When Marian Hossa left Pittsburgh, he probably didn’t think this day would ever come. Now, the city that once revered him gets a chance to consider him a villain. It’s like when Chris Pronger of the Ducks touches the puck, the Joe Louis Arena starts raining boos. Melon Arena will boo Hossa. There’s also two possible Conn Smythe candidates, Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fluery, both of the Penguins, going up against Pavel Datsyuk and the defending Norris winner Niklas Lidstrom. Now the NHL offices in Toronto have two of the biggest teams on the NHL’s brightest stage. This is what you work for in training camp. This is where all of your strength and conditioning comes into play. For the Penguins, it is a chance of redemption. For Mike Babcock and Mike and Marian Ilitch, it is a chance to retain the throne and prove that the Stanley Cup is not an easy trophy to win. You can’t mention the Stanley Cup without saying Detroit. This series will be full of punch counter-punch. In goal for Detroit there’s 35 year old Chris Osgood who has the heart of a lion. For the Penguins, there’s 23 year old Fluery, who hopes that he can prove to the rest of the world why the puck stops with Fluery. This is the series that I wanted to cover. It has all the makings of an NHL classic. It’s Muhammad Ali vs. Sidney Holyfield.
Where can you see the epic battle? It all starts on Saturday May 30, at 7:00 pm Central, on NBC. Here’s the XM Stations: Red Wings with Ken Cal and Paul Woods on 204, Penguins with the greatest hockey voice ever Mike Lange on 205.
