The Stanley Cup is Back in the Steel City

The Penguins did what no other team has done from any of the four major sports since 1979 on Friday night. Win a Game 7 on the road to take a championship.

So many people counted the Penguins out going into the series and most certainly did after that went down 2-0 heading back to Pittsburgh. Even ESPN's hockey analyst Barry Melrose.

This series proved that anything can happen if you make it to Game 7. The Penguins protected their home-ice throughout the series and laid it all out on the line during the final game.

Pittsburgh has now won three Stanley Cup titles, which is pretty impressive in itself. They won their other two in 1991 and 1992 behind Mario Lemieux.

The NHL has to be happy with getting a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup finals. The Red Wings and the Penguins now have an undeniable rivalry.

Evgeni Malkin, not Sidney Crosby, won the postseason MVP award. Crosby only had an ordinary series and I think Malkin definitely deserved the MVP honors. Malkin had 36 points in the postseason, including eight in the Stanley Cup finals.

Malkin may have won the postseason MVP, but my Game 7 MVP goes to Marc-Andre Fleury. This guy made pressure save after pressure save in the closing minutes of Friday night's game to secure the win.

The biggest save of them all came with just one second left as he snatched the point-blank shot away from veteran Nicklas Lidstrom. It's a good thing Fleury made that save, because I don't know how much gas Pittsburgh would have had left to close win the game in overtime. The momentum would've shifted completely over to Detroit.

There's no reason for me to think that these two teams won't meet again in the Stanley Cup finals. We could see a remake of the NBA's Lakers-Celtics rivalry if this pattern continues within the next couple of seasons.