The San Jose Sharks never had a chance. Sidney Crosby made sure of it.

The Pittsburgh Penguins captain and Conn Smythe Trophy was in a prophetic mood ahead of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, writes Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

"Beast mode, baby," said third-string goaltender Jeff Zatkoff after the Penguins won the Cup. "(Crosby's) a winner, he's won everything. We just followed him. He told me before Game 6 that he was going beast mode, and he went beast mode.

"He was dialled in. He wanted it."

Crosby had two assists Sunday, including the primary helper on Kris Letang's eventual Cup clincher. He assisted on Patric Hornqvist's empty-netter, and was on the ice as the seconds trickled down to zero. While No. 87 finished with only four assists in six games in the final, he took home the Conn Smythe for his incredible two-way play. He set the tone. And, like Zatkoff said, the Penguins followed.

"He was going to will this thing," said head coach Mike Sullivan.

Crosby's had the Cup on his mind for a while, actually.

Phil Kessel said that when he was acquired by the Penguins last summer, Crosby gave him an introductory phone call, and told him the club was excited about having him.

"We're going to try and win a Cup," Kessel said Crosby told him, according to NHL.com's Amalie Benjamin.

Mission accomplished.

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Phil Kessel has his Stanley Cup.

Almost a year since he was famously traded by the Toronto Maple Leafs to Pittsburgh, the polarizing forward capped a whirlwind 11-and-a-half months by leading the Penguins in playoff scoring and drinking out of the best trophy in pro sports.

"It's been a special year," Kessel told TSN after the Penguins were crowned Sunday night. "You know, obviously (there has been) a lot of change in my life, and it's the best year of my life."

No. 81 finished the playoffs with 10 goals and 12 assists in 24 games, including a goal and three assists in the final. The sniper now has 23 goals and 43 points in 46 career spring games. Let no one say he doesn't rise to the occasion.

Like most Penguins players, Kessel credits Mike Sullivan for saving Pittsburgh's season.

"You know, I think towards December (and) January, I think we started to kind of turn a corner as a team," Kessel said. "You know, Sully came in, and we kind of found our identity, found the way we had to play as a group. And you know this is a special group here.

"I think we believed in each other, we played for each other. We knew we had a solid team ... we always believed we had a chance to win."

After his trade to Pittsburgh last July 1, most envisioned a 50-goal season for Kessel, playing with the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. It didn't turn out that way, the Wisconsin native registered 26 goals in 82 games. His 59 points were his lowest in a non-lockout season since 2009-10, his first in Toronto, when he only played 70 games.

Redemption, though, was found in the playoffs, where Kessel and his linemates Nick Bonino and Carl Hagelin tore up the opposition. The magic was supposed to happen with Sid and Geno, not Bonino and Hagelin, but the "HBK" line, as it came to be known, was crucial to the Penguins' Stanley Cup title. Pittsburgh doesn't win without its contributions.

"It just clicked," Kessel said of his line.

It sure did, and Kessel's a Stanley Cup champion, much to the dismay of his many critics.

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The Montreal Canadiens signed defenseman Mark Barberio to a two-year contract, the team announced Monday.

It's a one-way contract, and is reportedly worth $750,000 annually, according to TVA Sports' Renaud Lavoie.

The 26-year-old from Montreal played 30 games with the Canadiens this past season, scoring twice and adding eight helpers. He averaged 15 minutes of ice time per game.

Barberio was a sixth-round pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2008. He has a career 52.9 percent Corsi For rating in 136 games.

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The only thing more emotional than the Stanley Cup is CBC's Hockey Night in Canada's playoff-closing, season-ending montage.

Enjoy. And, yeah, we miss hockey already, too.

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Phil Kessel's not the only one with a redemption story.

With the Pittsburgh Penguins' title triumph in Game 6 on Sunday, Jim Rutherford - a man many believed was watching the game pass him by - joined Tommy Gorman as the second general manager in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup with two different franchises.

Pittsburgh hired Rutherford two years ago, a few weeks after he was squeezed out of his role with the Carolina Hurricanes. He brought drastic and often contentious changes to the organization he inherited from Ray Shero.

