Stanley Cup Finals: Sid the Kid and Penguins Try to Clip Red Wings
The Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby by Jim Rogash/WireImage.com
Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start of summer, but one very un-summer like sport is reaching it's climax. The National Hockey League's Stanley Cup finals begin Saturday with the Pittsburgh Penguins visiting Joe Louis Arena in Detroit to play the Red Wings. Of the match-up between two storied franchises, NBC/Versus play-by-play man Mike Emrick says, "the hockey gods are smiling so wide we can count their broken teeth."
For a league that has struggled for media attention, the finals showcase some of the sport's top talent. "I cannot recall more stars in a final since 1987 when Edmonton had five of the best," Emrick says. "But they were all on one team. This time we have the stars divided out on teams." Top names include Detroit scoring machine Henrik Zetterberg and Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, who carried the Penguins during an extended injury break for team star
Sidney Crosby.
Indeed, Crosby will be the focus of most mainstream attention during the finals. The 20-year-old Canadian wunderkind has been dubbed the second-coming of Wayne Gretzky. He's already starting to put up stats to back that up - he was the NHL's top scorer in 2006-07 - but lacks the hardware. Getting his name etched into Lord Stanley's silver will fix that. Says Emrick: "He will probably be the first one in the United States since Gretzky who can appear in any number of settings that are hockey related or not and be recognized, particularly after this Final."
Games
1 and
2 will be on Versus (May 24 and 26, 8 pm/ET). NBC takes over from Game 3 on. See the full TV schedule
here.
Check out the NHL's new ad for the Cup:
