Do players think about the Cup before they have it?

The Detroit Red Wings are again heading into game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals with the chance to win their second straight championship. Last year they were coming in after losing to the Pens in triple overtime. This year they enter game 6 off of a 5-0 win where Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled after giving up all 5 goals.

Coach Mike Babcock remembers last year's game 5 loss at home. "You're 32 seconds away from winning. I can remember thinking that for a second." He continued, "But it's like anything. You got up the next day and you refocused. I think that is what happens to teams." Refocus is what this year's team will do. They've said all along, they don't get too high with a win, or too low with a loss.

Is Detroit feeling confident coming into this one? Of course they are confident, they are the defending champs. Are they counting their rings before they have yet another one, no way!

When asked a question about how he feels about "the night before the Cup," Babcock said "you say the night before the Cup, we don't think like that. We don't even say that."

Babcock has said from the first day he arrived in Detroit, we take one game at a time and don't take anything for granted. "We're going to focus on the process. We're going to get prepared."
He went on to compare his job to what reporters and fans do for a living.

"We're going to go out for a meal. We're going to go to bed. No different than your job. It's just routine.

Captain Nick Lidstrom was asked what winning a fifth Stanley Cup would mean. "We know as a team we aren't there yet. We know we need another win to get to where we're going."

He refused to answer a question about who he'll hand the Cup to if they win. "Right now we're so focused on getting another win, that all of that will just handle itself." The consummate professional.

Four-time Cup winner Kris Draper talks about the make-up of this team. "There's a lot of character, a lot of leadership in our dressing room." Nobody has really gotten ahead of themselves." This team takes nothing for granted.

"It's that special." Draper also went on to say "It's a lot of hard work, and we're proud of where we are right now. But with that said, we've yet to accomplish anything."

Grounded is a word that can be used to describe this team. That comes from the experience and leadership is has among its players. They've been through it all, both good and bad.

"The fourth one is always the toughest one to win," Draper said. He's right, and more importantly, his teammates know it. Despite the four Stanley Cups, they know nothing is a given.

Momentum

The Stanley Cup Finals couldn't be any closer heading into game 5 with the Wings and Pens tied at 2. Detroit won the first two at home they then went to Mellon and Pittsburgh held serve. Sounds like what should happen, right? That is why they play the entire regular season, to get home ice advantage. But, it was how the Pens won those two games that has Wings' fans concerned. The Pens have been better than the Wings for most of these playoffs and could easily have a 3-1 lead. Chris Osgood has saved the Wings to this point, but with the return of Pavel Datsyuk, maybe Marian Hossa can make it on the score sheet. All of this led me to wonder, can Pittsburgh carry momentum from game 4 into Detroit for game 5?

I believe you can have momentum in a game, but once that game is over, so is the momentum. Pittsburgh gave it all they had in game 4, and is showed. In a 5:37 span, the Pens went from trailing 2-1 to leading 4-1. Jordan Staal with a short-handed goal started off a period of time where the Wings looked like the more inexperienced team. That goal changed the momentum in the game, for sure. The Wings had taken the crowd out of the game and you could hear a pin drop in Mellon Arena. After the goal, the place was loud and the fans on their feet. It stayed that way for the rest of those five plus minutes. The Penguins had momentum. They carried that momentum for the rest of the game. The Wings looked tired...they couldn't keep up, make smart passes, and they continued to give the puck away. Detroit with four power play chances, but couldn't convert on any. The game ended 4-2 Pens, series tied at 2. But, today is a different day.

The Wings believe they have home ice advantage for a reason. It is now a best of 3 with Joe Louis Arena hosting 2 of the 3. Game 4 is long gone from the minds of Wings' players. It is a new game now. With it being a new game and a new venue, any momentum that the Pens had in game 4 is gone. That is not to say that in the first 5 minutes of game 5, they could regain that momentum. Or, that the Wings could steal it back at any time.