Live to Fight Another Day

The Spurs, the Stars and the Flyer survived to fight another day. The Spurs were facing elimination at the hands of the New Orleans Hornets in game 6. The defending champs held off the upstart Hornets to force a game 7. The Stars held off a sweep at the hands Detroit Red Wings. The Flyers also staved off a sweep by the young Penguins.

In the Spurs vs. Hornets series, no team has won on the opponent's court. Game seven will be Monday night in Hornet. If San Antonio wants to keep defending their title, they need a victory in New Orleans. It's a tall order because the Spurs have been blown out in the three games in New Orleans. Duncan, Ginobili and Parker need to bring the A game and the supporting cast needs to throw in some points too. It's going to have to be a team effort to oust the Hornets. The Hornets have the advantage of youth and the home crowd in game 7.

In the NHL Conference finals, the Penguins were denied sweeping the Flyers. Dallas too survived to force another game. It's a tall order for the Flyers and the Stars to come from 1-3 deficits. Barring two miracles, it will still be a Penguins vs. Red Wings Stanley Cup Finals.

Is it too early for the Pens vs. Red Wings?

At the very bottom of this blog, you will find my sports allegiances and the teams I root against. The Pittsburgh Penguins are listed as one of my favorites. I've been following them since the Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Kevin Steves, Tom Borrasso, Kjell Sammuelson and Ulf Sammuelson Stanley Cup winning days. Actually I followed the team before the Cup wins.

Since then the club has gone bankrupt, was on the verge of folding or moving to another team. They assembled some young talent along the way. They added Sidney Crosby and a year later they added Evgeni Malkin. The Pens started playing some good hockey again and there was talk about them turning into an eventual Stanley Cup contender. The Penguins have a 3-1 lead over Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals.

I'm excited that the Pens have reached this point. I didn't think this would be the year they would make a Cup run. I thought the Malkin and Crosby were about a year or two away from being ready for the grind that is the NHL playoffs. Instead they've been tearing through the opposition. The only loss on the Pen's postseason record hasa been a loss to the Rangers.

With both the Penguins and the Red Wings holding 3-0 leads over the Flyers and Stars, respectively, we should see them in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Red Wings have been in the Finals four times since 1995. Losing the Cup in '95 but winning three times in '97,'98 and '02. The Penguins haven't been to the Cup finals since winning back to back titles in '91-'92.

It will be the young, up and coming Penguins against the grisly veteran team of the Red Wings. I give a slight edge to the Red Wings on experience. The Pens have youth and can skate and score at will. The Red Wings have been in the trenches and won't let the Pens skate all over them. Red Wings in six.