Penguins and Wings wage war for NHL dynasty
What does it take to really call a team a dynasty? Back-to-back championships? Or does a team have to win three in a row or three in four years?
In the NHL, dynasties are recognized in the Hockey Hall of Fame and, to date, there are nine inductees. With back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances, both the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings have set the ground work for what could one day be an enshrinement of their own.
After dropping this year’s final, critics are starting to call into question whether the 2008 championship-winning Wings can maintain their league dominance. Bill Houlihan from Abel to Yzerman believes they can stay on course.
“Last year was a bump in the road caused by a confluence of injuries, an inept commissioner’s pathetic pandering to NBC and some horrific officiating,” said Houlihan. “Am I exaggerating? A bit, but not too much. No team in the league – and that definitely includes Pittsburgh – has a stronger core of players, a better organizational mindset, track record or team of scouts.”
Looking down the road, the Red Wings have their future captain in Henrik Zetterberg locked up long-term to go along with Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen, whereas the Pens will take the ice with Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin, Sydney Crosby and Jordan Staal for at least the next four years.
Because of the aforementioned Malkin and Crosby, two superstars that anchor the promising franchise, Derek Rocco of The Pensblog rests assured that it is his team that is in a better position to reign supreme years down the road.
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“Think about the days of Mario (Lemieux) and (Jaromir) Jagr. Mario was way older and established when Jagr first started. This is not the case for Malkin and Crosby. They have both developed together and learned some big time lessons together,” said Rocco. “If Malkin and Crosby are both healthy in the next 10 years, and the Pens are in the playoffs, are you going to bet against them? That is what a dynasty is; knowing that every year there isn’t only a chance, but probability.”
Meeting in back-to-back Cup finals would have been enough to brew up a rivalry of sorts between any two teams, but add a missed handshake, a tablespoon of Marian Hossa and a pinch of Ty Conklin, and this has escalated quickly into one of the most heated rivalries in professional sports.
If either of the last two years were any indication, the only thing standing in the way of either of these teams stringing a few championships together may be each other. But Houlihan and his Pensblog counterpart both believe there is the obvious obstacle paired with a few unconventional road blocks.
“Injuries are the only thing that can stop Pittsburgh,” said Rocco, “Or if someone turns into Gordon Bombay from Mighty Ducks II; when he goes all corporate. Other than that, (the) Pens should be hanging around.”
Houlihan has a more elaborate opinion.
“Injuries and more meddling from Gary Bettman (could interfere). He’s dead-set it and we’ve come to grips with that. In fact, it’s probably become an internal rallying cry within the Wings organization.”
“Is it a conspiracy? No. It’s too obvious for that. It’s an agenda foisted by a simple man who has been continually spurned by the Detroit franchise. They’ve circumvented his cap, denied his fantasy boy (Crosby) on his first attempt at a Cup, refused to play nice during the lockout and said bad things about him behind his back.”
It’s easy to see that the rivalry on the ice has led to fans from their respective teams disliking the other. Which is why both prominent bloggers believe that the 2009-10 season will see the demise of their opponents.
“They have already had their run. You have about a five-year window, and the Wings did well, but now the salary cap is going to be catching up with them and a lot of the old guard is starting to age and breakdown,” said Rocco. “Wouldn’t it be funny if they never win again, and people start calling it the curse of Hossa?
“The Wings are always going to be there, but they need a goalie. Chris Osgood was exposed in Game 7, and not that he was all that bad, but he still needed to be better.”
“(Pittsburgh doesn’t have a chance of a dynasty) because their two star players are making $8.7 million apiece while Detroit’s tandem of Zetterberg and Datsyuk rake in at least two million less, per player. Is it just a fiscal issue? No. It’s character,” said Houlihan. “Detroit has character up and down the roster. Pittsburgh is ‘led’ by a captain and sidekick who are eating up huge amounts of a cap number that’s only going to get smaller. Only 46 Tuesdays left until the Cup comes home to Hockeytown.”
For now though, we have to wait the 197 days until Jan. 31, 2010 when the Wings travel to Mellon Arena and these two dynasties in waiting reignite their remarkable rivalry.
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