Students celebrate Stanley Cup victory
Moments after the game clock at Pittsburgh’s Mellon Arena struck zero, jubilant screams vibrated across Abbot Road.
The Detroit Red Wings had just defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2, to capture their fourth Stanley Cup in 11 years and MSU students were ready to party.
“I thought it was really exciting at the end,” said Jamie Iden, an MSU education graduate. “I was so happy Detroit won. I don’t even really like hockey but it was awesome.”
The game came down to the final seconds, as the Wings almost fell to the same disappointing fate as they did in their Game Five loss to the pesky Penguins.
Trailing 3-1 with 1:27 left, Pittsburgh cut their deficit in half on a power-play when forward Marian Hossa deflected a shot past Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood.
Nerves tensed on the Red Wings bench as time expired when Hossa nearly snuck what would have been a game-tying puck past Osgood’s left pad, but his last-ditch effort failed, and the Wings cleared the bench to rejoice behind Osgood.
Many MSU students deemed the Wings victory worthy of celebration despite having early classes or work on Thursday.
“Unfortunately, I have to go to work and class tomorrow,” said Dan Papineau, a political science senior. “But I just had to run to the store and get a six-pack.”
Bars across the city were packed, providing great environments for Wings fans to experience the Stanley Cup-clinching victory together.
“The thing that I love about hockey is that it’s fast paced and it was great to watch it at the bar,” said MSU graduate Anthony Rush, who watched the game at Harpers, 131 Albert Ave. “It was such an unbelievable game.”
MSU student Jenny Staton said she couldn’t be happier the cup is back where it belongs –- in Hockeytown.
“It’s great to have the cup back in Detroit,” the interdisciplinary studies senior said. “It’s nice to see a team that has both the old-timers and newcomers win it all.
“I think the whole Detroit team earned their ‘wings’ tonight.”
Published on Thursday, June 5, 2008
Comments
Bleed Green
06/05/08 @ 12:57am
GO WINGS!! Woohoo!!!
JR
06/05/08 @ 12:58pm
WE GOT STANLEY!
common sense
06/05/08 @ 3:00pm
That’s sad, more people care about a stupid pro cup than MSU’s NC last year.
intuition
06/05/08 @ 9:09pm
ummm, tons of people here grew up on our great professional hockey team. state won the national championship… wow they beat 10 teams. thats some accomplishment. they dont fight, they hit like fruits, they wear face masks, it’s nothing special. plus the nhl’ers in the playoffs play with intensity, you don’t need college hockey. this is a redwings dynasty and this is hockeytown
Jon
06/08/08 @ 11:38pm
Spartan sports rock, especially hockey. We have a storied program here in East Lansing that produces great players, as recently seen by many players opting out for professional contracts around the world. We need to support our athletes and the future they are destined for, the NHL. You cannot erase any kind of developmental levels (NCAA) with where the great NHL players are at now. There are multiple college hockey graduates who are wearing wings jerseys right now, one Abdelkader and Chelios (Wisconsin), so you must respect what kind of players college produces. There may not be as many fights or missing teeth but the idea and passion is still there and the support in East Lansing is amazing for these great athletes. Please everyone support our Spartan hockey players and those who they aspire to be, especially the Red Wings.