NHL Stanley Cup Final Report By Daniel Dullum May 31, 2009     Right now it's looking good for the Red Wings who opened up the first two games back to back on the weekend against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Joe Louis in Detroit in an effort to repeat. Even with Pittsburgh being as good as they are with Sid the Kid and their staff the Red Wings are really playing well plus they've been missing a few of their key people. In the last few games in the Chicago series they were still on their stride and the Wings just never slowed up. One of the things that the Red Wings do their in a situation even though the league is over expanded their are so many teams now it's hard to stop mild talent and to be as deep as you need to be to get to the cup. The Red Wings figured it out one good line is not good enough and that's something the Blackhawks learned in the conference finals is that they’re an up and comer and they may be a couple years away from getting back to a Stanley Cup Final but you got to have the horses and you need more than one line, you need at least three because of match ups. It also never hurts to have a hot goalie and Chris Osgood for Detroit to his credit he's got a save percentage over .900 he lacks a few wins but he seems to know when to slam the door. That's an instinct that you can't teach you either have it or you don't. Let's say the score is 4-4 Osgood just knows that's all you’re going to let in and they'll get that fifth goal somehow some way. That's just a hypothetical example and it should be an interesting series. I wouldn't be surprised if the Penguins win and it's nothing against Pittsburgh it's just that the Red Wings are built for the post season. We hear that now like with the NBA playoffs you hear about how teams are put together some are put together for the regular season and some for the playoffs. The Red Wings are definitely one of those post season teams that are pieced together for the long haul of the Stanley Cup playoffs. There won't be any great surprise if they don't put it away in six games. The Pens could win a couple but the Red Wings have too of much of everything they're deep on defense. They go four lines deep and plus they have terrific goaltending whose playing well right now and unless something drastic happens the Wings are on the way to putting away another cup. The Red Wings toughest opponent was in their second round of the playoffs when they faced off against a very gritty Anaheim Ducks team who defeated first seed San Jose and then went on to battle the Wings tooth and nail throughout the series that went the distance going the seven games and that sometimes happens because even though it's a one versus eight match up it can be a problem and just because you’re playing the eighth seed doesn't guarantee anything. Yes the Wings could have easily got bounced in the second round but the Ducks they put together a good post season and they knocked out the Sharks. There's a case where the Ducks didn't have quite enough but they put together a pretty good post season roster they had guys who knew how to play when the chips were down. The Ducks in that series certainly raised eye brows when they knocked out the Sharks and at the same time if your the San Jose Sharks you have to be doing a little soul searching wondering you have the most wins and you couldn't go deep in post season. The Sharks arguably have the most talent in the league you just have to wonder why they just cant put it together when the second season begins. The Red Wings are never the dark horse and it'll be a while before they have that distinction and they're just a solid hockey club from top to bottom and they have a terrific organization and there is a commitment there and it just goes to show that when you have that commitment to winning they activate Chris Chelios once in a while. Chelios is 48 and should be home playing golf and watching stuff on television that's just an example and he hasn't played very much but he's a hall of famer. Chelios is their sixth defenseman, how sweet is that? That's where the Wings are at right now. Daniel Dullum will be covering the Stanley Cup Finals and doing hockey analysis during the Finals week

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