The Sharks will introduce Detroit Red Wings' Assistant Coach Todd McLellan as their next coach at a Thursday morning news conference. The Sharks issued a front office advisory setting up the 11 a.m. media gathering but did not initially identify General Manager Doug Wilson's choice. Confirmed reports in Detroit, however, said McLellan will get a three-year contract as Ron Wilson's successor, and later the Sharks acknowledged it was McLellan. "It's a very good feeling," McLellan said in a statement released by the team. "From the first moment Doug called to the moment he offered the job, I felt comfortable. I think the Sharks have done a tremendous job. You don't get that close to 50 wins for a number of years in a row without a lot of talent. It's a matter of getting over the hump. There are some real parallels between the Wings and the Sharks."

Anaheim Ducks' Executive Vice President/General Manager Brian Burke was named the General Manager of the 2010 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team on Friday by USA Hockey. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games are scheduled to take place between February 12-28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia. ?I?m very grateful and honored to be part of the U.S. Olympic Team,? said Burke, whose previous international experience include serving as general manager of the U.S. Men?s National Team at the 1993 International Ice Hockey Federation Men?s World Championship in Munich and Dortmund, Germany. ?We hope to put a team together for 2010 that Americans can be proud of.? Ranked as the No. 1 general manager in the NHL in The Hockey News? Annual GM Rankings (March 2008), Burke led the Ducks to a Stanley Cup championship in 2007, the first-ever by a California-based club. Including a run to the 2006 Western Conference Finals, Burke helped guide the Ducks to six series wins in the last three years and tied with Detroit for the most in the NHL during that span.

The Detroit Red Wings won the 2008 Stanley Cup on Wednesday night with a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brian Rafalski gave the Wings a 1-0 lead on a power-play wrist shot at the 5:03 mark of the first period, and Detroit never trailed. Valtteri Filppula then found the net midway through the second period to give Detroit a 2-0 edge. Evgeni Malkin netted his first goal of the Cup Finals at the 15:26 mark in that same period to give the Penguins some life heading into the final twenty minutes of play. However, Henrik Zetterberg pushed the Wings' lead back to two goals with a snap shot seven minutes into the third period. Pittsburgh looked like they had one more miraculous comeback in them, as Sergei Gonchar found the net with just 1:27 left in the game, but Pittsburgh ran out of both time and miracles at home Wednesday night. Sidney Crosby almost scored with just seconds left on the clock, and Marian Hossa attempted a put-back as time expired, but Chris Osgood somehow kept both attempts out of the net. Osgood finished the game with 20 saves while losing goalie Marc-Andre Fleury recorded 27 for the Penguins. Michel Therrien pulled Fleury right after the final faceoff of the game but to no avail. Zetterberg took home the Conn Smythe trophy after tallying both a goal and an assist in the series-clincher. The victory was the eleventh Stanley Cup triumph for Detroit as they trail just Montreal and Toronto on the all-time title list. The Red Wings took 30 shots to just 22 for the Penguins. Pittsburgh had a 37-28 edge in hits but gave the puck away fourteen times to Detroit.

The Pittsburgh Penguins stayed alive in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals on Monday night with a triple-overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings. The Penguins raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals by Marian Hossa and Adam Hall within the first fifteen minutes of the game, but the Wings stayed poised and mounted a comeback. Darren Helm found the net at the 2:54 mark of the second period on a snap shot, and Chris Osgood kept Pittsburgh out of the net in the second twenty minutes. Pavel Datsyuk tied the game up with a power-play goal at the 6:43 mark in the third period, and Brian Rafalski gave Detroit the lead less than three minutes later on a snap shot assisted by both Johan Frazen and Henrik Zetterberg. It appeared as though the Wings had the game wrapped up, but Maxime Talbot scored an improbable goal on a wrist shot with just 34 seconds left on the clock to knot the game at 3-3. The Penguins had pulled goalie Marc-Andre Fleury on the sequence. Through regulation Fleury had 31 saves, against just 14 for Osgood. Showcasing just how aggressive and effective the Wings were on offense. With the Detroit crowd still stunned by Pittsburgh's goal, the teams headed into overtime. Over the first seven minutes of the first extra period, the Red Wings attempted five shots against none for the Penguins. Soon after Pittsburgh controlled the puck, but came out short on a series of good attempts at the net. Fleury and Osgood then traded save after save as the clock ticked down on the overtime period, with neither budging as the team's stayed stuck at 3-3 after an extra twenty minutes of hockey. Detroit attempted eleven shots in the first overtime, against two for Pittsburgh. Daniel Cleary was called for goaltender interference at the 3:41 mark of the second overtime, but the Penguins were unable to capitalize as Osgood made a pair of good stops. Through the 10:00 mark of the second overtime, Detroit held a 53-24 edge in shots on goal. With just 2:16 left in double-overtime, Pittsburgh's Petr Sykora was called for hooking giving Detroit a chance to win the Cup at the end of the fifth period. Fleury and the Pens defense somehow kept the Wings out of the net, as one-hundred minutes of hockey couldn't decide the fifth game of the Finals. At the 10:39 mark of the third overtime, Pittsburgh received a huge boost when Detroit's Jiri Hudler received a four-minute penalty for high-sticking. A little more than thirty seconds later, Sykora won the game on a slap shot. Sergei Gonchar, who missed time earlier in the game, returned in the sixth period to help Pittsburgh record the win (he assisted on the game-winning goal along with Evgeni Malkin). Fleury finished the game with 55 saves. Game Six will be Wednesday night in Pittsburgh as the Red Wings look to avoid a Game Seven showdown later on this week.