2008 Stanley Cup Champions - Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings are the 2008 Stanley Cup Champions after dispatching the Pittsburgh Penguins last night in a very exciting game. Not as exciting as Monday Night's game when the Red Wings let the game slip away with just 34 seconds to go and then lost in the 3rd overtime to the Penguins.

The Monday Night game was one of the most exciting games I can remember as a Red Wing fan. To be down 2 to 0 and then come back and take the lead, only to lose it with 34 seconds left in the game and then go to the 3rd overtime and lose on a powerplay was almost too much to take.

This is the 4th Stanley cup in the last 11 years and is as close to a dynasty as you can get anymore in sports. There were 4 Redwings that have been around for all 4 Stanely Cups and several have been here for 3 of them. This team has a nice mix of young and old with the veteran players making up a very solid part of the team and are able to school the youngsters on how the game is played.

The first Stanley Cups were won when the Red Wings had a several Soviet Players known as the Russian five. This team is totally retooled and there is just one Russian, Pavel Datsyuk and 8 Swedes and at times there have been five Swedes on the ice at a time and have been dubbed the Swedish Five. The Red Wings have been able to combine the best elements of North American Hockey with European Hockey and have melded their game to new heights and the rest of the NHL is playing catch up.