Article published May 23, 2008
STANLEY CUP FINALS
Vitucci expects an even series
Matchup excites Walleye coach
By ZACH SILKA
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
In the midst of moving into a new house in the area and managing duties with the Toledo Walleye hockey club, Nick Vitucci, of course, has still found time to follow the NHL playoffs closely.
Vitucci, who will coach the Walleye when the puck drops in the fall of 2009 at the new downtown sports arena, is just like every other hockey fan drooling over the Stanley Cup final matchup between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Game 1 of the series takes place tomorrow at 8 at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena.
"It's going to be a great final," Vitucci said. "I can't wait for it.
"There are a lot of similarities between the two - great offense, solid defensively, great puck movement by the
defensemen to get the forwards the puck, solid goaltending. Overall, both are deep, hard-working hockey teams."
Much has been made of the series being a battle of old versus young, but Vitucci doesn't necessarily see it that way."Pittsburgh is fairly young, and I think I heard the other day that the average age [between the two teams] is like two years different, which isn't a big, big deal," Vitucci said.
"I don't think [experience] hurts you by any means, but I don't think it's a deciding factor either. For Pittsburgh to get this far, they've grown a lot of whiskers. Maybe it's a slight edge to Detroit, but I don't think it's going to be the difference in the series."
The Penguins do bring with them a wealth of star power in Sidney Crosby, the new face of hockey and so-called heir apparent to Wayne Gretzky.
Crosby is tied with Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg for the playoff lead in scoring with 21 points, including a league-leading 17 assists.
"He's just awesome," Vitucci said of Crosby. "I don't know if he's the next [Gretzky]. It's tough to compare different eras of players. The game was different.
"[But] what's so amazing about Sidney Crosby is his work ethic. Regardless if he's getting points on the board, he's the hardest-working guy on the ice every time he's out there. To have your superstar and one of the top players in the league never take a night off, never take a shift off I think does great things for the NHL altogether, not just for the Pittsburgh Penguins."
Crosby will be facing arguably his stiffest test yet in the opposing goal in Chris Osgood, who leads the NHL with a 1.60 goals-against average in the playoffs.
Osgood also became Detroit's leader in all-time postseason victories in the decisive Game 6 of the Western Conference finals against the Dallas Stars with his 48th career win, passing Hall of Fame goaltender Terry Sawchuk.
"Osgood has just plugged along and played hard when he had to or whenever he was needed to," said Vitucci, himself a former goaltender with the Toledo Storm.
"He's gained the confidence of everybody that he's their go-to guy right now."
Vitucci also said Osgood's resurgence is a testament to general manager Ken Holland and the rest of the front office.
"Detroit has found a way over the last 10 years to keep a lot of people happy, in a way that players want to play for that organization," Vitucci said. "They've been a first-class organization, [and] it's the reason why Chris Osgood wanted to come back desperately to the Red Wings there a few years ago."
Vitucci is just beginning to take on a similar role in Toledo. He's been busy scouting talent and building a database of players he'd like to recruit to join the Walleye.
"I saw almost 90 games this year at the college, junior, and pro level, and I'll continue to do that next year," Vitucci said. "I'm just trying to keep the word out that we are coming back and trying to promote Walleye hockey as best as I can."
FRANZEN DOUBTFUL: Holland addressed "The Mule situation" in a teleconference, calling Red Wings forward Johan Franzen "doubtful" for Game 1.
Frazen has not played since Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the Stars due to concussion-like symptoms.
"We are optimistic he's going to play sometime in this series," Holland said. "He's been cleared to start practicing [today] with our team. We're going to see how it goes each day."
Contact Zach Silka at: zsilka@theblade.com.
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