The season is over. The Penguins are the champions, and Sidney Crosby has held another Cup, and, unfortunately, another Conn Smythe. Phil Kessel and Matt Murray were robbed. Crosby was probably fifth on my list after Kessel, Murray, Letang, and Bonino. Crosby didn’t score a goal in the Finals, for crying out loud.

The Sharks lost this game because of their lack of forechecking. They tallied only 2 shots on goal in the last period, and had none on a crucial power play that could have changed the game.

While this is partly because of the Penguins defense stepping up, as well as their own forecheck being stellar – the way the Penguins play in the opponent’s zone and in the neutral zone made their lack of true defensive depth irrelevant – this falls on the Sharks being simply outmatched.

A while ago, experts were saying that the Penguins or the Capitals, whoever won that series, would be the Stanley Cup Champions. Then the Sharks stepped up against the Predators and the Blues and everyone changed their minds. But they were wrong to do so, clearly, because the Sharks had simply not played a team like the Penguins and out of the gate were out classed and out coached, as Sullivan made the adjustments it seems DeBoer just couldn’t.

The Penguins offense won this series. The model this team has set should be followed, as it has found success of recent. Look at the Blackhawks, the Kings. Both of them, in their cup runs, had four lines with the potential to score, as the Penguins showed. That model should be the mold.

Martin Jones was the only member of the Sharks to truly step up in this series, and while that is partly the fault of the Sharks players, it is also because the Penguins were simply better at every line offensively, and were able to turn their great offense into a decent defense.

This series also shows an unfortunate condition in today’s NHL – despite it’s best intentions, including a firm salary cap, parity does not exist in the NHL. In the last 8 seasons, there has only been 4 winners. In the last 14, the losing team has been different. So it seems anyone can lose the Cup, but only four teams can win it.

The Penguins order of the Cup makes sense, although it should have been Daley-Dupuis-Kessel. Kessel earned this cup, proving everyone in the Toronto media wrong. He’s the feel good story on the Penguins, a genuine personality in the midst of a sea of boring – look at Crosby’s scripted answers right after winning. And it’s for Phil Kessel (Matt Murray, and Mike Sullivan) that I’m happy for the Penguins.