Ok, so there’s been some good hockey talk on the forum throughout the playoffs.  Since I can, I thought I’d weigh in with a quick preview and prediction.

The 2009 Stanley Cup Finals are set to begin in a few hours.  In a rematch of last year’s exciting six-game series, the Pittsburgh Penguins are back in Detroit to face the defending champion Red Wings.

The Penguins have been the hottest team in the league for the last couple months, and they enter the finals with their best players, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, playing their best hockey.  The Pens are a bit more physical, and more experienced than last year’s team.  They are a legitimate threat to win the Cup.

The Red Wings have had the tougher road to the finals, coming through the deeper Western Conference.  The Wings’ stars have been inconsistent, but role players like Darren Helm and Dan Cleary have stepped up to carry the load.  Johann Franzen remains a playoff scoring machine, leading the team with ten goals.  The key to the Wings success though, is the return of Nick Lidstrom from his injury in the conference finals.  The Wings will need the league’s top defender to slow down Crobsy and Malkin.

This should be a long and exciting series.  The teams are very evenly matched, and it would not surprise me to see either team win.  In the end, I think depth, experience, and home ice give the Red Wings the slight edge.

Prediction: Wings in 7