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Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood will silence his critics once again and lift the Stanley Cup for the fourth time in his career in June, writes contributor Kevin Dupont

That's not to say Lidstrom (16 goals, 59 points) isn't worthy of the Norris. It's just that voters have grown somewhat exhausted of inking in his name, and Green's offensive pop probably will draw the most votes. Just as Hossa picked up some of Zetterberg's points up front, the downsized-and-slick Brian Rafalski (10 goals, 59 points) again eased some of Lidstrom's offensive burdens, and borrowed some of his points.

Front to back among the skaters, there isn't an obvious vulnerability in Detroit's game. The net, though, is an obvious and troublesome question.

As the regular season drew to a close, with the Wings set to defend the Cup, the betting around Detroit was that coach Mike Babcock again would put his trust in Osgood. Such faith last spring turned into a 14-4 record and a league-low 1.55 goals-against mark.

However, Osgood last year also led the league with a 2.09 GAA during the regular season. To see him shave about a half-goal off that during the playoffs, when play is tighter, wasn't a real surprise. This season, Osgood's GAA ballooned by a full goal, to 3.09, and his save percentage was a beer-league-like .887.

Osgood has twice backed the Wings to Cups (in 1998 and ’08) and won another as backup to Mike Vernon (1997), and he is capable of getting on a postseason roll and staying on it. The good news is, down the stretch, he looked much sharper, going 1-0-1 in his final two games with a 1.92 GAA and .931 save percentage. All of which pointed to making it far easier for Babcock to point to Osgood as the starter of the series with the Blue Jackets.

And if not Osgood? Journeyman Ty Conklin is the alternate, and he turned in a solid season. He went 25-11-2, with a 2.51 GAA and a .909 save percentage.

The Wings are all about merit and seniority, though, and that's what pointed toward Osgood. Not to mention that Conklin, age 33, has six minutes of postseason experience. Putting him in there is not really the Red Wing way of doing business. And it's probably not good business at all.

Meanwhile, the bet here is that the Bruins or Caps will make it out of the Eastern Conference to face the Wings in the Cup finals.

The Bruins can't match the Wings for experience up front or in back, and they can't match their scoring skill or defensive efficiency. They do have this year's best goalie in Tim Thomas, which can carry them a very long way.

The Caps, despite scoring in lockstep with the Bruins, did not do nearly as good a job keeping their own net sealed. The Bruins were the stingiest at that, allowing only 196 goals (see: Thomas), while the Caps let in 245. In that sense, the Caps were much like the Wings, successful despite spotty, if not infuriating, goaltending. The Caps will try to get the job done with Jose Theodore their No. 1 stopper, but he is a career 19-26 in the postseason for a very good reason: He's just not very good.

Slideshow   2008 Stanley Cup finals Images from Red Wings-Penguins series more photos

The Bruins swept the Wings in the 1941 finals, with Bobby Bauer potting the Cup winner. The Red Wings swept the '43 finals. Red Wings goalie Johnny Mowers blanked Boston in the last two games.

The Red Wings beat 'em again, I say, but somehow I doubt Osgood throws back-to-back shutouts to clinch it.

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