|
The Penguins, hockey and more, by the PG's Seth Rorabaugh. |

If you like chippiness, this Stanley Cup Final has been up your alley.
They're not quite on pace to set the all-time record for penalty minutes in a Stanley Cup final (The Canadiens and Flames managed to rack up a combined 511 penalty minutes in just five games during the 1987 Final), but the Bruins and Canucks are on track to set a new standard in the 30-team NHL.
For teams which are hardly rivals in any sense, the level of combativeness in this series has been extremely surprising, especially since the teams only meet once a season usually. Then again, any time you throw players such as Maxime Lapierre, Brad Marchand and Alex Burrows into the same mix, things are bound to get messy.
In just four games, the teams have managed to collect 249 penalty minutes. If you combined the 13 games which composed the 2010 and 2009 Stanley Cup Finals, you get the same exact number.
4 = 249.
7 + 6 = 249.
Some interesting math huh?
Here are the combined penalty minute totals for the past 10 Stanley Cup Finals, all since the league expanded to 30 teams:
| Year | Team (PIMs) |
Team (PIMs) |
Games | Total PIMs |
| 2011 | Bruins (133) | Canucks (116) | 4 | 249 |
| 2010 | Blackhawks (61) | Flyers (46) | 6 | 107 |
| 2009 | Red Wings (47) | Penguins (95) | 7 | 142 |
| 2008 | Red Wings (74) | Penguins (94) | 6 | 168 |
| 2007 | Ducks (64) | Senators (54) | 5 | 118 |
| 2006 | Hurricanes (98) | Oilers (105) | 7 | 203 |
| 2004 | Flames (139) | Lightning (121) | 7 | 260 |
| 2003 | Mighty Ducks (52) | Devils (46) | 7 | 98 |
| 2002 | Hurricanes (62) | Red Wings (60) | 5 | 122 |
| 2001 | Devils (115) | Avalanche (87) | 7 | 202 |
(Photo: Elsa/Getty Images)

| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
They were probably still sore about the 2000+ PIM in '08. How did the Pens lose that one? No wonder everyone hated Mike Yeo.