Detroit Takes a Lead

Tomas Holmstrom wins the battle against Brooks Orpik

A few of the pertinent numbers from Detroit's 5-0 victory over Pittsburgh in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night.

0 -- Points in the Stanley Cup Final before Game 5 by Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom, who has played all five games against Pittsburgh after missing the last three games of the Western Conference Finals against Chicago. Lidstrom assisted on Brian Rafalski's second-period goal that made it 4-0.

1 -- Losses by Pittsburgh in Game 5 of their four Stanley Cup Finals. The Penguins had won both of their previous Game 5s, beating the Minnesota North Stars in 1991 and Detroit last year (they swept Chicago in 1992). Overall, the Pens are 19-17 in Game 5s, 1-2 this year.

2 -- Shutouts by Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood in this year's playoffs. The other came in Game 2 of the opening round against Columbus. It was the 15th of his career and third in a Stanley Cup Final game -- he blanked Pittsburgh 4-0 in Game 1 and 3-0 in Game 2 last year.

3 -- Power-play goals by the Red Wings in the second period. Niklas Kronwall and Brian Rafalski scored in a 2:25 span early in the period, and Henrik Zetterberg added another at 16:40. The Wings had managed just one goal on the power play in the first four games of the Final.

4 -- Goals by Detroit in the second period, the most the Red Wings have scored in any period during this year's playoffs. It's also the Wings' biggest period in the Stanley Cup Final since April 26, 1966, when they scored four goals in the third period of Game 2, a 5-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Detroit had scored four second-period goals in the first four games of this year's Final combined.

5 -- Career playoff assists by Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood, whose breakout pass led to Valtteri Filppula's goal 1:44 into the second period that made it 2-0. It was Osgood's second of this year's playoffs -- half of the total by all goaltenders in the postseason -- and the first assist by a goaltender in the Final since 2003, when New Jersey's Martin Brodeur (Game 1) and Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere (Game 3) both had one.

6 -- Shots on goal by Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg, the most by anyone on either team. Sergei Gonchar led Pittsburgh with four. Unlike Gonchar, Zetterberg scored a goal.

7 -- Hits credited to Detroit rookie center Darren Helm, giving him 32 for the series, the most of any player. Marian Hossa led the Wings in Game 5 with eight.

7 -- Games missed by Detroit center Pavel Datsyuk, who returned to the lineup on Saturday for the first time since injuring his foot in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals against Chicago. The Hart Trophy finalist missed three games against Chicago and the first four of the Final against Pittsburgh. He wasted no time making an impact, setting up Dan Cleary's goal 13:32 into the game that put Detroit ahead to stay, then added another assist in the second period and finished plus-2 with two shots and four hits.

7:19 -- Elapsed time from the opening faceoff to the game's first whistle. The teams went without a stoppage of play until Niklas Kronwall took the game's first penalty for tripping Chris Kunitz. Each team had three shots on goal during that span.

8 -- Play stoppages in the first period that resulted in faceoffs. Including the start of the game, there were just nine draws in the opening 20 minutes (an average period has 15-20 faceoffs). Detroit won five of the nine faceoffs.

11 -- Home victories by Detroit in its 12 games at Joe Louis Arena this spring. The Wings' only home loss in this year's playoffs was a 4-3, triple-overtime defeat at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals. They've won all eight games since then.

12 -- Years since the Red Wings won a Stanley Cup Final game by five or more goals. Detroit's last victory by that many goals was a 6-1 rout of Philadelphia in Game 3 of the 1997 Final. The last time the Wings scored as many as five goals in the Final was Game 2 in 1998, when they rallied for a 5-4 overtime victory over Washington.

19 ­-- Previous occasions in which the Final was tied 2-2 after four games. Good omen for the Red Wings: Fourteen of the 19 teams that won Game 5 went on to win the Cup. The last one that didn't was the 2004 Calgary Flames, who lost Games 6 and 7 to Tampa Bay. Only one team, the 1971 Montreal Canadiens, was tied 2-2, lost Game 5 on the road and rallied to win the Cup.

36 -- Wins by Detroit in Game 5s of a playoff series. Saturday night's victory moved the Wings back to .500 (36-36) in the 72 Game 5s they've played, including 6-8 in the Final.

