The Hockey Stop

On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the greatest United States Olympics hockey victory -- the 1980 Miracle on Ice team that defeated the Soviets in Lake Placid -- the USA defeated Canada 5-3 in Vancouver, B.C.

While Brian Rafalski scored two goals and had an assist, the hero of the game was netminder Ryan Miller. The Buffalo Sabres goaltender turned away 42 shots in a magnificent performance.

The win was by far the biggest upset since the Miracle on Ice and stunned Canada. Not only was the host country expected to defeat the Americans, who looked shaky in their first two games, but beating the attention-grabbing neighbors to the south would have been a source of rare pride in this humble nation.

But it wasn't to be and it is back to the drawing board for Team Canada. As Canadians try to shake off that sick feeling in the pits of their stomachs, their national team will now have to play another preliminary game to make it to the quarterfinals. But Canada can still regroup and make a medal run.

Meanwhile, the United States is now not only respected but is oozing with confidence after their victory. The Americans now have to be in the discussion with Canada, Russia and Sweden when it comes to taking the Gold Medal in these Olympics.

But for now a country that needed a feel-good boost got it. And so let's savor this moment when we can all come together as Americans as we did in 1980 and celebrate another Miracle on Ice.

Russians beat Czech Republic 4-2

On a day when Evgeni Malkin scored two goals and added an assist to upstage his Pittsburgh Penguins teammate Sidney Crosby, it was Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin who provided the game-changing moment with a devastating hit on Jaromir Jagr to send Alex Semin and Malkin to the races. Semin passed to Malkin who shot the puck into the back of the net for a 4-2 lead.

The last game against Slovakia, Ovechkin leveled 6 foot 8, 253 pound defenseman Zdeno Chara not once but twice. Ovechkin loves to hit almost as much as he loves to score. And he isn't afraid to go after the big boys.

Here is the video of Ovechkin's crushing hit on Jagr:

The number of high-profile NHL players in the injury penalty box is starting to add up and it is only November.

With the Swine Flu and Seasonal Flu skating around, we might need Tamiflu instead of Gatorade on the bench and new no-touch rules in place -- meaning no roughing up star players such as Alex Ovechkin.

The Washington Capitals star is the latest player to miss time due to an injury. Ovechkin suffered an "upper-body strain" in Washington's overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Verizon Center last night. The Great Eight was apparently injured during a second period scrum with Jason Chimera.

Ovechkin will definitely miss the Capitals' next game Wednesday night in New Jersey and might miss this weekend's home-and-home series against the Panthers.

Without the league's reigning MVP and leading scorer, the Caps are going to need to tighten up on defense. Perhaps it will be good for the team to learn how to play without an automatic goal scorer such as The Russian Machine.

But the Caps aren't the only team having to make adjustments. There have been a number of star players that have succumbed to injuries so far in this young season. Here is a rundown of the fallen stars:

• Anaheim netminder Jean-Sebastian Giguere is out with a groin injury until early November.

• Atlanta Thrashers left wing Ilya Kovalchuk is on injured reserve with a foot injury. He is expected to return to the lineup in mid-November

• Boston's Marc Savard is also out with a foot injury. He is expected to return late November.

• Carolina's Eric Staal has an upper body injury and is doubtful for Wednesday's game against Florida.

• Both the Blackhawks' Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews are beat up. Hossa is out until late November with a shoulder injury while Toews is questionable for Nov. 5 at Phoenix. Toews has already missed four games due to "concussion-like symptoms" from a hard hit against Vancouver.

• Dallas Stars center Mike Modano is out until early November with a rib injury.

• Detroit Red Wings center Johan Franzen suffered a knee injury and will be sidelined until at least mid-February.

• Nashville Predators star Jason Arnott is out until early November with an arm injury.

• Pittsburgh has lost both Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin. Gonchar is out until late November with a wrist injury while Malkin is out with a shoulder injury and is expected to return mid-November.

• Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo is questionable for tomorrow night's game against the Rangers with a rib injury.

Other notable injuries include Kari Lehtonen, Milan Lucic, Valtteri Filppula, Rick DiPietro, Donald Brashear, Jason Spezza, Simon Gagne, Danny Briere, Joe Pavelski, Devin Setaguchi and Phil Kessel.

Click here for the full injury report.

Hockey players are supposed to be some of the toughest guys on the planet. I mean when you are from towns such as Moose Jaw, Canada and Moscow, Russia then you are likely to have Superman-like immunity.

However, a recent rash of Swine Flu victims is challenging that notion.

The four cases reported so far have NHL teams scrambling to prevent the H1N1 virus from spreading.

Washington Capitals left wing Quintin Lang joins Edmonton's Ladislav Smid (pictured above), Colorado's Peter Budaj and Doug Weight of the New York Islanders in being diagnosed with the dreaded virus.

The Canadian Press reports that Smid did indeed test positive for the Swine Flu, but the 23-year-old defenseman didn't miss a game and was back on the ice after resting for two days. Other Oilers players have been hit harder by the seasonal flu. The players are taking the initiative to stay away from the rink if they feel sick.

After Avs backup goalie Budaj came down with H1N1, the team put a plan into effect, reports The Denver Post. If a player is diagnosed he will be isolated while preventative medications will be given to his teammates.

Newsday reports that Weight has returned to the Isles lineup following his bout with the Swine Flu, in which he missed three games. Weight chose to isolate himself from his family and teammates while he was recovering.

According to The Washington Post, some of the precautions the Caps are taking include hand sanitizers being placed around their Arlington, Virginia practice facility. But when hockey players share the same locker room, water bottles, equipment, towels, sweat and blood, is it really possible to stop the flu from spreading?

Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said the following to the Post's Capitals beat writer Tarik El-Bashir:

"I'm hoping to shake fewer hands. It gets in your hands and fingers, and germs get in your cuticles. Everybody you meet is nice and wants to shake your hand. You don't want to be rude and say no, but . . ."

Injury News Update: The latest injury news comes from Pittsburgh where it was revealed today that Penguins star Evgeni Malkin will be sidelined 2-3 weeks with a strained right shoulder. The loss comes soon after it was announced that defenseman Sergei Gonchar will be out 4-6 weeks with a broken wrist.

President Obama welcomed the 2009 Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins to the White House on Thursday for a special ceremony honoring the team.

The players gathered in front of a digital camera-snapping audience inside the East Room (the event was moved inside to due to inclement weather) as the president and head coach Dan Bylsma entered the room.

Pennsylvania dignitaries in attendance included Senators Bob Casey and Arlen Specter; and Representatives Mike Doyle, Jason Altmire, Chris Carney, Tim Murphy and Glenn Thompson.

Also joining the ceremony was Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, a Pittsburgh native; Penguins owner Mario Lemieux; and the first black player in the NHL, Willie O'Ree.

The president congratulated Sidney Crosby on becoming the youngest captain to win a Stanley Cup and acknowledged Evgeni Malkin as the third youngest player to win the Conn Smythe trophy as playoffs MVP.

"There is something special about the Stanley Cup other than it just being really big," said Obama as he looked to his left at the famous trophy on display. "Winning this trophy takes a whole new level of sacrifice. It takes a group of players who can persevere through injuries and pain and setbacks and seven game series. Above all, it takes a team that is willing to stick together because nobody wins the Stanley Cup on their own."

The president then tied in his theme of volunteerism and service to the summer journey the Pens took the Stanley Cup on as a thank you to the fans. The comments were especially poignant given that the next day was the eighth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. For the first time since the attacks, Obama officially declared September 11th as "National Day of Service and Remembrance" to honor the victims of the attack by uniting the country in shared sacrifice through volunteer activities.

"This is a team that understands that being a champion doesn't end when you step off the ice. Service is a way of life for these players back in Pittsburgh," said Obama.

The president went on to thank the Penguins players and O'Ree for earlier in the day putting on a hockey clinic for the kids at Fort Dupont Ice Rink in Southeast Washington, D.C. The players and O'Ree also taught the children about the importance of staying in school and living a healthy and active lifestyle.

The mostly African-American kids from Fort Dupont joined the ceremony at the White House.

Crosby and Bylsma presented Obama a Pens jersey with his name and the number 44 on the back. The team and the president then posed for pictures with the Stanley Cup.

Here is the video of the ceremony:

Could the rivalry between North America's National Hockey League and Russia's Kontinental Hockey League escalate into hockey's new cold war?

That remains to be seen. For now, to many observers the KHL is the equivalent of Major League Soccer -- a growing organization able to nab a star player once in a while such as the L.A. Galaxy's David Beckham but no legitimate threat to the powerhouse leagues in Europe who have the money, history and fanbase to attract the world's top players.

Still, with the report today that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told local sports newspaper Sovietsky Sport that he hopes the KHL expands into central and western Europe, the budding league is certainly giving notice to the executives at NHL headquarters in New York City.

After all, the league is only two years old and seems to have no shortage of rubles to snatch big-name talent from the NHL. With the Kremlin behind the league and Gazprom -- the world's largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company -- as its biggest benefactor, the KHL has already nabbed Jaromir Jagr and is making a play for another Czech -- Jiri Hudler.

However, the fate of Hudler is still up in the air because the NHL is arguing that even though he signed with Moscow Dynamo of the KHL, his election to file for salary arbitration obligates him to play for the Detroit Red Wings. A hearing is set for July 30 in Toronto. Also, the KHL experienced a tragic setback last year when New York Rangers' first-round draft pick Alexei Cherepanov died after an Avangard Omsk game.

But back to Putin's comments. He said the KHL should expand beyond the Former Soviet Union (currently teams are in Russia, Belarus, Latvia and Kazakhstan) and "become a pan-European league" with clubs in Sweden, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Switzerland possibly joining.

If this expansion takes place, the KHL could become a formidable foe to the NHL in terms of the top talent, particularly from Russia and the rest of Europe. Perhaps that is one reason why the NHL is taking a stand in the Hudler case. It is one thing when veteran players like Jagr and Sergei Federov defect to the KHL, but a player in his prime such as Hudler?

For hockey fans such as myself who have enjoyed the renaissance the NHL has enjoyed of late thanks to the many skilled players from Russia, Sweden, the Czech Republic and other European and Former Soviet Union countries, I hope the NHL does everything in its power to retain these players who favor finesse over fighting.

Otherwise, no offense to Don Cherry, but without Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin and Henrik Zetterberg and players of their ilk the NHL will regress back to the boring North American style of the past.

A new cold war on ice? Not yet. But the Kontinental Hockey League has proven it is here to stay.

Washington Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin added more hardware to his growing collection on Thursday night at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.

The 23-year-old star won his second straight Hart trophy as the league's best player and the Pearson award as the most outstanding player in voting by fellow NHLPA members.

Ovechkin won the Hart by a large voting margin over Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin and Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk. The Russian was awarded 115 of 131 first-place tallies.

In nabbing the MVP trophy again this year, he became the first player to win back-to-backs since Dominik Hasek in 1997 and 1998 and the first forward since Wayne Gretzky, who snagged eight-straight Hart trophies from 1980-'87.

Other highlights from the Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort included Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas winning the Vezina as best netminder and Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason being awarded the Calder trophy as rookie of the year.

In his acceptance speech, Ovechkin dedicated the award to the loyal Caps fans and said Washington is his favorite city right now (Ovechkin wasn't the only Washingtonian making hockey headlines today as President Barack Obama called Pittsburgh head coach Dan Bylsma earlier in the day to congratulate the Penguins on winning the Stanley Cup).

"Next year, I hope [the] Stanley Cup will be ours," Ovechkin said to cheers from the Caps fans in attendance.

Here is the winners list (winners in bold):

HART MEMORIAL TROPHY (Most valuable player)

Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings

Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

VEZINA TROPHY (best goaltender)

Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild

Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets

Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins

JAMES NORRIS MEMORIAL TROPHY (best defenseman)

Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins

Mike Green, Washington Capitals

Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings

CALDER MEMORIAL TROPHY (best rookie)

Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets

Bobby Ryan, Anaheim Ducks

Kris Versteeg, Chicago Blackhawks

LADY BYNG MEMORIAL TROPHY (best sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct)

Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings

Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils

Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning

FRANK J. SELKE TROPHY (best defensive forward)

Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings

Ryan Kesler, Vancouver Canucks

Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers

JACK ADAMS AWARD (best coach)

Claude Julien, Boston Bruins

Todd McLellan, San Jose Sharks

Andy Murray, St. Louis Blues

LESTER B. PEARSON AWARD (best player as voted by fellow NHLPA members)

Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings

Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

MASTERTON TROPHY (player who best exemplifies the qualities of perserverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey)

Chris Chelios, Detroit Red Wings

Steve Sullivan, Nashville Predators

Richard Zednik, Florida Panthers

Washington Capitals star and NHL 2K10 video game cover athlete Alex Ovechkin was obviously disappointed his team didn't advance further in the Stanley Cup playoffs, losing to the eventual champion Pittsburgh Penguins in a seven-game Eastern Conference quarterfinals thriller. Ovechkin didn't watch the Pens win the Cup in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last Friday: "It was too hard for me to do that. But I say congratulations Pittsburgh," he told the National Post.

But for at least a few days in Las Vegas, Ovechkin gets to let loose and possibly collect some consolation hardware at the 2009 NHL Awards.

Tuesday night the Hart and Pearson trophy finalist participated in the first ever outdoor motion capture for publisher 2K Sports' fall release at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip. And the perpetual showman didn't disappoint the curious spectators surrounding the hockey rink. From the Las Vegas Sun:

As for the simulation of their scoring skills Tuesday, however, the highlight came when Ovechkin, skating to the chants of 'Ovi, Ovi, Ovi' from beyond the iron fences, performed his much-maligned 'burning stick' routine after scoring from up close (pictured above).

After scoring his 50th goal of the season in March, the 23-year-old Caps winger put his stick down on the ice and pretended to warm his hands over it as if it were on fire.

It will look identical when NHL 2K10 is released, patented gold laces and all.

So while Ovechkin is once again the favorite to repeat as the league's regular-season MVP and as he experiences his first trip to Sin City, there is little doubt he would give up all the individual accolades to trade skates with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin who will be sipping champagne all summer from the Stanley Cup.

The NHL Awards show takes place this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. in Las Vegas) at the Palms. The ceremony will be televised live on Versus.

Here is the nominees list:

Hart Trophy (MVP to his team): Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit), Alex Ovechkin (Washington), Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh)

Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year): Steve Mason (Columbus), Bobby Ryan (Anaheim) and Kris Versteeg (Chicago)

Norris Trophy (top defenseman): Zdeno Chara (Boston), Mike Green (Washington) and Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit)

Vezina Trophy (top goaltender): Niklas Backstrom (Minnesota), Mason (Columbus) and Tim Thomas (Boston)

Jack Adams Award (Coach of the Year): Claude Julien (Boston), Todd McLellan (San Jose) and Andy Murray (St. Louis)

Lady Byng (most gentlemanly player): Datsyuk (Detroit), Zach Parise (New Jersey) and Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay)

Selke Trophy (top defensive forward): Datsyuk (Detroit), Ryan Kesler (Vancouver) and Mike Richards (Philadelphia)

Masterton Trophy (dedication and perseverance): Chris Chelios (Detroit), Steve Sullivan (Nashville) and Richard Zednik (Florida)

Mark Messier Leadership Award: Chara (Boston), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh) and Jarome Iginla (Calgary)

Maxime Talbot scored both Pittsburgh Penguins' goals and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 23 shots including two critical saves as time wound down in the third period to secure a 2-1 victory over the Red Wings and spoil a chance for Detroit to win their second straight Stanley Cup, fifth in 12 seasons and 12th overall.

The Penguins became only the third team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup in Game 7 on the road and the first team since 1971.

And Pittsburgh did it without Sidney Crosby, who was injured by a hard check in the second period and missed most of the third period. Evgeni Malkin, who led the playoffs with 36 points, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason MVP.

After the win, 43-year-old Penguins owner Mario Lemieux celebrated on the ice with 21-year-old Crosby, the youngest captain to win a Stanley Cup.

The Penguins overcame a mid-season coaching change (rookie Dan Bylsma replaced Michel Therrien) and 2-0 series deficits to both the Washington Capitals and Detroit Red Wings on their way to the team's third title.

In other hockey news, the Hershey Bears, the Washington Capitals' top affiliate, won their 10th American Hockey League title with a 4-1 win over the Manitoba Moose, the Vancouver Canucks' top farm club, on Friday night. The Bears won the Calder Cup Finals series 4-2. Rookie goalie Michal Neuvirth made 24 saves and was selected playoffs MVP.

The NHL just might redeem itself this Friday night despite the league's best efforts to keep viewers in the penalty box by scheduling Game 6 the same night as the NBA Finals on ABC and showing Games 3 and 4 on Versus instead of NBC.

There are several reasons to believe Friday's Game 7 matchup between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins could at the very least set a record for the most-watched Game 7 in NHL history. It will almost certainly draw a large amount of viewers. The question is, how many?

Before listing why this game might go down in ratings history, it helps to put the telecast in perspective. Game 4 of the Cup Finals averaged 3.45 million viewers on Versus in comparison to the NBA Finals Game 1 on ABC which drew 13.4 million. Game 6 of hockey's Stanley Cup Finals on NBC nabbed 5.81 million viewers while 14.2 million viewers tuned into Lakers-Magic Game 3.

So, obviously the NHL won't be competing with the NBA anytime soon in terms of ratings. But, there are some encouraging signs that point to a potential ratings bonanza for Game 7.

-- Despite all my complaints about the inaccessibility of Versus as a niche network not on basic cable, the sports channel did have a reason to boast as Game 4 was the most-watched telecast in the network's history and overall viewership was up 42 percent from Games 1 and 2 of last year's Final. Also, Game 4 earned the highest cable ratings for an NHL playoff series since 2002.

-- Game 6 on NBC earned the best numbers for the 2009 series despite competing with the NBA Finals on ABC, which bodes well for Friday night's coverage. Game 7 will be televised on NBC to a national audience and will have the night to itself as the NBA Finals series doesn't resume until Sunday. The game also falls on a Friday night when many people are welcoming the weekend at bars, many of which will be reluctantly forced to turn the game on.

-- Fridays are a weak ratings night for general programming which is why networks don't usually schedule the big shows that night. At the 8 p.m. puck drop (5 p.m. West Coast time) the hockey game will be going up against "Reba" on ABC, "Don't Forget the Lyrics!" on Fox, "Surviving Suburbia" on ABC and a repeat of "Ghost Whisperer" on CBS.

-- For the first time since 2003 there will be two American teams battling for the championship in Game 7. The 2003 game featured the New Jersey Devils shutting out the Anaheim Mighty Ducks 3-0. Since then there have been two more seventh games, both with at least one Canadian team, which means an entire city not on the ratings map -- Tampa Bay-Calgary in 2004 and Carolina-Edmonton in 2006.

-- Both the Penguins and Red Wings are marquee franchises with big-name stars. The Red Wings are one of the most recognizable franchises in professional sports and Forbes magazine recently rated the Penguins the fasted-growing team brand in hockey and third in the four major sports. With names such as Crosby, Malkin, Zetterberg and Osgood on the ice at Joe Louis Arena Friday there will be no shortage of star power and intrigue to draw viewers in.

-- There is high drama in this series which should hopefully make for some heart-pounding moments in Game 7, especially if it is close or goes into overtime. The Wings beat the Pens in six games last year so Pittsburgh has a chance to redeem themselves on enemy ice and prevent Detroit from winning its second straight Cup in front of the home crowd. Who will be the hero? Crosby? Malkin? Zetterberg? Datsyuk? A lesser-known player? Will Fleury and Osgood stand tall in front of the net or buckle under the pressure?

-- Lastly, the young Pittsburgh team has an opportunity to win a rare Game 7 Cup Final on the road. History is not on their side: only two road teams have won the Cup in a Stanley Cup Final Game 7. Montreal won 3-2 in Chicago in 1971. The other time? Way back in 1941 when Toronto beat the Red Wings 2-1 in Detroit.

The Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins play Game 6 at Mellon Arena Tuesday night to determine if the Wings will win the Cup or the Pens will send the series back to Joe Louis Arena for a deciding Game 7.

Since I work on a newspaper website for my full-time gig, I decided to peruse the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Detroit Free Press websites to find out what kind of online coverage they have.

So as a fun aside to the action on the ice I present the inaugural Stanley Cup Final city newspaper championship: PG vs. Freep.

PEDIGREE: The Post-Gazette was founded in 1786 while the Free Press was first printed in 1831. However, the Free Press has received eight Pulitzer Prizes while the Post-Gazette has yet to nab the coveted newspaper award.

Advantage: Detroit Free Press in a blowout. Pulitzers trump longevity.

SITE LAYOUT: The Penguins page on Post-Gazette NOW has a clean and organized look to it. Nice mix of video, stories, blog posts and photos. But perhaps the best feature of the site is the "Motown Breakdown" section, which aggregates headlines from the Free Press website and provides links to the stories and columns. It's a good thing for Penguins fans their team isn't so generous with the Red Wings, although some might argue they gave away Game 5 in which Detroit pounded Pittsburgh 5-0.

The Wings section of Freep.com is less polished. It has the look and feel of an amateur blog from Number1Osgoodfan.com. There is too much blank space on the left column and story scroll down is entirely too long. The site simply doesn't do justice to the defending Stanley Cup champs.

Advantage: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by a wide margin.

MULTIMEDIA: Post-Gazette features a scrollable video section at the top of the site that provides clickable access to the multimedia page with original video production, editing and reporting plus a virtual tour of the Penguins' new $290 million arena.

The Free Press site has some nicely packaged video with original production, editing and reporting. The difference is that you are able to watch the videos from the Red Wings landing page instead of having to click through to another page. There is a poignant video feature titled "Common Enemy" about the similar booming histories and current economic struggles of the two cities, one a center of the auto industry and the other a steel town, both trying to make a comeback and holding onto hope in these difficult times.



Advantage: Tie. Both sites have solid multimedia content.

CONTENT: Lots of great original reporting on both sides. Seth Rorabaugh's Empty Netters blog and contributions from general sports bloggers, columnists and reporters all provide comprehensive and insightful analysis of the Stanley Cup Finals from the Penguins' perspective.

Helene St. James' blog on Freep.com keeps Detroit fans up-to-date on the latest happenings. But it is long-time Free Press columnist and best-selling author Mitch Albom ("Tuesdays with Morrie") who is able to put it all in the proper perspective.

Advantage: Detroit Free Press. Mitch Albom. Enough said.

INTERACTIVITY: Post-Gazette has a Q&A section in which fans can submit questions to Penguins beat writer Dave Molinari. Fans can also upload photos to the site, participate in live chats, buy Penguins collectibles and sign up for mobile alerts. There is even a fan landing page called "The Icehouse" with printable cheer cards, games and more.

Visitors to the Free Press Wings page are able to comment, blog and share photos if they sign in first. There is even a photo contest in which fans submit images of their homemade posters. There is also a poll, but it is related to the Tigers, not the Wings.

Advantage: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. There is much more to keep fans engaged.

FUN FACTOR: The Post-Gazette features two poorly designed games, one lame beat-the-goalie game and the other a tiresome punch-the-Detroit-player takedown game.

The Free Press features a creative, hilarious and graphically pleasing game called "Smack a Penguin," which was designed by Free Press cartoonist Mike Thompson. Players use a hockey stick to smack as many penguins as possible within a 30 second time limit. The little penguins pop out of holes on the ice. The cartoon penguins are harder to hit than Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin barreling down the ice on a breakaway.

WINNER: Detroit Free Press. But only because of the "Smack a Penguin" game. Overall the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is a slightly better site. Now back to smacking penguins ...

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes tonight by a final score of 4-1 to sweep the series and earn a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Pens will take on the winner of the Detroit Red Wings-Chicago Blackhawks series, which could be decided as early as tomorrow night with the Wings up three games to one. If the Wings win it will set up a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Finals, which Detroit won in six games.

Pittsburgh won despite being outshot 40-29 at RBC Center by a 'Canes team fighting for its playoff life. Behind solid goaltending by Marc-Andre Fleury the Pens got scoring contributions from Bill Geurin, Maxime Talbot, Ruslan Fedotenko and Craig Adams. Sidney Crosby had two assists and Evgeni Malkin was held without a point. Eric Staal scored Carolina's lone goal.

The first game of the Stanley Cup Finals takes place Saturday, May 30 at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST on NBC.

LeBron James is leading his Cleveland Cavaliers tonight in Game 1 of the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals, while hockey fans (at least those lucky few who subscribe to Versus) will have to wait for Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins to take on the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Finals. 

That's because the NHL has spread out the conference finals schedule this year with Pens-Canes Game 2 set for Thursday evening at the Igloo. Unless the Pens sweep, there are more two-day breaks in this series, meaning Pittsburgh and Carolina will play only two games in six days from May 24-29. With so many days off, it might be tough to build up any kind of rhythm in this matchup -- especially since both teams just came off tight seven-game series. The Pens-Caps series lasted 12 nights -- including back-to-back games in Pittsburgh and Washington because of a Yanni concert at Mellon Arena -- as opposed to 16 nights if this series goes to seven games. 

Still, it will be interesting to see if these long breaks between games builds anticipation or if fans will lose interest. It's tough enough for the NHL to go head-to-head with the NBA as the two leagues' playoffs synch up.  A lot will depend, of course, on whether or not the Blackhawks and Hurricanes can mount comebacks and extend the series.

But maybe the best argument against an extra day off is the risk of injuries during practice. From NHL.com:

"Practice did not go without its intrigue as the Penguins survived two injury scares. During a rush drill, Evgeni Malkin crashed into assistant coach Tom Fitzgerald at the blue line and both tumbled before picking themselves and continuing. Later, during a 3-on-2 drill, defenseman Rob Scuderi took a slap shot from point-blank range off his foot. He required a visit from the trainer as a hush fell over the arena, but was able to shake it off."