the 4th star

1. Will Chris Osgood get a look for the 2010 Canadian Olympic team? I threw that out there last month and now it seems the notion might be getting some traction. Another story surfaced this week, and Mark Spector of SportsNet was echoing the same thought process on CJOB yesterday morning. If he keeps making the key saves like he did in the 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins — hello, Malkin breakaway — he has to be there. I can’t believe I just typed that.

2. Darren Helm is the new Dan Cleary. Last year, the CBC went crazy with the Cleary story, offering up a slice of his life at every chance. He’s from Newfoundland? OMG! This time around, it seems the St. Andrews-product has all the makings for the Hockey Feelgood Story in Canada broadcast. From Junior B in Selkirk to Stanley Cup champion. Canadian kid overcomes adversity to make the NHL. OK, got it. Tell us more about this Michigan-born Justin Abdelkader fellow.

3. Sidney Crosby was awful last night, no matter how the networks tried to spin it.

4. The active boards at Joe Louis Arena is not a story. Is this the first time CBC and NBC have done a game from Detroit? Everyone knows the puck comes back quick after a missed shot on net, and everyone knows the Red Wings actually practice a play designed around this feature. It has nothing to do with lucky bounces. Just because Marc-Andre Fleury — who should know the lay of the land at The Joe by now — looked like a fish out of water on the first two goals doesn’t mean the board-story is a new one. He’s a bad goaltender, and Detroit took advantage of that fact.

5. Best part of the night: Osgood plays to the crowd after blowing off a Pierre McGuire interview.

Seeing how my Star Trek transporter is still in the shop, any sort of coverage I give of the Manitoba Moose-Hershey Bears series will be of a limited variety. Checking out all the Calder Cup final games just isn’t in my future. So with that travel obstacle reality in the way, I’ve decided to provide a re-hash of last night’s action by looking at what the local media are saying about the game and where the series is headed.

Game 1: Hershey 5 Manitoba 4 (OT)

Despite the positive spin of the head and sub-headline, too many turnovers, according to Moose head coach Scott Arniel. Alexandre Giroux showed why he’s the league MVP this season, scoring a hat-trick and the OT winner. On that note, the Moose can’t get into a run and gun game with the Bears. Hershey coach Bob Woods says no lead is safe against his club. Meanwhile, a former Moose coach brought his AHL post season magic to the barn last night.

Sure, it’s just one game, but it was a blown opportunity by the Moose — no matter how you slice it. Arniel says his team made four turnovers in the first period and then 15 in the second, but his team still had a 3-1 lead going into the third. You need to hold serve when you gain an advantage like that. Turning point of the game might have been the penalty shot stop by Hershey goaltender Michal Neuvirth in the second period. Had Matt Pope scored there, that would have made it 4-1 Moose and the Bears might have been looking ahead to Game 2.

When is Game 2, you ask? Tuesday, 7:30 pm, at MTS Centre. It will be a party (sub).

Photo, Manitoba Moose

They say you can never go back. That’s what they say.

I say, what better way to set up another round of Stanley Cup Final action between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings by doing just that — going back to the archives to see what I said about these teams a year ago. For starters, let’s take a walk down memory lane with some series set-up. Remember this? Or this? Neither do I, and I wrote the damn things! Here’s another one from an old, infrequent contributor who called himself ‘The Clarkitect.’ His thoughts on how the National Hockey League lucked out with a dream series a year ago makes for an interesting read this time around.

However, this can’t and won’t happen every year because there is only one dream scenario. And when you and your buddies look back at pictures of the ’08 cup finals you’ll fondly remember a time when the stars aligned and the NHL displayed the best it could muster. And you’ll say, “…and remember the next year when Atlanta and Edmonton ended up meeting in the finals, that’s when the league really died.”

Did he actually predict an Edmonton-Atlanta final? No wonder he moved away.

Back to the future, the last line in my prediction for the original Pens-Wings applies directly to the current version that’s going to get underway tonight. Let’s not over-think things here: Detroit’s depth is going to be a problem for Pittsburgh, as the stars cancel each other out and leave the pluggers to find a goal or two in even-man situations. Getting Lidstrom back is huge. No. 5 will be able to shut down one of Crosby and Malkin, which is the best case scenario for any club playing the Penguins. As they proved against Washington, the Penguins defence is up for a challenge, but I wonder how they’ll be able to handle the physicality of guys like Franzen, Holmstrom, and Cleary. As for Osgood and Fleury, who knows what they’ll come up with? I expect some goals to be scored, but Osgood will be the X-factor for the Red Wings. He shakes off bad goals better than anyone, which is guess is a testament to how many bad goals he’s let in over the years.

