Penguins cap turnaround season with 4th Stanley Cup

Daley has only been with the Pittsburgh Penguins since December, is 32 years old, and while he did fracture his ankle late in the postseason – missing the entirety of the Cup Final – that adversity does not compare to Dupuis’ risky blood clot that forced him to retire. But by the time the playoffs started, the Penguins were the hottest team in hockey. Its members – Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Kessel – combined for 20 goals and 56 points in these playoffs and were a combined plus-23.

Crosby, among others, wanted to play a faster game and the Penguins and got his wish when Mike Sullivan was brought in as coach in December. They played the Pittsburgh Penguins in both the 2008 and 2009 Cup finals, winning in 2008 and losing in 2009, to date their last trip to the finals.

“It’s a big change from where I was at before”, Kessel said of the move to Pennsylvania. You just understand what a special time that is, what an unbelievable moment that is.

“We thought we had the team, going through the teams we did in the West”, Thornton said. “But it does. That’s kind of the reality of playing hockey”.

It’s more likely that Kessel has simply been engaged more consistently during the Penguins’ run to the Cup, that engagement asserting itself more often during the second half of the season.

Despite finishing without a goal in the Stanley Cup finals, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby won the Conn Smythe Trophy that goes to the most valuable player in the postseason.

Jones didn’t have much to say after the game, as is standard. I’ve said all along here through the course of the playoffs, he’s deserving of the Conn Smythe. They were the team I was watching because I thought I would like to see them win it all.

“Sid’s a great leader”.

Because no one among the Penguins met that standard – 39-year-old Matt Cullen won the Cup with Carolina in 2006, and 36-year-old Chris Kunitz already belonged to two championship teams – speculation emerged about who would lift the prized 35-pound object after Crosby. We play against San Jose and they haven’t won in 25 years. I asked Sharks defenceman Paul Martin about the game’s best player, and the names that have been offered over the years, from Claude Giroux to Jonathan Toews. Then Crosby slashed Thornton and the two got into it in the first few seconds.

Crosby then immediately handed the Cup to teammate Trevor Daley, who missed the entire Stanley Cup after breaking his ankle in the conference final.

I have and always will love the NBA Finals, but I have to admit that I basically gave up on them after the Cavs went down 2-0, and wrote as much last week.

He finished the regular season with 48 points (25g, 23a), although only 22 points came at even strength – tied for eighth on the team with defenseman Justin Braun.

A week later, I admit my mistakes, crowned the Penguins as champions.

“Everyone takes that personal, puts the responsibility on their shoulders to be better”, Crosby said.

“But I don’t think anyone ever doubted that we had a very special team that could potentially go all the way”. But a series of concussions cost Crosby nearly an entire season and a half, and there were those playoff disappointments that included twice blowing 3-1 series leads. Fehr scored the winning goal in Game 2 against Washington in the second round and the clinching goal late in Game 4 against San Jose. Fleury has three years left on a deal with an average cap hit of $5.75 million, a high price to pay for a player who just watched his backup backstop the team to its fourth title. The Penguins sealed it when Crosby blocked a shot from Marc-Edouard Vlasic that set up Hornqvist’s empty-netter.