DETROIT - A few seasons ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins were on the verge of being sold and possibly moved out of town.

With little success and an aging arena, the Penguins needed Lady Luck on their side and she pitched in in a huge way.

The additions of Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal through the NHL Entry Draft gave the Penguins new life. The team quickly began regaining its local fan support, the league was abuzz over Pittsburgh’s young studs and the opposition was starting to worry.

Many hockey pundits expected the Penguins to have a relatively successful season. With Crosby as captain, the team was expected to compete for the Atlantic crown, but it’s hard to reflect back and honestly believe this year’s Penguins’ squad had enough talent to compete for hockey’s ultimate prize.

The Penguins captured their first division title since the 1997-98 season. After making quick work of the Ottawa Senators in the first-round of the playoffs, the Penguins continued to dominate against the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers, beating both clubs in five games, respectively.

As the Penguins reflected on a job well done, they were less than 24-hours away from finding out which team they could potentially be playing.

The Detroit Red Wings, who had similar ease in the Western Conference, closed the door on the Dallas Stars and beat them, en route to a Stanley Cup finals match up against the aforementioned Penguins.

If sports history is any indication of the things to come, the Stanley Cup finals between the Penguins and Red Wings is going to be one for the books.

Both teams are well equipped at both ends of the rink; they’re fast, possess stellar goaltending, and have a dangerous offensive attack.

While this marks the first playoff series between the Penguins and Wings in Pittsburgh’s 41-year history, the two cities have faced off once before, albeit in baseball.

The 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Detroit Tigers in seven games to capture the World Series title, and there’s strong belief this year’s Cup finals could go the distance.

But, of course, only one team will come out on top — and there’s a good chance history will, sort of, repeat itself.

“I think, Game 1, everyone's going to be excited,” said Penguins forward Ryan Malone. “And it's what you play hockey for is to put yourself in this situation.

“I think everyone dreamt about it as a hockey player, to get a chance now to battle for the best prize there is out there. We’re all excited to get going.”

The Penguins last visited the finals in 1992, when they captured their second-consecutive championship, led by Mario Lemieux, beating the Chicago Blackhawks in four straight games.

With a new generation of Penguins leading the charge, Crosby and Co. will try to net the hat trick.

Sid the Kid, who ranked second on the Penguins in scoring with 72 points (24 goals, 48 assists) in 53 games this season, enters the Stanley Cup finals with a share of the playoff scoring lead with four goals and 17 assists 14 games. He’s trying to become the youngest player in NHL history to captain his team to the Stanley Cup (he'll turn 12 n August)

“We're lucky to have some mix of guys with veterans and younger guys that have really shown they can play even early on in their careers,” Crosby said. “Having that mix has helped us. And I think we've set some high standards for ourselves.”

With Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Malone and Marian Hossa leading the offensive attack, Pittsburgh’s defensive core has been very dangerous and often overlooked.

Of the Penguins’ six defensemen, Brooks Orpik possesses the lowest plus-minus rating with a plus-2. Collectively, the team’s blueline is a plus-34 and they’ll need to be equally solid against Detroit’s potent offense.

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