Opinion: Penguins usher in new era for the NHL

On April 15, the NHL's top 16 teams began the quest for the greatest trophy in sports: Lord Stanley's Cup.

Eight weeks and 24 games later, the Pittsburgh Penguins rose to the occasion as they were crowned Stanley Cup Champions this past Saturday night.

The Penguins, a team backed by diehard fans, are no strangers to adversity.

An expansion franchise berthed in the late '60s, the Penguins have won three cups in their 41 years ('91, '92 and '09) of existence. They are a respectable 3-for-4 in Cup appearances.

Most notably, the team withstood two separate bouts with bankruptcy.

In 1998, former Penguin standout Mario Lemieux bought the franchise in an act that personifies the gritty, passionate and hard working character of the Steel City.

This year's championship matchup pitted the Penguins against the Detroit Red Wings, who had defeated Pittsburgh the previous year in the Stanley Cup Finals in Game 6.

However, in a classic case of revenge that only can happen in sports, the Penguins returned to the finals this year and defeated the Red Wings in Detroit, 2-1, in a winner takes all game 7.

The Penguins were led by their tandem assault of offensive talent, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who were backed by the young net minder Marc Andre Fleury.

Though Crosby and Malkin lit up the score sheet the entire season, it was Penguin grinder Maxine Talbot who scored both of Pittsburgh's goals to secure the narrow victory that decided the final game. This season's Penguins battled through a coaching change, a mid season slump and of course defeating the heavy favored Red Wings.

Crosby and Malkin, who are considered in most hockey circles as two of today's greatest players, have finally achieved the highest feat expected of any NHL superstar, and they did so backed by a deep team of unacknowledged talent.

Nothing should be taken away from the two youthful standouts, who went one-two as post season scoring and points leaders, but the names unknown out of Pittsburgh deserve just as much credit.

Names like Maxine Talbot, Jordan Staal, Sergei Gonchar, Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedotenko should be recognized. No team could make a deep post season run without role players such as these.

Pittsburgh brings an in your face, fast paced, bang it in at all cost style of hockey. Their great offensive arsenal often overshadows the underrated defense that allowed the Penguins to overcome and 2-0 series deficit against Detroit. As a team, the Penguins would lead the playoffs in most goals scored at 37.

The Stanley Cup Champion Penguins are in good shape for the future, as their boys have become men and the team has a new appreciation and understanding for what it takes to become the last team standing. In retrospect of this entire post season, it was an exciting and suspenseful Stanley Cup Playoff for not only the Penguins, but for all 16 teams involved.

We saw many new and old faces this year and a plethora of nail biting, smash mouth, full throttle hockey.

New to the modern era of post-season hockey, the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues would make a playoff appearance, unseen from both teams in the last eight years.

Six of the 15 series went to a final game seven. Puck heads were granted their Crosby vs. Alexanderv Ovechkin series, the Carolina Hurricanes unexpectedly made it past the No. 1 seed Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and a new champion would arise over the mighty Detroit Red Wings in Hockeytown.

Stanley Cup Game 7 drew in an estimated 8 million viewers in the U.S., an interest level that has not been reached since 1973. For true hockey fans, it was a hopeful sign that hockey is slowly working its way back toward becoming one of America's top sports and that the NHL has survived the 2004 lockout.

The postseason was one small step for Pittsburgh, and one giant leap for the fastest game on ice.