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Are You Not Entertained?

By EricBowser
Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The Pittsburgh Penguins are one win away from winning their first Stanley Cup since 2009, which would be the franchise's fourth overall since joining the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1967.

Funny, I seem to recall that year was pretty important for hockey fans in Toronto, right Maple Leafs fans?

Way back in the dinosaur age, Toronto celebrated a Stanley Cup victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

Next season, it'll be the 50th year in which the supposed hockey mecca hasn't seen a Leafs team lift Lord Stanley's Cup.

Until then, it has been 49 miserable years in Toronto.

No Wonder Misery in Toronto

I'm thoroughly enjoying this run for the Penguins because my 10-year old son is loving the sport for the first time. He's been through a lot over the last four years with cyclical vomiting syndrome, migraines and severe concussion that he gave up playing sports this year. He's unlikely to play sports competitively and that's okay because there's more to life than sports.

Which leads me to what I saw last night that obviously by reading this article, bothered me enough to write about it.

9:42 PM, Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons sent this to the world...

Yes, this is the same miserable columnist who wrote THE piece of garbage trashing Phil Kessel and accused him of eating hot dogs all the time. You know, the accusation that was proven to be a lie by just about anyone with a Google Map app or brain.

So in a series that features all this star power, close scores, and hard work, Simmons tweets that he's not entertained.

It must be difficult being a "hard-hitting, award winning columnist" in Toronto because the easy American target who was traded to Pittsburgh is one game away from winning his first Stanley Cup AND the Maple Leafs are about to draft an American as the number one overall pick.

You want to know what's crazier, all those "good ole Canadian boys" columns that Simmons and his kind write while trashing Americans and Europeans is about to see our American not only lift the Cup but he's the leading candidate to be recognized as the Conn Smythe winner.

That would be the playoffs MVP for those of you in Toronto.

But Simmons asked for drama, so let's hope on Thursday night, we get to see the Wisconsin kid smiling and finally discarding the years and years of mistreatment.

Compelling Storylines

While Kessel's story has been a fabulous ride in his first season with the Penguins, he's not alone.

Matt Murray is one win away from winning 15 games in these playoffs as a ROOKIE who made his NHL debut on December 19th and played in just 13 regular season games. This is storybook kind of stuff.

Sidney Crosby has already won one Stanley Cup and two Olympic Gold medals, there isn't much left to attain but winning a second Cup at this stage of his career is another one for his legacy.

The same goes for Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Marc-Andre Fleury. While Malkin and Letang have each had their moments of brilliance and struggles, they've overcome the past self-inflicted obstacles to be this close. One win away.

Unfortunately, Fleury didn't have that opportunity with two concussions but make no mistake about it, these Penguins don't even have a chance if it wasn't for his goaltending in October and November to keep the team in striking distance.

Don't forget the old guys too, wouldn't it be something for Matt Cullen to end his career lifting the Stanley Cup and no longer get those morning critiques from his sons?

Gotta feel great for Ben Lovejoy, he's had some games for the Penguins on this journey that he's looked like a competent NHL defensemen, great timing too as free agency is coming July 1st.

And last but certainly not least is what Olli Maatta has had to overcome in his short career with two shoulder surgeries, cancer, mumps, and a scary hit with the bench door opened. He's been benched for poor play and has been tossed on the ice to protect leads late in games. This kid deserved one more win.

All this excitement as the Penguins are one win away.... just our kind of drama in Pittsburgh.

How can you not be entertained?



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