This is the first time we'll see two European-born and trained goalies start in the finals.There will be many more. Just like all the Quebec-born goalies wanted to be like Patrick Roy, European goalies used to choose Vladislav Tretiak. Now they choose Dominik Hasek and Arturs Irbe, two great role models.

	Meeting Of The Minders
	Dominik Hasek and Arturs Irbe have never met in the postseason, but Hasek has held a decided edge in their regular-season meetings. The Dominator has a goals against average under 2.00 in eight all-time meetings with Irbe and his .921 save percentage in those games is over 30 points higher than Irbe's.
		Hasek	Irbe
	Wins	5	3
	Save Pct.	.931	.898
	GAA	1.97	2.65
	SHO	0	1

Here is how they stack up heading into the Stanley Cup finals:

Arturs Irbe, Carolina HurricanesCarolina He is 5-foot-8 and wieghs 190 pounds soaking wet. He is 35 and could play for another five years in the kind of shape he's in. He works his tail off in practice and his teammates love him. He gets off the ice last ... even on game days. He does hundreds of sit-ups and push-ups after practices and games. He is a fitness machine.

The key against the Wings: Can Irbe stop this naturally gifted offensive machine on a regular basis? They can be explosive. They have 4 lines that can score at any time. They will come at him from East to West, not just from North to South. That means he will be on the move laterally, from side to side, and that can be difficult to defend against. His shuffle from side to side is excellent -- he doesn't leave many holes for very long. He showed tremendous agility against the Leafs, making several two pad-stack saves on odd-man breaks, which, much to the credit of the Hurricanes' discipline, were few and far between.

Irbe is a lot like the 'Canes themselves; he shouldn't be underestimated. He gets taken for granted because he has 5-year-old pads and gloves. My son has better street hockey gear. But that's part of the package of who he is. His mask is old school. He tapes his stick like a goalie that just started taking up the position. All this doesn't matter though.

This guy is resilient. He will battle with all he's got. He will need to put rebounds to the side, and not in front where the Wings can finish. The Wings have so many finishers, they won't need too many chances to put the puck in the net. He is very sound mechanically and will have to be at his best to make this a long series and give the fans of Carolina a chance to sip from the Cup.

Dominik Hasek, Detroit Red Wings
It felt like yesterday that I returned from Prague after announcing to the world that Dom was going to retire. Instead he's playing for the Cup. If it wasn't for an inury early in his "last" season, there is no way he would be here. But he didn't want to end his brilliant career that way. There was also a good chance he was going to end up in St.Louis last summer, but Ken Holland and the Wings had another offer so he came to Hockeytown.

I am sure he takes exception to my analysis that goalies like him who rely on athletic, acrobatic ability have a harder time the older they get. It just means that you have to make adjustments in your game. During the series against the Avalanche, he was getting real deep in the net and giving their sharp shooters too much room to play with, and it was costing him. If you take a step out and on top of the crease, then you have a split second longer to make the save or corral a tip or a rebound. In Game 6, he was more aggressive and played an outstanding game. All great players/goalies tweak their game in crucial situations, and Dom did just that. He did it in Game 3 vs. the Canucks and again in the Avalanche series. If you were to teach your child how to play goal this way, you would NOT succeed. You can't teach his technique, but you can teach his will to stop the puck. He is afraid of failure and that desperation shows when it counts the most. He never quits on a play or a puck. He is a strong second-save goalie who can take over the momentum of a game and now the Cup is again in his grasp.

Darren Pang, a former goaltender with the Chicago Blackhawks, is a hockey analyst for ESPN.