Basking in the glow

The road is long and difficult. Longer and more difficult than any other road in sports. The silver chalice is storied -- more so than any other professional trophy. In the middle of the season, nobody would have been caught dead predicting the Penguins in this position right now.

One year later. One lost, prima donna winger later. One coaching change later. One year older, wiser and more experienced, but still young with excitement. Young enough to fully appreciate this opportunity, but skilled enough to actually take advantage of it.

The Penguins showed their depth, the same kind of depth that announcers, sports writers, coaches and players have bestowed upon the Red Wings. Nobody talked about Max Talbot, or Jordan Staal. Everybody talked about Marc-Andre Fleury, but it wasn't positive. Ruslan Fedotenko, Tyler Kennedy, Bill Guerin, Chris Kunitz -- the smaller-named hockey players -- were the ones who vaulted this team led by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin beyond the team they were last year. Losing Marian Hossa freed up finances to pay Guerin, Kunitz, Brooks Orpik, all the players who played a significantly better game than Hossa did for the other side.

We all knew this day would come. Sidney Crosby was meant to write history. There's a reason he's been slated to win the Cup since his teenage years, a reason he's the face of the league, a reason he gets all those commercials. He may not have been the playoff MVP (an honor which deservedly went to Geno), but at 21 years old, he's the youngest captain to ever hoist that shiny cup. And words can't describe his face, and the feelings every Penguins fan felt as they watched his expressive and childlike smile spread to his teammates, with the Stanley Cup lifted high.

Until next year, boys.

Gather your troops

This guy, the wonderful Evgeni Malkin, has thrust himself into the 8th place spot of the most points in a single post-season. The list is impressive, including greats such as Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Paul Coffey. Malkin currently has 35 points -- 14 goals and 21 assists. If the Wings can't find an answer for him, and Crosby and Zetterberg keep canceling each other out, these next few games could be interesting. But with Crosby finding ways to score, too, the Penguins are dangerous. And young. And healthy.

Game 4 was amazing beyond words. But I'm not just saying that -- I literally have no words to describe the magic I saw on that ice in Mellon Arena, and it won't be the last time Pens fans will see their beloved boys on home ice, thanks to the win.

The road will be difficult, even though it shortens by the hour. And those hours tick by slowly, as we replay Marc-Andre Fleury's amazing saves, Tyler Kennedy's well-executed goal or Sidney Crosby's game-winner. We have the talent, that we know. But we also know that Detroit has been here before, many, many times. But they haven't played against this Penguins team. Sure, they beat us last year, but this team isn't the same team. You can feel the electricity from the players and the fans, the fans that came by the thousands to sit outside the Igloo where they couldn't even see the game, just to be a part of it.

It. Will this be "it?"

Imagine how long it will take them to edit this video to fit Sidney Crosby's smirking face hoisting that 35-pound hunk of metal.

Superstitions

Do you see what's different in this picture from last year? All three of them are quite exuberantly touching the Prince of Wales trophy. If I remember correctly, Sid never came close to the trophy last year, out of superstition.

See where that got us?

Seems like we've matured. We have confidence. In fact, we ooze it from our pores. We relied on luck last year to get us to the finals, where we lost to a clearly superior team. This year, there's no need for it.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Why hello again, Prince of Wales. No time to bask -- next stop Lord Stanley! Sid the Kid and Geno, the modern-day Mario Lemieux/Jaromir Jagr. They deserve their names on the Cup many times over.

Thank you

For your wonderful son, and letting him unite with Sid the Kid in a thoroughly epic combination that will surely hoist the cup. If not this year, then some year in the future.

Hats off to Evgeni Malkin

Game two of the Eastern Conference Finals definitely didn't disappoint. Well, for the Penguins fans, at least. What started out as a close game of back-and-forth goals turned into a scoring contest, with my Boys of Winter coming out on top. Winning 7-4 and going up 2-0 in the series before they head south -- now that's sweet.

What's truly awesome, though, is the accomplishments of the boys. Chris Kunitz finally found the back of the net for the first time during the playoffs, and looked so happy I thought he was going to cry.

Adorable. Man deserved it.

Another great accomplishment was Evgeni Malkin's lovely hat trick. Relatively quiet during most of the series with the Capitals, Geno finally burst back onto the scene with a strong game tonight. Expect him to continue this for the rest of the series, now that he's found his groove. I wish I had a screen cap of how cute his parents were after he scored that third goal, with his dad planting a big old kiss on his mom. Such supportive parents -- they must be so proud.

One thing I noticed glancing into the crowd (aside from one of the Hanson brothers! Oh my gosh!) were many Geno for MVP signs. I love Geno, and I campaigned for him to win the Hart Trophy all season, but frankly, I'm over it. Not like I think he doesn't deserve it, but I've forgotten about it, in lieu of the playoffs. 

Ovechkin will more than likely win the trophy, and good riddance. He may be a complete tool and inadequate at playing defense, but he scored the most goals, and that's what counts to the people watching hockey and voting on it. Frankly, I value assists over goals in a Most Valuable Player because someone who wills others to score is fulfilling the namesake of the honor.

But I don't care if Geno gets it. I'd give up 956 Hart Trophies for a chance at the Stanley Cup. And the fact of the matter is, Geno still has a chance at that, while Ovie is probably golfing.