This Week in Sports :: June 2-6, 2008

Jun 05, 2008

Detroit Rock City! The Red Wings win the Stanley Cup and an old NBA Finals rivalry is rekindled. See what else happened this week!

Red Wings Win the Cup

The Pittsburgh Penguins put up a decent fight, but in the end the Detroit Red Wings were clearly the better team. On Thursday, the Red Wings defeated the Penguins 3-2, closing out the series in six games en route to winning the Stanley Cup. The Wings had the best regular season record in hockey with 54 wins. They also went 16-6 throughout the playoffs. This victory marks Detroit's 11th Stanley Cup in the history of the franchise. This is also their fourth title in 11 years. Henrick Zetterberg scored the Stanley Cup winning goal and was also named the MVP of the playoffs. No question, the Wings will be favored to repeat as champions next year!

Classic NBA Rivalry Revived

The NBA's most storied rivalry is back! In the 1980s, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers dominated the decade winning eight titles between them. This time around the Lakers have Kobe Bryant and Pao Gasol instead of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. The Celtics have the big three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen instead of Larry Bird, Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale. Both teams are almost equal as far as talent goes and this series is expected to go six or seven games. The Celtics have the early advantage as they took Game 1 on Thursday 99-88 in Boston. The two teams meet again in Boston for Game 2 on Sunday night.

French Open Update

Surprise, surprise, Rafael Nadal once again reaches the French Open Final! After defeating third seeded Novak Djokovic, Nadal is now one win away from becoming the first player since Bjorn Borg in 1981 to win four straight French Open's. Nadal will face the winner between Frenchman Gael Monfils and his arch nemesis Roger Federer on Sunday. On the women's side, Ana Ivanovic and Dinara Safina will meet in the Final on Saturday. Safina, who has become the darling of the tournament has knocked off three top 10 opponents en route to the French Open Final. This will be the first French Open title for either Dinara Safina and Ana Ivanovic.

Notes Around the Sports World

On Sunday, a bike race in Monterrey, Mexico turned tragic as a drunk driver fell asleep at the wheel before plowing a group of cyclists. One person died while another 10 were injured.

Less than a week after losing in the second round of the NBA playoffs, the Detroit Pistons fired head coach Flip Saunders on Wednesday. In his three seasons with the Pistons, Saunders averaged nearly 59 victories a year and led them to the NBA Finals in 2005.

Watch out for the Chicago Cubs! The Cubbies have won 10 of their last 11 games! They hold the best record in the National League at 39-22.

Related Stories:

This Week in Sports :: May 26-30, 2008

This Week in Sports :: May 19-23, 2008

This Week in Sports :: May 13-17, 2008