I know Godard and Bylsma will receive automatic suspensions and fines.  Godard left the players' bench to engage in a fight.  Now Haley left the penalty box 'bench' in a sense -- that where he was officially supposed to be -- and went to engage in another fight.  So he should face at least the same penalty as Godard.  And Capuano should get at least Bylsma's (plus more for allowing Trevor Goonies into the NHL).

Any precedent for this?  Any thoughts?  Agree?

It took about 3 1/2 minutes from the official declaration of goal until the handshake tonight.  Good thing for the Blackhawks that it wasn't the Red Wings they were playing or Lidstrom, et al would have walked off about 2 minutes.

Obviously speaking to the choir here, but interesting to watch the celebration, chaos and how long the other team does in fact have to wait.  I'll tip my hat to the Flyers, they did wait patiently and slowly lined up for the shake.

With the salary cap essentially staying the same, we know where the Penguins sit.  And we have about 6-8 slots on the roster to fill with about #12-14 millions (depending on plans for Tangradi, Lovejoy, Engelland, Letestu).  Obviously not a lot of cash for the number of spots.  So here is what I wondering (actually asking since I am too busy/too lazy to look it up) what is the status of other clubs with regard to players under control and space under the cap.

I know some teams like the Caps, Rangers, Maple Leafs have been discussed in various threads, and they are also trying to fill spots with limited cash.  The interesting issue, are there enough teams to bid for the services of some of the key free agents out there?  After the top tier of FAs, there must be limited funds for the next couple of level.

I'm wondering if this is an opportunity for Shero to bring a FA or two on a relative bargain -- fewer teams may have the space to offer what the player thinks they are worth, and they maybe would accept a lower offer for a couple of years figuring playing with Crosby/Malkin could up the worth in a couple of years when the cap goes up, and more teams will be wiling to spend more.

OK, we've read the major storylines about the Pens and the Cup this year, and I've read a lot about Marian Hossa and how his decision last year affected many things, and how we have him to thank because of the team we assembled due to his absence and the money we had to spend elsewhere.  Well, I've thought about a list of the other people/teams to thank for what has become a memorable ride all the way to the Championship.

1. Thank you San Jose and Todd McLellan -- as a new head coach you picked Todd Richards as an asst. coach, leaving the WBS Baby Pens to hire some guy named Bylsma, who was just so happy to get a real head coaching gig.  Well, Todd Richards may have had a similar influence on this team, and maybe he does lead them to the Cup (OK who know maybe he would had his Penguins sweep the Red Wings) and we'll never know, but it doesn't matter, because Dan Bylsma did what most of us thought was unthinkable.

2. Thank you Francois Beauchemin -- without you being injured, we never swap Whitney for Kunitz.  While Kuni didn't produce the offense that we hoped for, I've been replaying the playoff games from this year, and he had some monstruous hits, some deft passes and played reliable (most of the time) in his own zone.

3. Thank you Miro Satan -- your willingness to accept a demotion to allow us to get Bill Guerin under the cap demonstrated your unselfishness and the general 'team' concept/goal that makes a champion.  You were rewarded, and your 'out of the penalty box breakaway' in game 1 against Carolina set a tone for that series that the 'Canes never really recovered from.

4. Thank you David Koci -- well not really, but without a hit on 'Sarge' in the preseason, we have Gonchar to start the season, we play better and don' t have the trades or coaching change.  Also the team learned to play without our best D-man, which helps Letang and Eaton step up their role, and benefits the team when they are without 'Sarge' in the Capitals series.

5. Thank you Blackhawks -- if you don't waive Craig Adams, we don't claim him.  He was a great penalty killer, took key faceoffs in the defensive zone late in the game, and was another of veterans with Cup experience.

6. And a special Thank to Michel Therrien – while your firing was a catalyst, and the speculation that the team quit on you, the simple truth is that you took a young team and instilled the right work ethic and helped them mature beyond their years.  Unfortunately your ‘college coach’ approach didn’t fly with this ‘experience’ group anymore.  I hope you enjoyed watching your ‘kids’ play their hearts out and get rewarded.

I’m sure I’ve missed some, but this is some of the things that struck me as interesting twists of fate that helped shape the season.