How close are these teams in terms of raw talent? How banged up are the Red Wings? How many lessons did Crosby and Malkin learn last spring? How much money did Ray Shero borrow from Mario Lemieux to put on the board to motivate his troops against Hossa? How many of you knew the title of this post was from Detroit Rock City? How many different wind breakers does Mike Ilitch own? How many times will I bring up my S.H.D.E. victory? Answers to these questions will come as the series moves along here. Until then (and like last spring), I’ll take the Red Wings in seven games again — with wins in the final two to take the Stanley Cup.

Again.

Simple rule at the 4th Star: Ask (nicely) and ye shall receive.

Soccer loving broads who skipped out on work to take in the Wednesday afternoon battle between Barcelona and Manchester United in the Champions League final have spoken,. And just like that, the Man Sandwich was set. The object of their affection? Why, it’s none other than Pep Guardiola, the hunky young coach of Barcelona. Clearly, this sexy beast puts the beautiful in the beautiful game. Mucho bella!

And the hyperbole award goes to…

John Walton, the voice of the Hershey Bears.

Know this about the city of Winnipeg right now. This is the Super Bowl to them. We had more media requests this morning from Manitoba than Hershey, and we hold our own pretty well here when it comes to media coverage. I was told yesterday that one of the local papers up there is planning a 20-PAGE pullout section Saturday to mark the opening of the Finals. What NHL team heading into the Stanley Cup Final outside of Toronto or Montreal would ever get something like that?

Try Vancouver. Or Ottawa. Or Edmonton. Or Calgary. Welcome to Canada.

Look, I’m happy for the Manitoba Moose. Big cheese Mark Chipman and GM Craig Heisinger have worked a long time at this thing and they deserve a shot at an American Hockey League title. But let’s not get swept up in a handful of media requests. I know it’s more than your usual one a day. If this were the Super Bowl, John, you’d be a lot more in demand and I would have been drunk for five straight days now with about five hours sleep in that same span.

I’m sure John is a nice guy and I understand what he’s trying to do as a local radio broadcaster, but let’s not get too crazy with the hype. The Grey Cup isn’t even the Super Bowl to us, and its roots can be traced back to the same sport.

One more thing: Can someone explain to me why some media outlets in this city are asking fans to wear black to Game 1? Is this like a reverse Winnipeg Jets thing? Black is the new white, is it? The timing of this is odd, too. I mean, why start up a fan fashion campaign in the final round of the Calder Cup Playoffs? If you’re going to do this Black Sea business, wouldn’t you want it going right from the start? Someone needed to point out in the meeting that the Moose wear white at home. If you’re going to raid the closet for a colour (or lack of one) to sport at the game, shouldn’t you at least wear the same shade as the jersey of the team you’re supporting? Plus, black is for funerals. It’s depressing. You know — the opposite of what going to a playoff hockey game should be.

This is going to be a long series. In more ways than seven.

Marian Hossa story line aside, the most compelling angle for those interested in the Stanley Cup Final has to be the repetition of the two combatants. The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings, once again for the second time. Curiosity is high not for the high-end talent and questionable goaltending both bring to the table. No, I’m much more in love with the idea that two evenly matched clubs are playing for the Holy Grail of hockey for the second time in as many years. Forget about Alex Ovechkin versus Sidney Crosby — this is the series that the National Hockey League really wants.

