If you've been following this blog during the NHL playoffs, you'll have noticed I'm not impressed with the home ice advantage gained during the regular season. I'm not especially up on numbers and statistics but let's take a look:
There were a total of 80 matches played in 14 match series in the three playoff rounds leading up to the final. Of these matches, only 5 were 7th match deciders and the home team came out on top in only two of them. Round two was the closest with three of the four series going to a 7th match, with home ice being decisive in only one of them. Now we've come to the final, perhaps it's all changed. After the weekend's matches, Detroit Redwings will take a two match advantage with them when they now travel to Pittsburgh for the next two matches starting tomorrow night. 3-1, 3-1 to Detroit sounds to me like half a tennis match but in hockey, it's quite a convincing couple of matches. Pittsburgh has certainly an uphill struggle ahead of them. Home ice was quite decisive in the first match on Saturday night in the old Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The first two goals followed after the puck bounced peculiarly off the end boards and in front of the goal. In the ensuing melee, it was Wings players that first got hold of the puck to send it into the back of the net behind a surprised Fleury.
In getting to the final, Penguins' coach Dan Bylsma became only the fourth rookie coach to reach the final after being given the job midway through the season. He went 18-3-4 in the latter stages of the regular season on his way to the Stanley Cup Final and will be only the second to win it if he succeeds. If he does, he will be the fourteenth rookie coach overall in history to do it.
All the best.
