2009 Stanley Cup Final
| 2009 Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Location(s) | Detroit: Joe Louis Arena (1,2,5,7) Pittsburgh: Mellon Arena (3,4,6) |
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| Coaches | Pittsburgh: Dan Bylsma Detroit: Mike Babcock |
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| Captains | Pittsburgh: Sidney Crosby Detroit: Nicklas Lidstrom |
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| National anthems | Pittsburgh: Jeff Jimerson Detroit: Karen Newman |
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| Referees |
Paul Devorski (1,3,5,7) Dennis LaRue (1,3,5) Bill McCreary (2,4,6,7) Marc Joannette (2,4,6) |
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| Dates | May 30 – June 12 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Evgeni Malkin (Penguins) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Max Talbot (10:07, second, G7) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Networks | NBC, Versus, CBC, RDS, ESPN America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | (NBC/Versus) Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk (CBC) Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson (RDS) Pierre Houde, Benoit Brunet (NHL International) Dave Strader, Joe Micheletti |
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The 2009 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2008–09 season, and the culmination of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins and the Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings. It was Detroit's 24th appearance in the Final and Pittsburgh's fourth appearance in the Final. This was a rematch of the 2008 Final where Detroit had defeated Pittsburgh in six games. This time, Pittsburgh defeated Detroit four games to three to win their third Stanley Cup in franchise history. Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin would win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the 2009 playoffs, becoming the first Russian-born player to win the trophy.
The Pittsburgh Penguins were the reigning Eastern Conference Champions. After playing 57 games of the 2008–09 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins had a record of 27–25–5 and were five points out of playoff position. The organization fired head coach Michel Therrien and replaced him with Dan Bylsma, head coach of the organization's American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre. Under Bylsma, the team went 18–3–4, including 10–1–2 in March, losing one home game. Before the trade deadline the Penguins acquired Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin from the Anaheim Ducks and the New York Islanders respectively.
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