Oh the things you can buy in Moscow...

Sure the Sharks logo looks a little squished, but dude - pure genius to have Ryane Clowe be the final matryoshka.

Three of these players will surely be with us next year - 4 out of 5 wouldn't be bad.

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 I drove to my parents' house in order to carpool to my grandma's, and guess what I find on the counter = this photo of Sandish Ozolinsh, my little brother, and yours truly.  Circa 1992-93.

While this should help my street cred, I have to admit = I have literally zero recollection of this happening.

Neither would Sandis, I imagine...

Can Gary Bettman you believe it? 

The Penguins have tied the series yet again, and the series returns to the Joe Louis Arena for one of the most exciting things in hockey - a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

What could more exciting, you ask?  Game 7 in overtime. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself - the game is Friday, which gives us 72 hours to salivate and battle hypertension while mulling over hypothetical scenarios.

In the comments, please place your final vote BEFORE THE GAME STARTS as to who you think will win the Conn Smythe.  Will it be Evgeni Malkin, win or lose?  One of the Wangs?

And of course, there's our standard poll (sorry to beat this issue to death) =

Yeah, this thread is going up almost 48 hours ahead of time - I'm getting ready to leave on my summer trip, and I don't want to forget about this in the midst of my personal craziness.

Also, this could be the final game of the season.  While I certainly hope that it's not, this could be the last gameday thread until September (preseason).  It's been great chatting with you all, and though I won't be around this summer (unless I log in from Mother Russia), Plank and TCY will undoubtedly have you happy and well fed with Sharks roster shakeup news and discussion. 

I hope this "goodbye for the summer" of sorts is premature (i.e. - GAME 7, PLEASE) - but given how Detroit slaughtered the Penguins in Game 5, I'm beginning to feel pessimism. 

All the same - GO PENS.

Amazingly, the Stanley Cup will not be in the house tonight - and for that, we (except ang6666 who sold her soul to the Winged Wheel) are grateful.

Keys for a Pittsburgh win?  In no particular order = the Penguins need to continue to exploit Detroit's weaknesses with special teams.  Marc-Andre Fleury needs to continue to play like Chris Osgood played in the first two games.  Marian Hossa needs to be reminded of the bad karma, because I guarantee you the thought has crossed his mind since Game 4 ended.  Pittsburgh needs to win one away from home, because if the home team keeps winning, it's Wings in 7.

Game 6 will, of course, be an elimination game, and the Stanley Cup WILL be in the Mellon Arena on Tuesday.  The team that faces elimination will be decided tonight.  GO PENS.

POINTS DURING THE FIRST FOUR GAMES OF THE FINALS

Detroit

• Justin Abdelkader = 2 goals, 0 assists
• Dan Cleary = 0 goals, 0 assists
• Jonathan Ericsson = 1 goal, 0 assists
• Valtteri Filppula = 1 goal, 0 assists
• Johan Franzen = 2 goals, 1 assist
• Darren Helm = 1 goal, 1 assist
• Tomas Holmstrom = 0 goals, 2 assists
• Marian Hossa = 0 goals, 1 assist
• Jiri Hudler = 0 goals, 1 assist
• Niklas Kronwall = 0 goals, 1 assist
• Brett Lebda = 0 goals, 0 assists
• Ville Leino = 0 goals, 2 assists
• Nicklas Lidstrom = 0 goals, 0 assists
• Kirk Maltby = 0 goals, 0 assists
• Brian Rafalski = 0 goals, 2 assists
• Mikael Samuelsson = 0 goals, 0 assists
• Brad Stuart = 2 goals, 0 assists
• Henrik Zetterberg = 1 goal, 3 assists

Pittsburgh

• Craig Adams = 0 goals, 0 assists
• Philippe Boucher = 0 goals, 0 assists
• Matt Cooke = 0 goals, 0 assists
• Sidney Crosby = 1 goal, 2 assists
• Mark Eaton = 0 goals, 1 assist
• Ruslan Fedotenko = 1 goal, 1 assist
• Hal Gill = 0 goals, 0 assists
• Sergei Gonchar = 1 goal, 1 assist
• Bill Guerin = 0 goals, 1 assist
• Tyler Kennedy = 1 goal, 0 assists
• Chris Kunitz = 0 goals, 1 assist
• Kris Letang = 1 goal, 2 assists
• Evgeni Malkin = 2 goals, 5 assists
• Brooks Orpik = 0 goals, 0 assists
• Miroslav Satan = 0 goals, 0 assists
• Rob Scuderi = 0 goals, 0 assists
• Jordan Staal = 1 goal, 1 assist
• Max Talbot = 2 goals, 1 assist

POINTS LEADERS

1. Evgeni Malkin, 7 points
2. Henrik Zetterberg, 4 points
3. Johan Franzen, 3 points
4. Sidney Crosby, 3 points
5. Kris Letang, 3 points
6. Max Talbot, 3 points

Destiny awaits...

via graydarka.com (that's CTGray's artwork, for ya!)

You know what to do.... does Pittsburgh?

Hmmm... I dropped the ball on the fanpost for Game 1.  Much like the Penguins with their power plays...

Game 2 is at 5pm PST.