2008 Champs, NHL Awards
June 12, 2008 5:50 pm Awards, Games, Playoffs, RetirementI have returned from the wild world of Europe, and it sounds like I missed one hell of a series. Congrats to the Detroit Red Wings on being the 2008 Stanley Cup Champions.
I will be watching the games in the coming weeks, and will post a more detailed review of the series after I’ve watched them. As of right now, all I can say is that Detroit was simply the better team. Kudos to Pittsburgh for putting up one hell of a fight, and pushing the series as long as they did, but it seemed from game 2 that it was only a matter of time.
In other news, Dominic Hasek, Trevor Linden, and Mattias Norstrom all announced their retirements this week. After his collapse in the playoffs, it was only a matter of time before the announcement from Hasek. His level of play has been slowly declining over the past few season, but its hard to argue his contributions earlier in his career. He will certainly be a Hall of Famer.
Most of the Vancouver community knew Linden would not be returning, so his announcement was also not surprising. The team’s last home game ended in an uplifting tribute to the man who spent 16 of his 19 seasons with the club. He has always been one of the classier players in the game and I hope he continues to stay involved in the NHL.
The NHL awards ceremony is tonight at 7PM EST on VS. I’ll take a closer look at the winners tomorrow!
Greg M :
Date: June 13, 2008 @ 9:43 am
Sarah, how many cups total have the Red Wings now won?
admin :
Date: June 13, 2008 @ 12:13 pm
11 totalled, 4 of which have come in the last 11 years — the “dynasty” term is being thrown around a LOT now. They have been absolutely DOMINANT the last few years.
Greg M :
Date: June 16, 2008 @ 9:30 pm
I used to watch a lot of hockey back in the dominant Steve Yzerman days. Watching at least 70 Ranger games a season from 1994 - 2003. Sadly, hockey lost me after the lock-out. I hope that some day it recaptures my interest.
admin :
Date: June 16, 2008 @ 11:24 pm
Its a shame so many fans were lost to the lockout — I grew up on hockey (legend has it “hockey” was my first word as a baby) so I was just glad to have my sport back.
I recommend sitting and watching either Alexander Ovechkin and the Caps or the Penguins next season (assuming the Pens keep their team intact). Ovechkin has a passion for the sport unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and the talent to back it up, and the Penguins as a whole are unbelievably talented and fun to watch.