This will be the 10th time the same two clubs will meet in the Stanley Cup Final in consecutive years. A pretty remarkable rarity, when you consider they’ve been celebrating the cup every spring since the 1927 season. Let’s look at the past match-ups and see who did what:

• 1932-33: The Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers met in back-to-back championships. The Leafs swept the Blueshirts in four the first year; New York got even the next spring.
• 1948-49: Maple Leafs again, this time taking both halves of a Stanley Cup doubleheader against Detroit in a total of eight games.
• 1954-55: Detroit gets it done twice against Montreal, beating the Canadiens both times in seven game marathons.
• 1957-58: Montreal takes the cup both years over the Boston Bruins.
• 1959-60: Montreal continues to dominate, beating the Maple Leafs two springs in a row.
• 1963-64: The Maple Leafs regroup in time to beat the Red Wings not once, but twice.
• 1968-69: The Canadiens are back to the twin killing, this time over the St. Louis Blues.
• 1977-78: Montreal (again!), pounding the Bruins in succession.
• 1983-84: The New York Islanders dynasty comes to a crashing halt, after the Edmonton Oilers take the rematch in five games.

There you have it. Seven prior occasions where the defending champion successfully defended its championship. So there’s a seventy-eight per cent chance we’ll see Nik Lidstrom receive the Stanley Cup from Gary Bettman at centre ice again. Can’t speak for Crosby & Co., but it will probably not be a good feeling having to witness that exchange for the second time in a row. Forget about shoving it up Hossa’s ass, there’s your Blue Plate Motivation Special right there, kids.

Yes, you read that right. Final update. Even with a round to go, the Slowest. Hockey. Draft. Ever. is over. As in game over. What was once a 19 point deficit for yours truly has transformed into a two point lead with no real challengers in sight. Knowing what I’m talking about, this is the advantage I have. Evgeni Malkin, I could kiss you on your Russian lips for your tremendous effort in the semi versus Carolina. Marian Hossa and Brian Rafalski deserve some of the credit, too. Sure, nothing in life is a guarantee, and the guy we worried about last round is still lurking in the weeds, but let’s get real here. It’s ova, it’s ova! Let’s go home, indeed.

The standings, the points,and the players:

The 4th Star, 89 points (Malkin, Hossa, Rafalski)
Chappy, 87 points (all Capitals, all Ducks, no hope)
MasterClark, 72 points (Zetterberg, Franzen)
Wise, 58 points (Crosby, J. Staal, Sykora)
NCMF, 55 points (Datsyuk, Lidstrom, Gonchar)
KevinO, 48 points (Kunitz)
Dr. Economy, 31 points (Joe Thornton, ’nuff said)

If memory serves, I think we said $100 a guy. That sounds about right.

Slow going on the Friday Wrap Jam today, as the body seems to have taken all Stanley Cup and Calder Cup fever in a literal sense. I’m in a bit of a funk — and have been for about four or five months now. Not good for doing things fun, great for sitting on the couch and watching hockey. Turns out rage mixed with florescent lighting and crappy ergonomic furniture doesn’t do the body well. But who cares, right? Boredom and recycled air are minor problems when you pull back and look at the big picture.

On that note, how great it was to see the lovely Meera Bahadoosingh this morning? She looks absolutely fantastic! For those of you who don’t know her story, click it here and consider yourself lucky you haven’t had a scare like this in your life. Meera’s comeback is not celebrated without pause, however. Our thoughts have been with the Freep’s Chris Cariou the last week or so, as he continues to battle his own health issues. Sounds like it will be a tough road, but here’s hoping he can get back in the same timely and inspirational way that Meera did. Best wishes to Chris and those closest to him.

Thankfully, the National Hockey League has abandoned its original ridiculousness for a Stanley Cup Final schedule and found a better option. The rematch between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings is set. First time there will be a repeat final since the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders battled it out in the eighties, with the Isles winning in 1983 and the Oil exacting some revenge in ’84. That’s good news for the Penguins, I guess.

Here’s the schedule. All times are Eastern:

So it all starts Saturday. And then again on Sunday. I’m sure the Detroit Red Wings, who played without two of their all-stars the last couple games, are thrilled with the idea of playing back-to-back this weekend. Such is life in the hockey world. Stupid schedules are everywhere.

Which is my wordy way of switching over to the Calder Cup Final, where the Manitoba Moose and Hershey Bears will also get their series underway on Saturday. You want to talk ridiculous? Thanks to a building conflict in Hershey, there will be exactly one week between the first game and the third game. To make things even more bizarre, a potential Game 7 at MTS Centre would fall on June 14 — two days after a Stanley Cup Seventh Heaven.

Here’s the Calder Cup schedule. Games are on CJOB. No word on television yet. All times Manitoba time. South Central, yo: