Well, technically, the league had as many as 10 teams before they settled in at 6 in 1942. Also, prior to 1926, the Cup could be won by teams from leagues other than the NHL, so it wasn’t just contested among a small number of teams.
It’s the years from '42 to '67 that act as total inflators, and you’ll notice that Detroit didn’t exactly cover themselves with glory during those years. 
Wow…ref complaints. Yes, there were tons of non-calls on the Penguins. There were also tons of non-calls on the Wings. Let us not forget the absolutely BLATANT slash by Hossa in game 2 that directly led to the GWG, that did not get called (he broke Malkin’s stick!), nor the TWO non-called penalty shots when the wings covered the puck with a hand in the crease in the first two games. Poorly officiated: Yes. Unfair to one team: Absolutely not. Just as many bad calls went the Wings favor…ahem, the holding call tonight. With them letting everything else, go, there is no WAY that was holding against Gill. But, you suck it up, kill the penalty and move on. Stop being a whiner. After EVERY championship in EVERY sport, people bitch about the refs. Grow up.
This is a trend that’s worth noting: apparently Pittsburgh teams can only win championships if the fix is in. The same whining happened after the last two Super Bowls, and I seem to recall the “NHL wanted Super Mario to win the Cup” crap back in the early '90s.
It gets old. It really does.
Do you think we’d even WANT him back? I hope they tell him wear to put his stick.
Hell yes! Especially considering there’s no more mullet. (Although he never had the travesty that was Jaromir Jagr’s!)
Wow classy. I think your foil hat is a little too tight there pal. The losing coach managed dignity so maybe you could give it a shot.
Flower doesn’t say hockey player at all, I will forever have the image of an angry female meerkat playing goal for the Pens.
Wonder if anyone will want him. He’s got two strikes against him in the Cup finals.
Not sure if the Wings should sign him or not. No sour grapes about him not performing in the playoffs. Just wondering if it’s worth losing two or three of our depth players to sign one more star. Samuelsson and Cheli will be gone even without Hossa, but I’m not sure if it’s worth it to lose Hudler this year and maybe a couple more in the next two.
there is not a team name for any sport that is even possible that is gayer than the hershey bears.
not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Since the Penguins have been in existence, they have won 3 Stanley Cups. During that time the Red Wings have won 4.
Hockeytahn!
Not even the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors?
Maybe, but we’re still the City of Champions (we won our SIXTH Super Bowl this year - the ONLY team in the NFL to do so! and the Stanley Cup).
So EAT IT, DETROIT!!! 
Yeah? Well the Detroit Lions went 0-16 - the ONLY team in the NFL to do so.
So…um…yeah
And we could do it again. So there.
Actually there’s been talk of increasing the number of games in the regular season to seventeen or eighteen. We could break our own record.
yay
In case my point wasn’t clear, for all their self-promotion as Hockeytown and as the dominant hockey team, the Red Wings have won the Stanley Cup only one more time than the Pens have since the Pens have been in existence.
Ah, thank you. It also amuses me, that Detroit is the hometown of Jerome Bettis…and that was where he won the Super Bowl…with the Pittsburgh Steelers. (Facing the Seattle Seahawks, though)
So, where do you think Hossa will journey to next?
I like that you’ve gone with City of Champions as your location. When I was a kid, in 1979, I had a t-shirt that I loved that said “City of Champions” in celebration of the Steelers and Pirates winning their respective championships that year (and both generally being very successful through the 1970’s).
They also have the longest active streak of consecutive playoff appearances in (iirc) professional sports. They’re annually one of the top hockey teams in the regular season. Turns out for all their self promotion, they’re actually a fairly good hockey team to boot.
Where Hossa will go? I’ve a sinking feeling he’ll resign in Detroit. If he does it’ll be for another front loaded extended year contract that Ken Holland loves so much. It’ll also be at the cost of a couple of young players (Hudler/Leino) unless players like Draper/Maltby retire.
Just fer funsies: Now that the playoffs are finally over, clarity returns to the list of injuries.Nick Lidstrom was “speared in the testicles in game three of the Chicago series and had surgery on them two days later.”:eek:Somewhat less horrific, Brian Rafalski had a ruptured disk in his back. Pavel Datsyuk had a charley horse, and Brad Stuart suffered from a raging case of turnoveritis.
There’s no doubt that they are. And against the Blues, Blackhawks, Predators and Blue Jackets - an extremely soft set of divisional opponents - they ought to continue to make the playoffs every year.