48 -- Consecutive playoff starts by Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury, who didn't make it through the second period in Game 5. It was the first time in this year's playoffs that Fleury was pulled.

49 -- Consecutive playoff victories for the Red Wings when they score four or more goals. The Wings haven't lost when scoring four or more goals in the postseason since the Phoenix Coyotes beat them 7-4 on April 24, 1998.

233 -- Stanley Cup Playoff games for Lidstrom, tying him with Scott Stevens for fifth on the all-time list. Detroit's captain will tie Claude Lemieux (234) for fourth place if he plays in Game 6.

300 -- Playoff victories in the history of the Red Wings' franchise, against 260 losses. The Wings are second in all-time playoff wins, trailing only the Montreal Canadiens, who have 398.

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers...

Tomas Holmstrom vs. Jordan Staal and M-A Fleury

A few of the pertinent numbers from Pittsburgh's 4-2 victory over Detroit in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night.

0 -- Goals scored by Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom in the Red Wings' last 16 playoff games. Holmstrom had goals in Games 3 and 4 against Columbus in the opening round, but has just three assists since then while going scoreless against Anaheim (7 games), Chicago (5 games) and Pittsburgh (4 games so far).

1 -- Shorthanded goals scored by Pittsburgh in this year's playoffs. Jordan Staal's game-tying goal in the second period was Pittsburgh's first this spring while playing down a man. It was also the first shorthanded goal allowed by Detroit this year.

2 -- Goals in the Final by Detroit's Darren Helm. The speedy rookie now has three goals in this year's playoffs and six postseason goals in his career -- but has never scored in the regular season.

3 -- Consecutive games in the Final in which Pittsburgh has scored first. Detroit got the first goal in Game 1; the Penguins got it in each of the next three games. Overall, the Pens have scored first in 12 of their 21 playoff games this spring, going 8-4.

4 -- Players who've swept the scoring titles in both the regular season and playoffs since the first expansion in 1967. Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, who's tops in postseason scoring this year, is trying to become the fifth player to do so, joining Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky (four times), Guy Lafleur (twice) and Phil Esposito (twice). Malkin led the NHL with 113 points (35-78) during the regular season to win the Art Ross Trophy.

5 -- Times in nine road games this spring that Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood has allowed three or more goals. The Wings have lost the last three of those games, including Games 3 and 4 to the Penguins in the Final.

6 -- Years since a team lost the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final, then won the next two. Anaheim lost the first two games of the 2003 Final at New Jersey, then won the next two games at home. That series went seven games, with the Devils winning Game 7 at home.

7 -- Points by Malkin in the first four games of this year's Final, the most of anyone on either team. It's a big jump from last year, when he had no points in the first four games and finished 1-2-3 in six games.

9 -- Power plays received by the Penguins in the first four games of the Final. The Penguins have made the most of their opportunities, scoring on four of them -- a 44.4-percent success rate.

9 -- Goals by the Red Wings in the Final while playing 5-on-5, compared with four for the Penguins. Overall this spring, the Wings have outscored opponents 44-23 when playing at full and equal strength.

10 -- Times in this year's playoffs that the Red Wings have allowed the game's first goal. They are 5-5 in those games, including 1-2 in the Final. In the 10 games they've scored the first goal, the Wings are 9-1-- including Game 1 against Pittsburgh.

13 -- Faceoffs lost by Staal, in 15 attempts. Staal, who had his first goal and points of the Final for Pittsburgh in Game 4, is now 15-47 on draws in the first four games.

16 -- Games this spring in which Detroit has allowed at least one power-play goal. The Wings have held the opposition without a goal on the power play just four times in 20 games -- and just once in the first four games of the Final.

35 -- Points in this year's playoffs by Malkin, four more than teammate Sidney Crosby. It's the most by any player in a single playoff year since Wayne Gretzky had 40 for Los Angeles in 1993.

39 -- Shots on goal by the Red Wings, the most by either team in the first four games of the Final. The Wings had 19 of those shots in the opening period, the highest single-period total so far in the Final.

52 -- Game 4s lost by Detroit in the playoffs, against 44 victories. It's the Red Wings' highest loss total in any game of a playoff series. The Wings had won all three previous Game 4s in this year's playoffs, winning at Columbus, Anaheim and Chicago. They also won Game 4 of last year's Final at Pittsburgh

210:34 -- Elapsed time in the series before Crosby scored his first goal of this year's Final. He put the Penguins ahead when he beat Chris Osgood midway through the second period, putting him first among all players in this year's playoffs with 15 goals.