Here's a rundown of Rutherford's feverish work since taking the job:

• Traded James Neal to the Predators for Patric Hornqvist (June 2014)
• Traded 2015 first-round pick for David Perron (January 2015)
• Traded Robert Bortuzzo for Ian Cole (March 2015)
• Traded Simon Despres for Ben Lovejoy (March 2015)
• Acquired Phil Kessel for package including Kasperi Kapanen, 2016 first-round pick (July 2015)
• Traded Brandon Sutter for Nick Bonino (July 2015)
• Hired Mike Sullivan (December 2015)
• Traded Rob Scuderi for Trevor Daley (December 2015)
• Traded Perron for Carl Hagelin (January 2016)
• Acquired Justin Schultz (February 2016)

Looking back, Rutherford's series of transactions is quite remarkable, but it wasn't long ago that his every move was questioned. The Penguins bowed out in five games to the New York Rangers in his first postseason at the helm, and the team appeared better suited to taking a step back.

But, committed to the Penguins' core, Rutherford remained aggressive and hit with five major acquisitions this season. His incredible run included landing all three components of Pittsburgh's "HBK Line" - a unit that combined for 56 points in the postseason - and a new-look defense that surrounded Kris Letang with similarly elusive but much less expensive puck movers.

At times, it seemed as though Rutherford was making impulsive and even reckless decisions about his roster. But Monday, there's absolutely no denying his impact, deliberate and otherwise.

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The blueprint's becoming more and more obvious: Own the puck and a Stanley Cup may follow.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are champions for the fourth time in franchise history and they were crowned on account of their speed and puck-possession skills:

Pittburgh's 53 percent score-adjusted Corsi For rating at five on five in the regular season trailed only the Los Angeles Kings' 56.8 percent rating. And the Kings have certainly proven over the years that owning the puck correlates into success.

The Penguins finished the playoffs with a 51.6 percent score-adjusted Corsi For rating, which officially ranks fifth behind Florida, Dallas, Chicago, and the New York Rangers. The Panthers, though, played only six games, while the Blackhawks played seven, and the Blueshirts five. The Stars played 13 times, while the Penguins wrapped up their championship in 24 games.

Pittsburgh scored a playoffs-best 42 goals at even strength, while allowing 34. The San Jose Sharks finished the playoffs with a 50.7 percent score-adjusted Corsi For rating at even strength, and had the best goal differential at five on five, at plus-14.

(Statistics courtesy: War on Ice)

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After 30 years in the NHL, Jacques Martin finally got to hoist the Stanley Cup on Sunday night as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins - and nearly dropped it on national television.

Thankfully, head coach Mike Sullivan was there to catch it.

Martin told Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun prior to Game 6 that he'd like to bring the Cup to his old neighborhood in St. Pascal, Ont., if given the chance.

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What do you do after you win the Stanley Cup? Grab your cell phone and take a selfie with Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin, of course.

Pittsburgh Penguins assistant captain Evgeni Malkin has got it down:

It's been an emotional couple of weeks for Malkin, who became a father during the Stanley Cup Final. In his postgame interview, he thanked the Penguins organization for being understanding, especially in light of him not practicing as much as he normally would have been during the final.

"I happy guy," Malkin said.

As he should be.

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The Carolina Hurricanes agreed to a three-year entry-level contract with forward Sebastian Aho on Monday, the club announced.

Aho was drafted 35th overall in 2015, and had 20 goals and 25 assists in 45 games with Karpat in the Finnish Elite League this season, leading his team in scoring. He added four goals and 11 assists in 14 playoff games.

Only 18, Aho finished second in scoring at the World Junior Hockey Championship with five goals and nine assists in seven games, helping Finland win gold on home soil. He had three goals and four assists at the recently completed World Championship, in which Finland went home with silver.

The Hurricanes expect the teen to make the big club next season.

"Sebastian is regarded as one of the top prospects in hockey and is ready to begin his North American career," general manager Ron Francis said in a statement. "He had a tremendous season as an 18-year-old playing against men in Finland’s top league, and was outstanding in international competitions including the recent World Championship. He will play an important role for the Hurricanes moving forward."

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Is Cuba Gooding Jr. the new Drake?

Hours after telling NBC's Jeremy Roenick that the San Jose Sharks needed to continue pounding Sidney Crosby in order to win - and also letting an expletive slip - a champagne-soaked Gooding Jr. was in the Pittsburgh Penguins room belting out Queen's "We Are The Champions."

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