Penns win stanley cup

Being a "somewhat" hockey fan, my only "complaint" is awarding the Conn Smythe Trophy for the Most Valuable Player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to Sid-the-Kid Crosby (Again) is I thought it should have gone to Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne. If he would not have had such bad games, giving up 4 and 5 goals on the road in Pittsburg, he might have been in consideration, even on a losing team. (Then again I may be slightly biased since he played for the Milwaukee Admirals in the American Hockey League before moving up to the NHL). Regardless, I think he is THE reason the Predators did so well in the SC Playoffs and made it as far as they did, hence my vote to give the Stanley Cup Playoff MPV to Rinne.
 
I am glad hockey season is over...as someone else said between pro basketball and hockey, they take a long time to get it over.
 
Lonnie said:
Being a "somewhat" hockey fan, my only "complaint" is awarding the Conn Smythe Trophy for the Most Valuable Player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to Sid-the-Kid Crosby (Again) is I thought it should have gone to Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne. If he would not have had such bad games, giving up 4 and 5 goals on the road in Pittsburg, he might have been in consideration, even on a losing team. (Then again I may be slightly biased since he played for the Milwaukee Admirals in the American Hockey League before moving up to the NHL). Regardless, I think he is THE reason the Predators did so well in the SC Playoffs and made it as far as they did, hence my vote to give the Stanley Cup Playoff MPV to Rinne.
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Not a bad take. Like you said those bad games in Pittsburg killed his chances though, but he played much better in Smashtown during the finals.
I think it should have gone to Guentzel, kid played way better than Crosby in my opinion.
 
Billy Jack said:
Pittsburgh`s Mayor posted an interesting tweet yesterday:
To Nashville- You throw catfish; We throw parades.

Bill
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Harsh; but true!

If there is ANY consolation in this year`s Stanley Cup Playoff, it the reappearance of Canadian hockey teams, especially the much storied Edmonton Oilers franchise. Some year one of those teams from Canada may win it all.
With the influx of Russian and Northern European players into the NHL, it has "broken" the dominance and dynasty-period that Canadian teams had in the `60s and `70s with then (much) superior Canadian-born and trained players.
Is the NHL "better" with this influx of non-North American trained players?? You can decide that for your own team of preference.
I do know that is one of the reasons open wheel CART racing is playing to almost empty stands at ovals; many of the drivers are foreign-born that the average American interested in racing cannot identify with. Does it make for better racing?? Yes, but if I don`t know about or followed their driving career to the CART series or see a driver waving a foreign flag at a track after a victory, it`s hard to identify with that. I KNOW about AJ Foyt and his driving career and success that was well-publicized in the media of the 70`s and 80`s!!
Maybe that`s the appeal and continued growth to American viewers and fans of the National Football League; there are few foreign-born players. Most fans know about and can identify with the players drafted in NFL and the American colleges that they come from.

I hope I do not come off as a bigot or prejudiced person. I am a foreigner myself with my ethnic background. This is just my view-point and take on the state of professional sports and racing today and why fans do or do not care for them.
 
Personally, I`m happy with the ethnic mix of talent in the NHL. Unlike the Olympics of 1980, we no longer fear the "Mighty Russians". It`s just another country where they play hockey. Regardless of where you came from, if you sign on with our team and adopt the city (Pittsburgh in my case), the city adopts you and you become one of us. We have representatives of Russia, Sweden and Germany on the Pens, in addition to the Americans and Canadians and nobody cares where you came from if you`re a Penguin now.

Open-wheel racing, IMO, is a whole different deal. I do agree with you. When I was a kid in the 60`s, the guy you saw running up front at Indy may have been the same guy you saw last summer at your local 1/2 mile track. Nowadays, that relationship is gone. I still don`t recognize half the names on this year`s Indy 500. Two promising sprint car racers we actually ran wheel-to-wheel with in the 80`s at our local track, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, grew up in open-wheel racing, but chose NASCAR as their path for a better opportunity. Steve Kinser was among the best to ever strap in a sprint car, but after one underfunded Indy ride he returned to the Outlaw tour until his retirement. As much as I admire most venues of Oval Track Racing, I just can`t find three hours of time on a Sunday to watch a bunch of drivers on TV that I`ve never seen anywhere but on TV. I think a lot of other potential race fans feel the same.

Bill
 
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