Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato today announced plans to honor the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins with a ‘City of Champions’ victory parade through downtown Pittsburgh Monday, June 15, starting at 12:00 noon at the intersection of Grant Street and Seventh Avenue.

“No words can describe the history-making comeback achieved by our team,” Ravenstahl said. “No one believed that this could be done, that we could win on the road and defy history, and that the League’s youngest captain could make it happen,” Ravenstahl said. “On Monday, let’s show the world how the ‘City of Champions’ welcomes home their Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins.”

Pittsburgh Penguins officials on Saturday defended team captain Sidney Crosby against an accusation he snubbed Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom in the handshake line after the Penguins won the Stanley Cup at Joe Louis Arena on Friday night.

The Red Wings’ Kris Draper was quoted in an Associated Press story saying Crosby did, indeed, snub Lidstrom.

“Nick was waiting and waiting, and Crosby didn’t come over to shake his hand,” Draper said. “That’s ridiculous, especially as their captain, and make sure you write that I said that.”

The Red Wings can accept that Pittsburgh is the Stanley Cup champion. Getting snubbed by Sidney Crosby is another matter.

After watching Pittsburgh hoist the Cup on Detroit’s ice, the Red Wings lined up to shake hands with the Penguins as is custom in the NHL playoffs.

Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom was up front, followed by alternate captain Kris Draper, congratulating many of the new champions while waiting for Pittsburgh’s captain.

“Nick was waiting and waiting, and Crosby didn’t come over to shake his hand,” Draper told an Associated Press reporter a couple hours later as he was leaving Joe Louis Arena. “That’s ridiculous, especially as their captain, and make sure you write that I said that!”

Pittsburgh was watching. Canada was watching. A growing television audience was watching, including plenty of people who either like underdogs or don’t care much for the Red Wings.

Bound by a common purpose, they wanted to see Sidney Crosby win the Stanley Cup on Friday night at Joe Louis Arena.

And as the minutes melted away, hockey’s standard-bearer was in an odd place. On the bench. With an aching left knee. A spectator like everyone else.

“It was so painful,” Crosby said after the game, and it wasn’t clear whether he was talking about the knee or the powerlessness. “Being a captain, seeing the guys out there blocking shots, seeing how intense it was — it was painful.

The Pittsburgh Penguins made some history Friday night with a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. Here are a few of the pertinent numbers from Friday night’s win.

0 — Goals by Detroit’s Marian Hossa in this year’s Final. Hossa led Pittsburgh with 3 goals and 7 points while playing against the Red Wings in last year’s Final, then signed with the Wings as a free agent. He had only 3 assists in seven games against his former team this year.

1 — Teams that have rallied from 2-0 series deficits twice in the same playoff year. On the way to the Cup, Pittsburgh became the first team to overcome a pair of two-game deficits in the same year. The Penguins beat Washington in the Eastern Semifinals and Detroit in the Cup Final after losing the first two games each time.

2 — Times that a team has won Game 7 of the Final on the road after the home team won the first six games of the series. The only other time this happened was in 1971, when Montreal and Chicago alternated home wins for six games before the Canadiens won Game 7 at Chicago Stadium.

QUICK ANALYSIS

After a scoreless first period, the Penguins jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to two goals from Maxime Talbot. Pittsburgh played in a defensive posture in the third period, content to chip the puck out of its zone and make the safe play.

Detroit made it interesting when it buried a goal late in the third period. However, Marc-Andre Fleury shut the door the rest of the way – thanks in part to a lot of help and blocked shots from his teammates – and the team battled with their captain, Sidney Crosby, limited in his ice time because of an injury.

In the end, the Penguins held on and were victorious in the rematch with the Detroit Red Wings. Pittsburgh got its revenge from last season by hoisting the Stanley Cup on Detroit’s home ice and ended a remarkable season as world champions.

Thousands of people poured into the streets in spontaneous celebrations Friday night to celebrate the Penguins’ first Stanley Cup victory in 17 years.

The Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 to win the Cup for the third time, following titles in 1991 and 1992.

The dominant chant was a vulgar insult to Marian Hossa(notes), the former Penguins player who signed a one-year deal with Detroit last summer, turning down a better-paying offer with a longer term from Pittsburgh.