The answer has been, and will always be no!
With that being said, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman got his wish when the Pittsburgh Penguins won their fifth Stanley Cup championship with a 2-0 victory over the Nashville Predators in Game Six of the Stanley Cup Finals last night.
Center Sidney Crosby won his second straight Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Finals, and the Penguins became the first team since the 1997 and 1998 Detroit Red Wings to repeat as champions.
Pittsburgh came in as the second seed in the Metropolitan Division, and promptly dispatched of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the opening round. In the Metropolitan Division Finals, the Pens held a three-games-to-one lead over the President’s Trophy-winning Washington Capitals, and took Game Seven on the road, winning 2-0. The Penguins nearly choked away the Eastern Finals against the Ottawa Senators, losing Game Six 2-1, and having to go to overtime to win Game Seven at home (3-2).
The Penguins blitzed Nashville in the first two games at home, winning by a combined score of 9-4. Then the Penguins did what they do so well...letting their opponent up off the floor. Nashville won games three and four by a 9-2 margin. Pittsburgh shellacked Nashville 6-0 in Game Five, and closed out in highly controversial fashion last night. Nashville appeared to grab an early 1-0 lead, but the goal was quickly waved off..
Of course it was...it was a against a team that Sidney Crosby plays for.
Crosby, 29, has won three Stanley Cup championships in his storied career, and still can’t grow a playoff beard that doesn’t look like he’s still trying to reach puberty. Crosby finished one goal (8 goals, 19 assists, 27 points) behind teammate Evgeni Malkin (10 goals, 18 assists, 28 points) for the playoff scoring lead. Malkin’s feat is even more impressive knowing that he also tallied a playoff-high 53 penalty minutes, seven better than Anaheim’s Nick Ritchie. Jake Guentzel’s 13 goals could have put him in contention for the Conn Smythe, but alas it was not to be.
Of course...it was Sidney Crosby.
I said a few weeks back after the Predators eliminated my St. Louis Blues that I did not want to see Sidney Crosby cheap-shotting someone (Exhibit A is that video of of him repeatedly bouncing Predators’ defenseman P.K. Subban’s head into the ice while holding him down), run for cover, and hoist a Stanley Cup. I get so much wrong on this blog with my predictions, that who would have thought I would have got this one right?!
These were some of the most forgettable finals I can remember in years. Nashville was the great little story who was upsetting the giants in the West, and Pittsburgh got every lucky break possible with their matchups in the East. Pekka Rinne was not Jonathan Quick when the latter led the Los Angeles Kings to the title as the last team in during the 2012 playoffs. You had to know “Hockeytonk” was running out of gas.
As a hockey fan, I can respect all that Crosby has accomplished in such a short time. As a Clevelander, he plays in Pittsburgh, and I don’t need to elaborate further. Crosby’s Wikipedia page is actually longer than Mario’s, and even has a section devoted to his jersey sales.
Oh, and those of you reading this thinking I need a tissue, I’ll gladly borrow one from the stockpile the Penguins’ equipment manager keeps on hand for “Cindy” on gameday. If you look up the top 10 “League’s Whiniest Player” list, guess whose name comes up most frequently?
Of course...it’s Sidney Crosby.
-JC24