The Red Wings had the jump in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final and with their win, the stage is now set for the Stanley Cup. I sat around the basement at my home in Michigan with some buddies and watched the game… The Red Wings played a very tight game early on and that sustained them throughout. They looked sharp and seemed to get some fortunate bounces… especially the first goal that went off of Chris Draper’s chin. That goal may have summed up his career. Successful by putting himself in harm's way.

The Stars made a valiant push in the third period but the hole was too deep It takes quite a bit of poise and mental toughness to claw back into a series. Too bad they couldn’t take it the distance.

That leaves us with the Red Wings vs. the Penguins. A great match-up for the fans. Genuine superstars will match up for the greatest prize in sport. The part about the final I am looking forward to is the chemistry that will be on display. Zetterberg and Datsyuk. Malkin and Crosby. There are some great offensive talents coming to the biggest show in hockey. I am not going to sit here and write an article or hype up the Stanley Cup Final because you can just read NHL.com, ESPN, TSN or any other dot com sport page. What I am going to try and do is come up with something interesting but not cliché… not too cliché anyway. I hope to stay away from the age difference comparison. We all know that at key positions there is pretty much a generation gap between the teams and I realize the importance of experience… I just think that for every veteran we talk about in these playoff moments we should remember there was a time they had to step up. So let's see how things unfold.

Tune in to Stretch on Maxim Radio on Sirius Satellite Radio each Wednesday morning at 11am ET for NHL All-Star goalie Ryan Miller's weekly Stanley Cup Playoffs report.