RICHMOND, Va. — While it’s a bit like trying to figure out which of your children you like the best, I must confess that, of all the Penguins’ Stanley Cup titles, 2009 might be my favorite (though I concede it would no doubt be 1991 had I been a more dedicated fan in those days and not simply following fuzzy radio broadcasts and box scores).
That season had everything. And really, it was more than a season’s worth of drama, as the results of the 2008 playoffs so informed that entire 2008-09 campaign of ups and downs, free agent betrayals, trade deadline acquisitions, coaching changes and a rematch with the Cup on the line. You could argue that it’s the only Final that the Penguins perhaps shouldn’t have won, and that defiance of the odds just made it all the sweeter. I don’t know that I ever exhaled as powerfully, or enjoyed a victory as much, as I did on this night back in 2009.
Another perhaps unpopular opinion: though Mike Lange’s “Lord Stanley, Lord Stanley, give me the brandy” line is iconic in Penguins lore, I’m partial to his “Lord Stanley, scratch their names on your fabled Cup!” call. They’re both fantastic and kinda weird, as if you’d expect anything else from the Hall of Famer, and each gets bonus points for only being uttered that one single time, unlike “Elvis has just left the building”, “Get in the fast lane, Grandma!”and “Call your ma, call your pa…” in 1991, 2016 and 2017, respectively. I’d love to hear which one is your favorite, so let me know in the comments!
ROB ULLMAN / DKPS
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