By Bob Smizik

There is nothing in sports -- nothing -- that can match the hoisting of the Stanley Cup. So there were the Penguins in this incredible, almost unimaginable season out there on the ice of Joe Louis Arena raising the most cherished trophy in all of team sports after winning Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final over the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1. First Sidney Crosby -- the youngest captain ever to do so -- holding that fabled jug over his head; then Bill Guerin, then Sergei Gonchar . . . and, finally, the finest moment of it all -- Mario Lemieux. The torch has been passed. From Lemieux, the heart and soul of this franchise, to a new generation of wondrous talent. Let the dynasty talk begin. And, yes, a dynasty is in the offing. Jordan Staal, 20; Sidney Crosby, 21; Evgeni Malkin -- the Conn Smythe Trophy winner -- 22; Marc-Andre Fleury 24. There will be more Cups for this group. Let’s not forget Dan Bylsma, 38, the coach who brought it about, and Ray Shero, 46, the general manager who put it all together. And, finally, a special nod to Marian Hossa, 30, the man who made it possible. Bear with me on this one.

Hossa is the man who turned his back on a lucrative contract offer from the Penguins -- seven years $49 million -- after last season to sign with the Red Wings for one year $7.4 million. It was fiscal idiocy but Hossa had his reasons. The Red Wings, he believed, gave him the best chance to win the Cup. Forget for a second that Hossa skated off the ice last night not just a post-season flop and a bit of a fool but rather as the ignition switch on this fabulous turn of events. If Hossa signed with the Penguins, not only would the franchise not have had the salary cap room to sign other important players but -- and as much as his legion of detractors won’t like this -- the Penguins are a better regular-season team with him. Face it, Hossa is a terrific player -- in the regular season -- and there is little doubt the Penguins would not have been floundering as there were in mid February if he were on the team. Which means Shero would not have pulled the trigger and fired coach Michel Therrien and replaced him with Bylsma. And if that didn’t happen this team never would have got to Detroit. The change of coaches is what brought about this remarkable turnaround -- from 10^th place in the Eastern Conference to Stanley Cup champion -- and Hossa made that possible. This victory means so much. It shuts up -- once and for all -- the ridiculous critics of Fleury, who put the absurd demand of perfection on him. Fleury -- and his teammates -- held the mighty Red Wings to a total of two goals in the final two games. If that were not enough, he snuffed out two Detroit chances -- one that had the look of a game-tying goal -- in the final seconds. Fleury didn’t win the Conn Smythe, but if he had no one could have argued. Max Talbot didn’t win it either, but he carved his name in Penguins history in such a way that it never will be forgotten. Talbot scored both goals for the Penguins. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Most remarkably, the Penguins won without a point from Crosby, who was injured in the second period and took only one more shift after that. He will have his critics -- the same loudmouths who rejoiced in finding fault with Fleury -- but Detroit coach Mike Babcock said it best about Crosby when -- in that other great hockey tradition, the post-game handshake -- he congratulated the captain on his leadership. He’s only 21, a kid, but he sets the tone for what is the best hockey team in the world. If he doesn’t score a point, his contributions are immense. The Penguins lost the first two games of this best-of-seven series, which meant they had to do the impossible and beat the great Red Wings four out of five. And that’s what they did. It was the third Stanley Cup for the franchise, and with all respect to Lemieux and that legendary list of Hall of Famers who were his teammates in 1991 and 1992, this was the best of the bunch. This one was unexpected, almost totally, and oh, so sweet.