Well, they did it. Even after losing what Bill Simmons would describe as a "stomach-punch game" in game five of the Stanley Cup finals, the Detroit Red Wings managed to win game six on the road in Pittsburgh and claim their first cup since 2002. I couldn't be happier. Particularly impressive was that the road win came after their brutal defeat in game five at home (see posting below), after the Wings had been 35 seconds away from capturing the cup in Detroit. You really have to hand it to the Wings' experience. A younger team might have cracked after that bummer of a game five, which Detroit lost in the third overtime. And the final two minutes of game six were almost unbearable to watch, especially after Jiri Hudler's penalty with 1:47 to go. The final Crosby to Hossa shot on Osgood in the closing seconds reminded me a little of the Tennessee Titans losing to St. Louis in Super Bowl XXXIV when Kevin Dyson was tackled at the one-yard line. Close, but we got out of it!

Osgood came through when it mattered

Games five and six were two of the best hockey games I'd seen in a long time. Indeed the first overtime period of game five and the third period of game six were probably the two most competetive and exciting periods I've watched since college (which isn't saying much, because I didn't watch a lot of hockey when I was living in Turkey—and since I've been back in the US the NHL has mostly been on cable channels I don't get). Anyway, it seemed clear that the teams were quite evenly matched, and for a lot of the time they raised one another's performance—a really nice change from watching the Pistons!

Speaking of the Pistons, there's all sorts of talk in the Detroit media about who among the starters will be traded (see here and here). Rasheed and Chauncey are the two most frequently mentioned. Even though Rasheed is my favorite player, I think it's time to bring things to an end with him. The Pistons don't need a seven-foot jump shooter. We need a hungry, semi-veteran power forward or center who is willing to bang bodies without being too much of a drop-off from Rasheed's defense. But you don't replace somebody with nobody. There's no point in trading Rasheed unless it's actually going to make the Pistons better.

I think the Pistons should hold off on trading Chauncey until the second half of next season. As good as Rodney Stuckey looked at times in the playoffs, that's not much to serve as a basis for trading away Chuncey Billups. While Stuck has often been impressive offensively, I'm not sure I trust him to run the offense yet. Lindsay Hunter as player/coach and Rockin' Rodney are not, I think, capable of running things. Stuckey should get another half-season of tutelage, then perhaps the Pistons could try to deal Chauncey.

The one player who shouldn't be traded is Tayshaun Prince. Prince is a "glue guy," someone who helps the team in a lot of intangible ways. He's the one player remaining who, in my opinion, best exemplifies the "spirit of 2004." Like Joe D. was for the Bad Boys, Prince is the one player I'd like to see stay around after the team is broken up to teach incomers what it means to be a Piston.

Depending on what we get in return, Rip Hamilton might be expendable. Same for Antonio McDyess, although it would be a real shame to see him go. Poor Dice—he might have been better off if he'd ditched Detroit after last season to sign with Cleveland. But hopefully, Joe D. will spend his assets wisely. There's no need to blow up the core, but I do think that by the end of next season forty-percent of the starting lineup should be different.