Scheduling flub could give Penguins plenty of rest before Finals

We’ll see this afternoon if the Wings get the split in Chicago. If they can, they’ll likely win their series in 5. Assuming the Pens win in 4 or 5, it kind of seems like both teams would have to deal with the effects of lots of rest, and that it might cancel itself out.

Vancouver didn’t fare well after a long rest. I wouldn’t want it to take away the momentum, but agree that both teams will have to deal with it so cancels each other out, maybe one a bit longer though. Back to backs… somebody hand me a whiteboard with some markers and I reckon I could have figured it out to please everyone better.

This could work out in the Penguins favour, especially if the Western Conference Final turns out to be as long and drawn out an affair as the Chicago Blackhawks seem intent on making it. I think the Red Wings are the most likely of the two teams to come out of the West, but depending on how many games the ‘Hawks force the series to, the amount of rest Detroit gets compared to the winner of the ECF (which will most likely be the Penguins in anywhere from four to seven games, as the Hurricanes would have to win four straight games to advance on to the Stanley Cup Final, a feat that has only been accomplished three times in the history of professional North American sports) could hugely factor into the Wings’ performance in the Cup round. To put it delicately, the Red Wings are most certainly not getting any younger, and the physically punishing seven game series they played against Anaheim and the challenging task of keeping up with the young, quick Blackhawks would be enough to tax any team, let alone one with such a veteran-heavy roster. Add to that the fact that the Wings have hardly played their best hockey these past few games, regardless of what the television analysts may say (the rate at which they turned over over the puck for much of Game 3 was pretty much appalling for a team that supposedly prides itself on its defensive prowess) in addition to past and present injuries to important core players like Brian Rafalski and Pavel Datsyuk and the relatively uninspired performances by players like Henrik Zetterberg and Marian Hossa this playoff season, not to mention the unparalleled ability of Chris Osgood to go from relatively extraordinary to a complete and total goat in less than a second, a lack of time to rest and regroup before taking on a hungry Penguins team hell-bent on proving that they are not the same team that was so in awe of Detroit mystique last year that they rolled over and forgot to play Games 1 & 2, a rookie error by a young team that cost them any chance they may have had to take out Detroit, could spell trouble for the Red Wings. I’ll be watching closely, and you know I can’t wait to see the outcome. It would be nice to see the Penguins become the first Eastern Conference team to beat the Red Wings for the Cup since my Devils swept them back in ’95. Go Pens! You can do it! I have faith in you!

The problem is that the NHL needs to get the NBC games on the designated weekend days.

I think what they should have done, instead of locking NBC into Games 1 and 2 was just to give them the games on the weekend. That way they could have a Friday night + Saturday or Sunday game that they want, but the games could start earlier in the week (like Game 1 on Monday June 1, Game 2 on Wed 6/3).

They need to just get it over with. It’s a joke how they have the schedule this year.

Were last year’s early rounds just all ending early (in 4 or 5, vs the three game 7s in round 2), or was there a conscious effort by the NHL to extended a winter game within 4 or 5 days of the official beginning of summer?

Assuming that Det and Pitt finish off their respective series and revisit last year’s SCF…I’m kind of glad of the potential of the big layoff.

I was scared of Cam Ward, but the Pens have completely humanized him, and more than that, they’re firing on all cylinders. After the past couple of days, I think Malkin could use a week off to remember that he is, in fact, human….well, maybe not until after he finishes off the Canes….

I think today makes the picture a bit clearer: Chicago had the look of a psychologically beaten team today, much like Carolina did last night. I see both these series ending quickly, and both teams having the long layoff.

At this point in the season, everyone is nursing injuries in some form. It’s a little more explicit with Detroit (Lidstrom, Datsyuk, and Draper didn’t play today), but I’m sure Gonchar and others will benefit from the rest as well.

As far as rust or “too much rest”, Detroit and Pittsburgh are veteran teams. Either you know how to execute in big games or you don’t. And given how both teams have taken care of business this postseason I don’t see either one having a problem with it.

Remember, before National Television contracts – games 1 and 2, and games 3 and 4 were always back to back with a travel day in the middle. That changed somewhere in the 1990’s so the NHL could have Sportschannel America {remember them} show games every night. The CBC always had a Saturday night game or two, and American TV would show someone on Sunday.

Now, with national contracts in the States with Versus and NBC, and the CBC basically calling the shots in Canada – pretty much with no Canadian teams in the last two rounds, the NHL is catering more to NBC since they know you could put a NHL Stanley Cup game on at 10:00am in Canada and people will stop what they are doing and watch it. Of course, this happened with NBC in the first two rounds, with games starting at 9:00am on the West Coast, but that’s another argument for elsewhere.

Let’s face it, TV calls the shots and the game times. Whatever NBC wants, they get.

It will be up to the NHL to keep up the hype factor in the gap. We’ll see what happens. Pens and Wings, here we come!

According to multiple sources, if the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings can wrap up their respective Conference final series by Wednesday night, the Stanley Cup finals likely would start on Saturday, May 30 in Detroit. In this scenario, Game 2 would be played on Sunday, May 31.

NHL May Bump Up Cup Finals Start Date

waiting a week and a half to see the first SCF game could lose a lot of the seasonal fans that are only watching because of all the hype so far this postseason. ALL THE HYPE that the NHL worked so hard to muster.

that will teach them to make bedfellows with television stations. especially NBC!