The Stanley Cup Finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings has appeared on Fox with words showing comparisons of each (especially the offense), how the Wings were worn out, and how the Penguins are the preferred shooters of the National Hockey League. This column will present the comparisons of not only the offense (each are similar but there are major differences and while I am Red Wings fan I will point out the betters of Pittsburgh and contrast them with Detroit we will get better understanding that way), the age of the Detroit Red Wings, the young guns of the Penguins and the goalies for each team. My sources are three websites they are the stats machine from nhl.com, the Pittsburgh Penguins official website and the Detroit Red Wings official website; for team history and other interesting reading.

The roster for the Penguins is a list of verified talent from around the world. The same for the Detroit Red Wings. The leadership of each team is a difference on the rosters comparison. Here is why. The Captain of the Penguins is an offensive player young and eager to win the Cup for the first time. The Captain of the Red Wings is a defensive player in his thirties who is eager to win the Cup again (as was indicated during the photo op with the presentation of the Campbell trophy for the western conference champion Nicklas Lidstrom did not touch the trophy) he wants the biggest trophy in the sport; the Stanley Cup so retiring a winner is something that is important to Nicklas Lidstrom and starting his career as a winner is something that is important to Sidney Crosby; so here is where the comparisons are similar both want the Cup for reasons related to career statements. This will end the comparison of the Captains meaning that the personal accolades of both will not be listed, that information can be found in the player biographies of each on the teams websites.

With comparison number one we found out the the determination of the captains to win the Cup is similar and doing so would make a solid career statement. But there are differences in the comparisons because of the skill position for each age. One offenseand young and the other defense and in his thirties. Now we will delve to the age of the Red Wings with the youth of the Penguins and ask and answer the question of 'do the Red Wings and Penguins have comparable depth?' this might lead us to a very clear difference.

To start with the Pittsburgh Penguins is stating that this team has the youth mixed with NHL experience on this roster. Sidney Crosby, Evegeni Malkin, are the leaders and names of the NHL statistical columns. The goalie, Marc Andre Fleury is young and showing that he was the right pick at the right time in goal for the Pens.
The youth of the Red Wings, starts with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg who are both nominated for the Selke Trpohy which is an award that goes to the best defensive forward in the NHL. The goalie that has been starting for the Red Wings Chris Osgood, has experience and Stanley Cup wins. So we see here in the comparison that they match up very similarly until the youth breaksdown to cast a difference in the goalkeeper position which for the Red Wings has age. This is not a negative here at all for each team. To the contrary a logical argument can be made for each being positive. Fleury like Crosby wants the Stanley Cup to make a career statement now and the age of Osgood will make him slow. Wings have an experienced goalkeeper not slow at all but knows how to react to the pressure of the playoffs and he wants another Stanley Cup because going out a winner like Nicklas Lidstrom is important. The differences can make similar convincing arguments.

In comparison two the comparisons start to breakdown because of the age (or experience) of the Red Wings goalkeeper Chris Osgood. If fans and bloggers on Foxsports.com wish to debate, trash talk and predict with points that may seem strong a counter from another fan can be as valid and strong, Seeing this might help the debate be one of the best on this site.
The age of the Red Wings versus the youth of the Pittsburgh Penguins will we find who has the most depth to predict who wins what could one of the most exciting series of Stanley Cup Finals of the NHL?

Here we go to reach a conclusion promised very shortly. The Pittsburgh Penguins have a system that relies on four forward lines with lines as does Detroit. The defense of each team has depth . The conclusion is realizing that the outcome of the series will be the play of the powerplay units and penalty kill units. The defense of each team will face its fair share of tests, adversity, and challenges. The offense of each team will score, be shutout and knocked down.
Who wins is the team that outscores, outshoots and stays focused more on the Stanley Cup to be awarded to the winner.

    The other article left off with Ales Hemsky and rightfully so he is worthy of mention twice. Now we will pick up with the theme of offensive prowess once again with three more players who will be players to watch during the regular season and should be proven leaders by the playoffs of 2007.  Before commencing I will write about each team and its player to watch, the NHL is the best and fun to write about.

  Does everyone know who Sidney Crosby is?  Penguins Hockey 101; they are not moving from Pittsburgh and Mario Lemieux drafted perhaps one of the best athletes in the franchises history aside from Lemieux of course.  Sidney Crosby will be only be better this year, he scored alot of points last year and assited on alot of others goals, Sidney Crosby is a team player.  He came to the NHL as the Superstar last year he lived up to the billing and while doing so he made others on his team better.  In 2006-07 he has Mark Recchi on his team, who played with John LeClair while with the Flyers.  So the Penguins are shaping up the bench and the locker room with veteran players who are used to winning and have a fun attitude while losing a few games.  Sidney Crosby is a player to watch during NHL 2006-07 as he is ready to do more and his leadership will show up; he is the type of athlete that does not allow "sophomore slump" to be in his game.  He is the best under pressure and around the net he slips into coverage only to bury the puck while the defense is just catching up only to look over their shoulders to see the red light on. He has great balance while skating and can hit as well.  He is all around one of the best players in the new NHL.  Sidney Crosby might treat Penguins hockey fans to playoff hockey this year.

  Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes is heading to the second season of his NHL career a winner, winner of a Stanley Cup and on a winning team in a new audience the NHL is hoping grows--in southern United States-- if people in the Carolinas would buy tickets and sell out games; which I hope they will so they can watch Eric Staal play a sport to its finest.  He can pass, shoot with accuracy, lead (this in the rookie season of his NHL career) and skate around his power play like a hornet waiting for an opportunity to sting the opposition and this Red Wings fan.  He is a player to watch this season his leadership among the core of the NHL's youth is the best because of the Grail and if the Canes reach the playoffs again fans in the Carolina's will mention his name in the same breath with Ron Francis.  While watching Eric Staal this season what should be amazing to watch is for the fan to pay attention to how Eric Staal will elude the big hits from Eastern Confrence defenses; as you can expect for teams in the NHL to key in on him for this year, this will test his leadership, attitude and his prowess as a major offensive contributor for his team, when Erick Cole returns he will help take some of the pressure off Eric Staal, look for Staal to excel in the assist column so he can better set up his team to win and then he will reap the rewards in the goals scored column of his 2006-07 stats.

  Joe Thornton is a proven leader and the management in the San Jose Sharks organization traded for one of my favorite players, he is big but hard to bring down.  He can  pass the puck with finesse but his shot is not only a canon but a cannonade, meaning he can score from over 60 feet away from the goal.  He is the best player and leader in the league right now because of Steve Yzreman's retirement.  After thinking about the Sharks and the players they have to watch like Jonathan Cheechoo and Patrick Marleau, the decision to pick only one playre to watch from the San Jose Shark team was hard.  What finally made the decision easier is remembering that one player San Jose needed last year; and the answer is Joe Thornton, why? Jonathan Cheehcoo was the beneficiary of Joe Thornton assists and Patrick Marleau accpeted the challenges that Joe Thornton gave him during the intermissions in the locker room discussions.  So to sum it up Joe Thornton  makes this team better and he is the player to watch in NHL 2006-07.  And the Sharks are one of the  teams to watch.  Joe Thornton would make any team better.  He is now that player in the NHL that can be called the player who is "the complete package."