PITTSBURGH -- The biggest superstition in the Pittsburgh Penguins locker room is that nobody is allowed to step on the Penguin logo in the carpeting at the middle of the room, but it doesn’t end there.

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Hockey players are a superstitious lot by nature, and the Penguins' behavior after winning the Eastern Conference finals was part that and part focus.

There is no hard rule that teams shouldn't touch the Prince of Wales trophy when winning the conference, but that didn’t stop Pens captain Sidney Crosby from steering clear of it.

Touching the trophy is rumored to be bad luck for the team that wins it and heads to the Stanley Cup finals.

"I was aware of it," Crosby said. "You don't usually see too many guys touch it. It's a good feeling to be up there, but we all realize that's not the one we want to be holding."

When the Penguins won it for the first time in 1991, then-captain Mario Lemieux and his teammates were all over the trophy, but they still went on to win the Cup.

Also left untouched on Sunday in the locker room were Eastern Conference championship T-shirts and baseball caps.

"It's not that hard to ignore all these things, because this is not what we play for," said Maxime Talbot. "You're not going to the playoffs, 'Eh, let's win the conference.' That's not the goal of any team. Yes, it's nice to do it, but like I said, it won't mean anything unless we win it all."

"We're proud of what we've accomplished, no doubt," said Rob Scuderi. "But at the same time, ultimately, our goal is to win a Stanley Cup."

The team, clearly satisfied with their performance and victory Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers, isn't saying they're focusing on the superstitions, rather the goal ahead, which is winning the Cup for the third time in team history.

The winner of the Detroit-Dallas series will determine who the Pens will face in the upcoming days.

Custom Graphics on the South Side started printing "Penguins Conference Champs" shirts at about 4 a.m. Monday. They are being sold at local Dick's Sporting Goods stores.

What has not been determined yet is how many tickets to the Stanley Cup final games at the Mellon Arena will go on sale to the public.

During the playoffs so far, 2,000 tickets per game were made available, and they went fast, often selling out in less than 10 minutes.

So, of course, tickets for that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity are difficult to come by.

On eBay, tickets are already going for upwards of $450. On StubHub, prices range from $16 to $3,460 per ticket.

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Young Pens Rely On Drive, Not Experience

For many Pens players, their playoff resume consists of just 19 games with five last year and 14 this season.

"We don't have a lot of experience, but we compensate with a lot of things," said head coach Michel Therrien. "We compensate with passion. We play a mature game for a young team."

Pittsburgh is heading to the Cup finals with Jordan Staal, 19, Crosby, 20, and Evgeni Malkin, 21.

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky didn't even make it to the finals until he was 22, and Lemieux didn't get there until he was 25.

While short on playoff experience, many on the team have experienced the highs and lows of the NHL in Pittsburgh, going from one of the league's worst teams just a few years ago to Eastern Conference champions.

"It's pretty cool that all together, we lived through those tough days, and everybody improved together and as a team," said goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. "Right now, we're winning, so it's pretty fun."

"We've come a long way, and we've worked hard for it and earned it, and this is a great opportunity for us all," said Crosby.

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