Monday, May 19, 2008

I Still Hate The Penguins, But This Is Kinda Cool...

I didn't stick around until the bitter end yesterday. I was saved by a Reno 911 marathon and a well-timed fire call so I didn't get to see the handshakes or the post-game celebration kick in the gut.

But doing my post-mortem of the season this morning turned this up, from TSN.ca:


PITTSBURGH - There were smiles and pats on the back. But no jumping up and down at the buzzer and certainly no wild celebration in the dressing room.

The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to surprise with their maturity and poise, calmly digesting their latest chapter in what is proving to be a magical season, a 6-0 win Sunday over the Philadelphia Flyers that clinched a Stanley Cup final berth.

''We still have a long way to go,'' said Penguins winger Ryan Malone. ''So there's nothing to celebrate, that's for sure.''

Eastern Conference champion t-shirts and caps awaited the players in the dressing room. The players ignored them.

''We're not going to wear these shirts or these hats,'' said forward Pascal Dupuis. ''We want the big prize.''



Gotta give them some credit for that. It's nice to see a team not celebrate every single step of the journey to the Finals. I always wonder why baseball teams that clinch the Wild Card ("YAY!! We're the 4th best team in our league and would not have made the postseason at all if it wasn't for Bud Selig's 1990's money grabbing expansion!!!) soak each other with champagne.


Hope they don't regret it when Detroit destroys them in the Final...


[Original story on TSN.ca here. That's Canadia's version of ESPN, which almost singlehandedly kept me and the Mighty Malagan in our Oshawa hotel room. We'd never seen a Sportscenterre so packed with hockey highlights. I sobbed at its beauty...]

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