherdev.
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

Wings/Pens to Play in Cup Finals

Darren Helm's overtime goal determined this year's Stanley Cup match-up, and yes' we will get a rematch of last year as Detroit and Pittsburgh will go head to head for the second straight year. One of the more interesting storylines heading into the series will be that Marian Hossa will see the matchup from the Detroit perspective, as he was on Pittsburgh last year. Will he get shutout of a second straight cup?

The series will kick off on Saturday on NBC, and I will be postibg the full schedule on here sometime Thursday.
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Renney Back in Business

Various sources have reported that Tom Renney will assist head coach Pat Quinn of the Edmonton Oilers next season. Both were hired by Edmonton, as former coach, Craig MacTavish was fired at the season's conclusion. The Oilers have been in a struggle for many consecutive seasons now, and it is about time a change was made to get the organization jump-started.

Congratulations to Tom on getting the job, as he was a great coach here, and will be part of a great coaching staff led by Quinn. Not to sure if Pat likes to play defensive hockey as Renney does, but I guess we will see the team's new style once the new season begins in October.

Trade Speculation: Rangers and Leafs

A rumor came out of TSN today, as hockey insider Darren Dreger reported that Glen Sather has laid out an offer to the Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager, Brian Burke. The offer supposedly looks like this:

To Rangers:

Tomas Kaberle

7th Overall Pick in 2009 Draft

Anton Stralman

To Leafs:

Wade Redden

Marc Staal

Brandon Dubinsky

I know your first thought was alarming being that Staal's name was involved in that trade, but you must take several things into consideration before you automatically say NO to this deal. First of all, we get rid of the disgusting Redden contract, you gain Tomas Kaberle, who is much better than Redden, and is only paid 4.25 million. Now yes, we would lose Marc Staal, and yes he will develop into an ALL-Star, BUT, we would gain that 7th overall pick, which could very well replace Staal, maybe even get us someone better. We would lose Dubinsky and get Stralman, who is decent, but not as valuable as Dubi.

Now that I laid the deal out or you, this is what we could potentially do after that. First we could draft a star destined d-man such as Cowen with the seventh overall, than we could trade our second pick in the first round for a player that is on a team with cap troubles. And finally we would have a great amount of Cap Space to cash in during free agency, like maybe getting Hossa or someone.

In totality, this would be a great deal for us, and we would benefit in many ways. Yes, it would be sad to Staalsy go, but as I said, we could easily replace him in the draft. All of that said, this is just a rumor, and has not been confirmed by the Rangers or the Leafs.

(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

Wings 2 Hawks 0 After 1

Wings have the lead through one at the United Center, as Marian Hossa scored shorthanded in the first ten minutes and Johan Franzen added to that by scoring with under a minute left. The Hawks have to get things going here, because their game has no luster. The offense is dormant, besides a frenzy in front of the net towards the end of the period, which led to a turnover and a goal against. Christobal Huet let up a dreadful goal to Franzen at the end there, as it just floated over his shoulder. - As for the Wings, they have to keep doing what they did in the first. Solid defense, created chances offensively, and controlled the tempo. We will see if they can keep this constant, even if the Hawks come out hard in the second.
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Wings 5 Hawks 1 After 2

Hawks obviously not looking to good through 2 periods in Chicago. Detroit dominating offensively with 3 goals in the second from Hossa, Filpula, and Zetterberg. Hossa is really skating well today, and his 2 goals show it. From a Hawks standpoint, they are really disappointing their home fans after the OT win the other night. So most likely Detroit will hold onto to win this one and take a 3-1 series lead.
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Wings 6 Hawks 1 Final

A disappointing game for the Hawks as they showed nothing(see prior posts) and as a result, will face elimination in Game 5 in Detroit on Wednesday. Red Wings just dominated the game today, and controlled the flow all throughout. Wings get the chance to go the Cup for the second straight year on Wednesday, and Pens get the same opportunity on Tuesday. Could we see a rematch of last year's finals? Looks like it!
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