232 -- Postseason games played by Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom, who played No. 232 on Thursday. He's now alone in fifth on the all-time list, breaking a tie with Guy Carbonneau. He can tie Scott Stevens (233 games played) for fourth by playing in Game 5 on Saturday night, and could move past Claude Lemieux (234) if the series goes seven games

Pavel Datsyuk - ready to play?

NIKALE PHOTOS

PITTSBURGH—If the smile on his face while skating at Wednesday's practice is any indication, expect to see center Pavel Datsyuk back in the Detroit Red Wings lineup for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals. Datsyuk hasn't played in the playoffs since Game 2 of the Western Conference finals because of a foot injury.

Datsyuk said he felt good Wednesday, but coach Mike Babcock wouldn't go so far as to say Datsyuk would be in the lineup tonight.

"What we'll do is go for the optional skate in the morning and see how he responded today and see how he felt," Babcock said. "He's one of the best players in the world. Obviously, we'd like to have him. But it's one of those injuries."

Datsyuk said it would be a game-time decision, but said he's healthy and feels as good as he did before the injury.

"I feel like again 18 years young," he said. "I have lots of fun, exciting wearing skates … I want to play so bad. I don't want to watch this game again."

Babcock confirmed that veteran center Kris Draper(notes) would return to the lineup regardless of Datsyuk's status. Draper has been out with a groin injury. The return of Draper and Datsyuk would be a boost to the Wings' struggling penalty kill. The Red Wings are killing only 71.4 percent of opposing power plays during the playoffs.

But it's not the percentage that bothers Babcock.

"It's when you give them up," he said. "You know, that's huge. Last night, we needed a kill. Without any question, it was a 2—2 game. We needed the kill."

Zetterberg logs serious minutes

Playing in Pittsburgh makes it more difficult to match Henrik Zetterberg(notes) against Sidney Crosby(notes), so Detroit's shutdown center ended up double-shifting and finished Game 3 with an ice time of 24:19.

It was his highest total of the season in a game that didn't go to overtime.

"Yesterday, when I saw the sheet, I didn't expect it to be that much. I thought it was my usual 20 minutes," Zetterberg said.

Babcock wasn't concerned with the extra time wearing Zetterberg down, although he admitted 24 minutes isn't ideal.

"I didn't think we overplayed him," Babcock said.

If Detroit continues to remain so focused on getting the right players on the ice to stop Crosby, Crosby's teammates have to take advantage.

"It does leave the onus on our other guys to play our game and get to the offensive zone to take some pressure off just one guy scoring," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "Better play in the offensive zone by everybody would make those matchups better, even better for us."

Same series, different feeling

The Red Wings are up 2-1, just like they were last year at this time. But Maxime Talbot said the Penguins' confidence level is much higher this time.

The first two games were much closer, Talbot said, and he never felt the same level of domination the Red Wings displayed last season.

"But we know how big this Game 4 is now because we lost it last year and it was hard to come back from a 3-1 deficit," Talbot said. "From the experience of last year, I think we feel it's different, and we're up to the challenge a little bit more."

Television Ratings for the Fianals

NEW YORK (AP)—Television ratings for the Stanley Cup finals are off to their best start since 2002.

NBC said Tuesday that Games 1 and 2 averaged a 2.8 rating and 5 share. That’s up 17 percent from last year, when the first games on the network were Games 3 and 4. Versus showed Games 1 and 2 in 2008; the cable channel is broadcasting Games 3 and 4 this year.

The ratings were the highest for the first two games on NBC or ABC since 2002, when the Detroit-Carolina series averaged a 3.4/7.

Detroit beat Pittsburgh on Saturday and Sunday.

The rating is the percentage watching a program among homes with TVs. The share is the percentage tuned into the broadcast among those households with TVs on at the time.

John Tavares - Ready for Draft

PITTSBURGH -- Much has been written in recent months about John Tavares and why he should boycott Long Island should the New York Islanders select the 18-year-old with No. 1 selection in the 2009 Entry Draft, which will be held later this month in Montreal.

