Stanley Cup Preview

CHICAGO, Ill. — Let us try and get to the beef of this series, Philly Steak or Italian Beef? Sorry for that as stomachs begin to growl. The 2010 Stanley Cup Finals will pit the Chicago Blackhawks versus the Philadelphia Flyers. The series will start in Chicago as they are the higher seed as number two in the West will face the number seven in the East.
 
The last time the Blackhawks made it to the finals was back in 1992 when they played and were swept out by the Pittsburgh Penguins. But you have to go all the way back to 1961 when they last won Lord Stanley’s Cup as they defeated archrivals Detroit Red Wings.
 
As for the Flyers they were the first non-Original Six team to win the championship back in 1974 but they did it again the following year. They made it in 1976 for the third time but couldn’t continue the streak as the Montreal Canadiens and Head Coach Scotty Bowman started their streak of four consecutive. The last appearance by the Flyers in the finals was a loss to the Detroit Red Wings in 1997.
 
Can we start the ironies here? The 1997 Detroit team was also coached by Bowman. And who is the senior advisor of hockey operations for Chicago, none other than Scotty Bowman. But we won’t stop there; just under a year ago Stan Bowman (named after the Stanley Cup) was named as the team’s ninth General Manager in franchise history.
 
How do these two teams match up? Well there was only one game back in March and the Flyers came up on top by a score of 3-2. Chris Pronger got the game-winner with three seconds to go. There was no scoring at all in the first two frames.
 
At forward we will start with the captains on each team. Both the ‘Hawks Jonathan Toews and the Flyers Mike Richards are the best on their team in playing the end to end game where both are playmakers who can seize the opportunity to get in a goal at any given time. If you look up and down both teams lines, each have real depth but the Flyers are just a half step in the line combinations to give the ‘Hawks the edge. Patrick Sharp started his career with the Flyers but has flourished with his time as one of the ‘Hawks top forwards. The team’s other Patrick in Kane has shown much maturity on the ice as he is lined up with Toews and the crease crusher in Dustin Byfuglien. Add don’t forget the finals veterans of Andrew Ladd and John Madden where each had the taste of Lord Stanley’s Cup in the past. The only if so far is that Ladd is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury suffered on the last game against San Jose. Watch to see who Dave Bolland is matched up with as he because the menace to any one in front of him.
 
But where you have the youth and the speed of the ‘Hawks, you get the experience and physical play of the Philadelphia Flyers. Look up and down the lineup, you can see that the team is made up of players who have proven themselves year in and year out. Daniel Briere has been brought in a few years back to beef up the offense and leads the potent second line for the Flyers.
 
As for the blueliners on these teams, they are almost night and day but in a positive way. The Blackhawks are more of a playmaking offensive minded type of defense. You can’t get any better than the top pairing of Duncan “Hey I lost 7 teeth” Keith and Brent Seabrook who both average close to an ungodly 30 minutes of ice time. Brian Campbell like Briere took the “I am out of Buffalo” free agency path and selected to play with ‘Hawks. Even though there has been a higher expectation of him he has made his contributions seen on the ice to help the team out.
 
On the other side of the rink, we have Mr. Pronger, the big league elite defenseman who plays a great all around game. He is teamed up with Matt Carle the veteran with 56 playoff games under his belt. The Flyers defense can be described as a patchwork of veteran defensemen who were brought in solidify the area between the forwards and the goaltending.
 
That is a great lead to the goaltending of both teams. In their only match up of the season, the Flyer faced Cristobal Huet and have never seen rookie Antti Niemi who has been the number one goaltender throughout the latter part of the season and through the playoffs. Throughout the playoffs, the critics have stated that Niemi isn’t seasoned or experienced to go this far. But every game and every series he has proven them wrong. He has built up quiet confidence and it shows in every game. He has great focus of the puck and the players in front of him. He is sometimes a little suspect with the glove work at times but that can be due to the fact that the defense in front of him limits the amount of shots on net. His lateral movement has saved him many a time and it makes it look effortless.
 
As we travel to the opposite side of the rink what do we have in common here. The top two goaltenders for the Flyers were both ex-players on the ‘Hawks. Is that good or bad, not really, the ‘Hawks are a totally different franchise than when the two had their stints in Chicago. But Michael Leighton who came in for Brian Boucher (injury in the Boston series) is looking for sweet revenge against the team that pretty much drafted and dumped him. Leighton is going to be dangerous as three out of the four wins in the last series against Montreal came by shutout.
 
Behind the bench we have two very experienced coached. For the Flyer, Peter Laviolette was brought in during the season to turn a team around that was expected to make it into the playoffs after some big name off-season deals were made. He brings in a Stanley Cup Championship as the Head Coach of the Carolina Hurricanes back in the 2005-06 season. Laviolette is a fiery coach with a great knack to bring out the best and more out of his players.
 
Joel Quenneville is in his second season with the ‘Hawks and have coached almost twice as many games as Laviolette but his record is just as impressive in the win column. The only thing the Quenneville doesn’t have is a Stanley Cup Championship. But he was the assistant in Colorado when they won in 1996 which propelled him into the head coaching ranks. Quenneville has and amazing knack in getting the right combination on the ice to neutralize anything that is thrown in front of his team. He has shown that in every series that he has coached this team.
 
The two teams had very interesting paths to the Finals. The Blackhawks faced every type of system in every one of their series and their first with Nashville might have been their worse in getting any game going. In Vancouver, the Canucks seemed all spent on the revenge factor and the Blackhawks used it to their advantage and just played their game. And in the Western Conference Finals they just shut down the San Jose’s style of play and killed the top line. As for Philadelphia, they gained on every series. To start the playoff as the seventh seed they had nothing to lose but to play the best they could. They took out the New Jersey Devils who are known to have problems in the playoffs in going deep. Against Boston, it was a an epic climb being down three games then being down three goals in game seven to come out on top and then to face the lowest seed in Montreal for the Eastern Conference Finals. Momentum just carried them through.
 
Where have we come with these two teams that enter the Finals. They are a great symbol for the NHL. You have an Original Six team that in almost ruins that climbed out of the ashes and returned back to its gloried past and add an opponent that was one of the first great expansion teams of the NHL and with the name of the “Broad Street Bullies.” This is going to be a series that will bring the NHL and even hockey back into the forefront as almost a renaissance to all those who love ice.
 
Contact the author at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com