An NHL season to remember

The NHL season ended with a riveting Stanley Cup finals that featured seven mini-dramas, the Pittsburgh Penguins upsetting the defending champion Detroit Red Wings on hostile ice, and affirmation that the game is great enough to thrive despite some of the dunderheads who run it.

The league faces many problems, starting with the Phoenix Coyotes’ bankruptcy and possible relocation to Canada. There’s uncertainty over the economy’s impact on sponsorship and ticket sales, and expectations the salary cap will decrease slightly next season and drop significantly for 2010-11.

The NHL’s deal with Versus still gets mixed reviews -- the cable network’s availability is growing, though telecasts remain mediocre -- but ratings in limited exposure on NBC were decent.

On the ice the quality of play was strong all season, and both Cup finalists symbolized the power of hope and stable, active ownership.

“Any time you have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, you have a chance to do something special,” said Mario Lemieux, who saved the Penguins as a player and later as an owner.

“We’ve finally achieved this dream to win a Cup.”

Given the Red Wings’ success in the last 15 years, it’s easy to forget that for years they were a rudderless mess and drew only a few thousand fans. Not until Mike and Marian Ilitch bought the team in 1982 and built a staff whose scouting talents are second to none did the Red Wings reawaken echoes of their Gordie Howe-Ted Lindsay-Sid Abel-Alex Delvecchio era and win titles in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008.

They face some salary-cap-driven decisions, starting with whether to re-sign the unfortunate Marian Hossa, who left the Penguins after they lost the 2008 finals to the Red Wings because he thought Detroit would have a better shot at the Cup. Oops. They also have to decide whether to retain unrestricted free agent Mikael Samuelsson or restricted free agent Jiri Hudler or both.

Before Game 7, Coach Mike Babcock said the Red Wings “plan on being good again next year, and then the year after that,” but their stars are aging and their youth is mostly in support roles.

They were banged up at the end, but their offense let them down more than it should have.

The Penguins are another story of rebirth. They went through their second bankruptcy in 1999 and were rescued after Lemieux, who led them to the Cup in 1991 and 1992, agreed to take an equity stake in the team in place of salary he was owed.

Even then, their prospects were shaky because they couldn’t wring more revenue out of aging Mellon Arena, built in 1961 and affectionately known as the Igloo. Less than three years ago they were threatening to leave Steeltown for Las Vegas or Kansas City if they didn’t get help financing a new arena.

With leadership at the negotiating table from co-owner Ron Burkle, the California equity-firm billionaire who gave Lemieux $20 million to complete the purchase of the franchise, an arena deal was done in March 2007. Rising across the street from the Igloo, the girders last week were draped with a huge banner featuring images of Crosby, Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury.

The words “Stanley Cup champions” can be worked onto that banner without much trouble.

All of which proves that there’s hope in even the darkest situations. Kings fans, take note. About the scouting and drafting parts, anyway, if not the involved ownership.

It’s traditional for rivals to copy the Cup champion’s style, but the Penguins’ makeup and mode are difficult to mimic without winning the draft lottery and getting a Crosby, as they did in 2005.

It’s still possible to play the up-tempo, aggressive style Coach Dan Bylsma installed when he took over Feb. 15, and it’s entertaining without sacrificing physicality.

General Manager Ray Shero deserves credit for supplementing the skills of Crosby, Malkin and defenseman Sergei Gonchar with role players such as Chris Kunitz, Ruslan Fedotenko, Bill Guerin and Hal Gill.

The Penguins’ victory should also inspire general managers to take chances on young coaches instead of recycling duds such as Marc Crawford, Jacques Martin and Mike Keenan. Bylsma is only the second rookie coach to win the Cup after taking over during the season, joining Al MacNeil of the 1970-71 Montreal Canadiens. He’s fresh and young, and his team responded to him.

Salary cap permitting, that team could compete at a high level for years to come. “That’s a great thought and it’s a dream,” Bylsma said soon after the finale.

“Come September we’ll get ready to start building the foundation again for what this team could possibly do, but that’s a whole different thing right now. We’re going to enjoy this one.”

It was a season to enjoy and savor on many levels.

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helene.elliott@latimes.com