Time and time again, Tavares has stated that there will be no such boycott. If the Isles want him, he's theirs.

He reiterated that statement Tuesday morning at Mellon Arena, only hours before watching his first Stanley Cup Final game in person.

"Not many guys get that opportunity to be selected No. 1," Tavares said. "I'd love to go No. 1, but then again I'd love to go to any NHL team. I feel like I can contribute in a good way. If it happens, I'll be honored and very excited. But I'll be just as honored and excited if it doesn't happen."

Tavares recently met with Islanders brass on Long Island and said he came away impressed. While Isles owner Charles Wang still faces an uphill battle for a new/renovated Nassau Coliseum, Tavares was happy to get a first-hand look at some parts of Long Island -- including the rink that opened its doors 18 years before he was born.

At the meeting, though, Tavares wasn't assured that he would become an Islander on June 26. Highly touted Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman -- who is also here in Pittsburgh -- visited Long Island Monday. Matt Duchene also recently made a trip.

"I think they're keeping things low-key," said Tavares, who has an Ontario Hockey League record 215 goals. "They're trying to decide exactly what they want to do. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I got to meet a lot of people in the organization and I got to see the rink and a little bit of Long Island. I had breakfast with Doug Weight. It was a good experience for me and a good opportunity to check out Long Island and get to know (GM) Garth (Snow) a little bit, and Mr. Wang. I had a good time and we'll see what happens."

Should the Isles opt for Tavares, he would become part of a rebuilding process that already includes promising forwards Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey, and would almost certainly make the club out of training camp in September. New York had 13 selections in last year's draft and also holds the 26th, 31st and 37th picks later this month. While it's possible Snow could deal some of those selections on draft weekend for an established NHL player, there's little doubt either Tavares or Hedman -- or Duchene, a dark horse in this race -- will be an Islander in just over three weeks' time.

But at least one other GM is still willing to make a deal. Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke clearly would love to have Tavares call the Air Canada Centre home.

"We continue to try to move up," Burke said on Tuesday afternoon. "We haven't success so far. The two times that I have been successful making a deal happened on the (draft) floor. I'm not discouraged yet."

On Tuesday, Tavares made one thing perfectly clear -- he won't be discouraged if the Islanders call his name on June 26 at the Bell Centre. Perhaps it was on his visit when he learned there's much more to Long Island than Uniondale.

"It was a lot of fun," Tavares said of his trip. "I had a really good time and got to know them a lot more and what they're all about and their philosophy and see the way they do things. Long Island's a great city. Obviously, they've got a good organization and really have a good fan base when they have winning teams. They have a lot of tradition there from the Stanley Cups. I really enjoyed my time there."

Where Are They Now: Mike Vernon

Mike Vernon. Calgary Flames. 1989 Stanley Cup

For 21 National Hockey League seasons, Mike Vernon prevented the opposition from putting pucks in the net.

These days, Vernon is still a gatekeeper of sorts. But as vice president of the Bear Mountain Resort in British Columbia, he’s trying to let everyone in.

Visitors to this resort who aren’t hockey fans will see this sharp-dressed 5-foot-9 man walking the grounds and have no clue that he won two Stanley Cups, played for four NHL teams and faced legendary players — such as his long-time rival, Patrick Roy.

The Vernon-Roy rivalry began in 1986 when Vernon’s Calgary Flames lost the Stanley Cup Finals to Roy’s Montreal Canadiens. Three years later, Vernon, still with Calgary, won the first of his two Stanley Cups. That same year, Roy won the Vezina Trophy. Another memorable moment came in the 1996 Western Conference Finals when Roy, now with Colorado, helped the Avalanche eliminate Detroit, whose No. 1 goaltender was Vernon.

But during the 1996-97 season, their rivalry took another twist. On March 26, 1997, Vernon won his 300th game in a 6-5 overtime Detroit victory over Colorado. However, that milestone was overshadowed by a line brawl which featured a center ice fight between Vernon and Roy.

That wasn’t the only time Vernon was victorious over Roy that season. In a Western Conference Finals rematch, Vernon and Red Wings swept Roy and the Avalanche in four games. Vernon would lead Detroit to their first Stanley Cup in 41 years and receive the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs.

“It takes certain ingredients to win the Stanley Cup — a great team and a little luck,” Vernon said about that memorable season, “and we had both. It was a great honor I dreamed about since childhood.”

As for battling against Roy, Vernon left his feelings on the ice.

“He’s a great goaltender and competitor,” Vernon said of his rivalry with Roy. “I think there’s mutual respect there. We both stick up for our teammates. That’s the sport.”

“The sport” also involves change. After that Stanley Cup season, Vernon was traded to the Sharks before the 1997-98 campaign. Vernon, along with Kelly Hrudey, gave the Sharks two credible Stanley Cup Finals-tested veterans in net, a necessary ingredient as the Sharks were building a foundation to compete. Over the next two-plus seasons, Vernon won 52 games and posted nine shutouts. Most importantly, in his first year (1997-98), Vernon won 30 games and helped the Sharks start a run of five consecutive playoff seasons.

When the 1999-00 season began, Vernon and Steve Shields were San Jose’s goaltenders. But on Dec. 30, 1999, Vernon was traded to Florida. Two days later, a rookie named Evgeni Nabokov made his debut in relief of Shields at Nashville.

While the trade would eventually create an opportunity for a future Calder Memorial Trophy winner and two-time NHL All-Star, Vernon was shocked when he got the news. “(Head Coach Darryl Sutter) told me to get ready to play the second half of the season. I was well rested and ready to play,” Vernon said. “I was completely thrown for a loop because I felt like we finally had all the pieces to challenge for the Stanley Cup. I was very disappointed.”

Vernon would finish the season with the Panthers before concluding his career by returning to his native Calgary for his last two seasons with the Flames. When he retired, Vernon had 385 wins, 27 shutouts and a 2.98 goals-against average. He’s still Calgary’s all-time leader in games played (526) and wins (262).

Vernon may have been disappointed about not staying in San Jose, but there’s no hard feelings. “The Sharks have great ownership,” Vernon said. “It was great to play for an organization that wanted to win and was willing to take risks to put a winning product on the ice. My wife and I enjoyed living there. It’s one of the best places to live.”

Lately, there’s been some rumblings in the hockey community about Vernon making the Hockey Hall of Fame. “If they (the nominators) believe I’m worthy, great,” he said. “But regardless, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. The Hockey Hall of Fame is out of my control.”

What’s in his control these days is the success of Bear Mountain, located in Victoria, which is southwest of Vancouver on Vancouver Island. Vernon was introduced to the resort business by Len Barrie, one of his former Florida teammates. Barrie, now one of the owners of the Tampa Bay Lightning, went into real estate development after retirement and became CEO and president of the resort. Vernon got involved with Bear Mountain a few years ago when Barrie asked him to look at the resort in its planning phase.

“Things are going well, but it’s a big project. The first 15 years are the most important for development and sustainability,” Vernon said. “Len and I used to travel around a lot to play golf all over the United States. We noticed there weren’t any golf resorts in Canada. We wanted to bring this concept to the west coast of Victoria because it has the best weather and caters to a huge tourist population.”

Bear Mountain has a golf course, housing, conference rooms, workout facilities and a little village with shops, markets and pubs. Facility guests can partake in numerous activities such as hiking, biking, kayaking and salmon fishing.

Vernon’s involvement with Bear Mountain coincides with his passion for golf. “Golf is just a good game,” he said. “I played as a kid. During the summer, I’d go workout for hockey and then head to the golf course. In fact, I owned a small course outside of Calgary.”

While Vernon is busy with the resort and being with his family, which includes four children, he’s still involved in hockey. He helps coach his children’s teams and is also Tampa Bay’s special assistant to the executive vice president of hockey operations. Vernon assists in hockey-related matters and provides guidance to the team’s goaltenders.

But despite all of the demands in his life, Vernon said family is No. 1. “It’s the time in my life where I need to focus on being a father and husband,” he said. “I want to be able to provide for them but also be there to experience as much as possible with them. My hope for the future is to live as normal a life as possible and spend time with my family and friends.”

Sarnia Bluewater Sharks Wins the Tournament

Sarnia 95 Bluewater Sharks

I have spent another terrific weekend watching my son playing for Sarnia Bluewater Sharks 95 "AAA" team. Even more important - we have won 2009 St. Thomas Annual Classic Tournament.