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Penguins Win Stanley Cup

Were you a time traveler from the early part of the 2015-16 National Hockey League season, there is no way you would believe the words I am about to type. The Pittsburgh Penguins have won the Stanley Cup.

If you think back to the lackluster start the team got off to and all of the hand-wringing about Sidney Crosby being “washed up,” then their 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks tonight at the SAP Center would not even seem plausible.

But the Penguins prevailed. They spent a good deal of the start of the year out of a playoff position, shooting up the Eastern Conference standings around the time the Devils began to drop down, and are now champions.

Brian Dumoulin got the Pens on the board 8:16 into game six, taking a 1-0 lead.  Logan Couture tied things up 6:27 into the second period, but Pittsburgh would strike just 1:19 later when Kris Letang scored the eventual game winner for the Pens. Patric Hornqvist added an empty net goal late in the third to ice the game for the Penguins.

The championship is the fourth in the history of the Penguins and their first since 2009 when they defeated the Detroit Red Wings.

This year’s Cup Final eerily mirrored Pete DeBoer’s last trip to the Finals, which was with the Devils in 2012. DeBoer’s teams fell behind early both times (two games to none), made a series of it, then ultimately fell in six games. The games were all pretty close for the most part, as well, both in 2012 and 2016.

And like the 2012 Kings, the 2016 Penguins rode a hot goalie through the playoffs. Matt Murray was a relatively unknown commodity before he burst on the scene and now the rookie, who played only 13 games in the regular season, has helped get the Penguins the 16 wins necessary to win the Stanley Cup.

The Conn Smythe Trophy, given to the playoff MVP, went to Sidney Crosby. Again, this is an amazing turnaround considering what some fans (and even some analysts) were muttering amongst themselves early in the season. But Crosby got the best revenge of all on everyone by winning.

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins on a job well done in 2016. Next up, the Draft and then, before we know it, the World Cup of Hockey in September and the 2016-17 hockey season will be here.

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Devils Deal Black, Thompson to Florida for Savard

According to the Devils’ official website, they have dealt forwards Graham Black and Paul Thompson to the Florida Panthers for forward Marc Savard and the Panthers’ second round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

The announcement was made yesterday by Executive Vice President/General Manager Ray Shero.

While Black and Thompson spent most of the 2015-16 season with the Albany Devils of the AHL, aside from Thompson’s three games with the New Jersey Devils back in January. In Thompson’s three NHL games, he recorded two penalty minutes and had three shots on goal.

Savard has not played since 2010-11 because of injury. The 38 year-old native of Ottawa was drafted in 1995 by the Rangers. He has played for New York, Calgary, the Atlanta Thrashers and the Bruins over his 13-year career.

In 807 regular season NHL games, Savard has 207 goals, 499 assists for 706 points. He has 737 penalty minutes. In 25 playoff games, he has eight goals and 14 assists for 22 points. He also has 22 penalty minutes.

He was with the Bruins in 2011, but did not participate in their Stanley Cup run due to injury. He only played in 25 regular season games with Boston that year.

This seems like a little bit of a lateral move on the Devils’ part, aside from the acquisition of the draft pick, which is always good to stockpile.