The Stanley Cup: The Underdog of Trophies

It's that time of year again for sports. The baseball season is kicking off and basketball and hockey are starting their respected postseasons. Each league has 16 teams competing for a championship. Both playing for bragging rights and trying to win their league's trophy. For most, the NBA Playoffs will be front and center and outshine hockey's Stanley Cup playoffs during the next two months in viewership. Basketball's popularity may outshine hockey, but the significance of the price at the end of the NHL playoffs outdoes the NBA as well as the Lombardi Trophy in the NFL and the World Series Trophy.

Now, you are probably asking yourself, "what makes the Stanley Cup more prestigious when compared to the others?" Well, I can give you a few reasons to consider why the Stanley Cup is one of the most sought out and hardest trophy to win.

Reason 1: There is only 1 Stanley Cup: The NBA, NFL and MLB all make a new trophy every year to present to the championship team. The Stanley Cup is 118 years old. At one time just a silver-nickel bowl, it has grown to the 35 pound treasure it is today. The fact that the winning team only gets the summer with it makes them want it again the next season, just ask Chicago and Pittsburgh, the past two winners. To think of the millions who have touched it, raised it over their heads, seeing the history of a professional league that has seen its good and bad moments and the places it has gone. Of course there is a replica that sits in the Hall of Fame when the real deal is out on tour, just something to add.

Reason 2: The Road to Winning the Cup: The NHL plays an 82 game season that runs from October to mid-June. If you are a playoff team that goes all the way to the end, you might add 28 extra game maximum to your season. People don't need to be geniuses to see that hockey is a physical game. Men have broken bones in almost every place, lost teeth, they have been stitched more than a rag doll passed down from past generations, but will play through all those injuries to have an opportunity to live out the dream they had a kids, to carry the Cup around the ice, being on the winning team.

Reason 3: The Emotional Effect on Players/Fans: OK this might just be my point of view but the Stanley Cup does bring out the emotions of players and fans during the spring rush for hockey's most coveted price. The idea of being a part of history as a player. Getting your name on the Stanley Cup and having it their forever. It's amazing to watch grown men who take 100 mph pucks to the jaw and take physical tolls on their bodies become speechless and tear up after winning the Stanley Cup, while they never cry after losing teeth or break a bone. The fact that a silver and nickel trophy can do that to a adult male with a beard says a lot about hockey and what makes it so unique. Fans watching the game find themselves on the verge of heart attacks as their team comes seconds within winning the cup, knowing one play can mean victory of defeat. Fans share the same emotions as players do at times.

We cheer when they score and win, we share a variety of emotions that would have a non-hockey fan think we had lost our minds, and we find ourselves with tears of joy when they win, or sadness when they lose. Former NHL star and a player who will one day make it to the Hall of Fame, Jeremy Roenick came close to a Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1992, but they were swept by the Pittsburgh Penguins. After Chicago won their first cup in 49 years, Roenick could not hold back the feelings he had about his shot at the Cup and Chicago's story book season.

Reason 4: How They Got There: Sometimes the victory is even sweeter when there is a good-feel story behind that teams championship season. The Pittsburgh Penguins, a team that almost didn't stay in Pittsburgh, went through the sad reality of a possible relocation. But with a new arena deal that finally came, the Penguins were to stay in Pittsburgh. The teams transition from hockey's worse to one of the best came in 2008 when they made it to the Finals against Detroit. After losing to the Red Wings in 6 games, the Penguins wanted to get back to the Finals in 2009. After a bad start to the 2008-2009 season, the Penguins fired their head coach Michael Therrien, and hired minor league coach Dan Bylsma. The team rallied to get the number 4 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, played heart-stopping hockey against the Flyers and Capitals, swept the Carolina Hurricanes, and had a date for vengeance against the Red Wings in the Finals once again. After losing the first two games, the Penguins won the next two at home, lost in game five, but won game six and forced a win or go home game 7 back in Detroit. The underdog Penguins won the game 2-1, that came down to the last 6.5 seconds with a career highlight save by Marc-Andre Fleury. An ending to a cinderella story that not even Disney could write.

The history, emotion and the stories that go along with the Stanley Cup make it one of the most coveted trophies in the world. Most people who don't watch hockey might not be able to name all 30 clubs in the league, but they know the name of the trophy given to the winner. When your team isn't in the race for the Cup, it more fun to watch, because when your team is in the hunt, it is nerve racking and results in a roller coaster of emotions. Either way, its a lot of fun to watch.

Penguins Weather the Storm Without Crosby, Malkin: Push for Best in East

Back in February, the Penguins were suffering injuries left and right. With captain Sidney Crosby out with a concussion, and several other players suffering injuries, losing Evgeni Malkin for the rest of the season seemed to be the injury that would throw the Penguins into a free-fall that would destroy their chance at a Stanley Cup run.

The mindset of several hockey analysts and those critical of Crosby and Malkin's teammates without them left Pittsburgh up the creek without a paddle, some saying that the Penguins couldn't win without both of their superstars, along with injuries to other players like Chris Kunitz and Mark Letestu. Those who were skeptical of the Pittsburgh Penguins never took a look at what the Penguins had that other teams don't have, a supporting cast with experience.

When you look at the other players on the Penguin roster, you see experience and chemistry that other teams don't display. The Pittsburgh Penguins roster has 12 players on their roster who were a part of the 2009 Stanley Cup Winning team. It's a moment like this when other general managers envy the work of Ray Shero when it comes to keeping the core of a team together. You can see it through players like Crosby and Malkin taking lower pay to stay together and other players taking smaller contracts with fewer years in them. The Penguins received experience with a former teammate in Alex Kovalev, who may not be the same Penguin he was in the late 1990's, but he does bring the same experience Billy Guerin and Gary Roberts brought to the team from 2008-2010.The Penguins also received James Neal and Matt Niskanen from Dallas. These two are still getting used to the Penguins system, but Neal has been present in shootout situations and Niskanen has integrated well into an already strong Penguin defense. 


The man between the pipes deserves a lot of credit for the Penguins current position going into the playoffs. Team MVP and possible Hart Trophy candidate Marc-Andre Fleury has stood on his head several times this season, especially when the Penguins offense became anemic at times with all the injuries. Fleury's performance against Florida on Sunday showed why he is the MVP of the tem this year. Brent Johnson has been on his game as a back-up and proved that he doesn't take garbage from anyone.

It would be wrong to not recognize the work of the players in the Penguins farm systems in Wilkes/Barre Scranton. The Baby Penguins are in the run for the Calder Cup and will walk away with the best regular season record in the American Hockey League. Dustin Jeffrey, Ben Lovejoy, Joey Vitale, Tim Wallace, Ryan Craig and Brett Sterling have all answered the call for the Penguins and player like Jeffrey and Lovejoy have become regulars for the Pittsburgh Penguins. An NHL team needs a good farm system to provide reinforcements and the Penguins have that.

The Penguins sealed a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference on Saturday with a Carolina Hurricane lost. While it looks like the Penguins are guaranteed the fourth seed and home ice in the first round, they still have a shot at the Atlantic Division title and home ice throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. They currently sit 2 points behind the Philadelphia Flyers, who they play on Tuesday for the final time in the regular season at Consol Energy Center. The Flyers do have an extra game to play but a Pittsburgh win would make the final two weeks in the season interesting in the Atlantic Division. But when you think about Pittsburgh's situation, it is amazing to think that they not only can get home ice in the first round, but they could possibly finish at the top of the East, without Crosby and Malkin playing together since January. So, with Crosby back at practice, with his return still up in the air, can the Penguins go far in the playoffs without him, and what are their chances if he does return come Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals?