Stanly Cup = Simple Math

Some people were shocked that the Pittsburgh Penguins came back to win the Stanley Cup during Friday night's NHL final.

I was not one of them.

Granted, they came off a 5-0 loss in Game 5 and barely survived Game 6, with an overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings.

The win sent them back to the Motor City for the Stanley Cup Final. No home turf advantage, no nothing. The odds were against them.

They were +175, actually.

I really, really wanted to lose my Vegas gambling virginity to this match-up. I knew Sid and the rest of his Pens would take it.

Sadly, I got stuck at the office and didn't get over to a Sports Book before face-off.

I sure wish I had:

A $10 bet would've paied $27.50; A $50 bet (which was what I was thinking of doing -- either that or a solid hundo, depending on my mood at the gate) paid out $137.50; and, had I put a Benjamin on the Pens, I would've walked away with $275.

Dammit!

I don't know how anyone got things wrong. Simply looking at the number of Canadians on each team was a clear indication of who would emerge victorious.

Forget the stats, odds, and other wishy-washy mumbo-jumbo: The Wings had nine Canadians on their roster while the Pens had 15.

Read: No brainer.

Detroit's Canuck roster quotient included Kris Draper and fellow former Winnipeggers Darren Helm and Derek Meech.

Pittsburgh's Great White Northerners included the team capitan/boy genius otherwise known as Sidney Crosby (dead giveaway that they'd win, helloooo!) and Jordan Staal.

Both teams' goalies were Canadian: The Pens had Marc-Andre Fleury and the Wings had Chris Osgood.

The difference, here, was Fleury was awesome and Ogood, while decent, was left defenseless and didn't stand a chance.

He was also Quebecois, which, generally speaking, settles the coin-toss of which Canadian (er, Canadien) player is better, the Anglo or the Frenchie.

I really, really wish I made it to GVR's Sports Book before the game started. Damn it anyway.

Despite my missed chance at a handsome monetary gain, the Pens' victory was a sweet one.

I an hard-pressed to convey how happy I was to see the Wings lose.

I mean, the Wings are awful. Like, the worst team ever in the history of hockey.

OK, I might be *slightly* biased, given my history as a Winnipeg Jets fan and the fact that the Jets lost out to the Wings in first round playoff action on an annual basis... and that the last game at the Winnipeg was against the Wings and, yes, the Jets didn't win that night.

I also *might* still have my ticket stub from that game. Not that I'm holding onto the past or anything. Whatever. It's just an honest coincidence, really...