Stanley Cup 2010 Chicago Blackhawks vs Philadelphia Flyers
This year’s Stanley Cup final will end a long drought for one team and extend it for another, and just that fact alone is enough to make you excited about the upcoming finals.
The Philadelphia Flyers haven’t won the Stanley Cup since they won back-to-back championships in 1974 and 1975 and with Philadelphia being a sports crazy town, a 35 year wait for another title is just too long.
If 35 years seems too long for Flyers fans, then the Chicago Blackhawks fans would beg to differ. The Blackhawks carry the burden of the NHL’s longest championship drought and if they fail again this year it will be half a century since their last Stanley Cup, and just like Philadelphia, Chicago is another sports crazy place and they know something about heartbreak.
The Chicago Bears in have only won one Super Bowl in their history and the Cubs haven’t won the World Series in over 100 years. Take away the Bulls and Chicago is a city deprived of sporting success.
For the Hawks it’s a chance to give the city its first championship since 2005 and that chance is very real.
Chicago will be favourites, considering they are a powerhouse stacked with talent, but Philadelphia aren’t exactly a bad team, they were many peoples’ favourites to take the east in pre-season. From Jonathan Toews, to Patrick Kane to Patrick Sharp, the Hawks’ depth of their talent cannot be denied and they were only a point behind conference winners the San Jose Sharks. What happened when they met in the Western Conference finals? The Hawks took the series in a sweep.
But that’s not to say the Flyers are done for. They’ve shown amazing fight this post-season coming back from 3-0 down against the Boston Bruins to win the series 4-3, one of the more remarkable comebacks in NHL history especially considering the were three goals down in game seven.
They then beat the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference finals, and that wasn’t exactly easy, the Canadiens did after all eliminate the Washington Capitals in the first round.
Captain Mike Richards will have to play as well as he possibly can if the Flyers are to mount a challenge and if he can continue to be clutch the Flyers might just stick around, and if they do then anything can happen.
The Hawks will also rely on their captain, and at only 22 Jonathan Toews can become the second youthful captain to lift the Stanley Cup in consecutive years, following Sidney Crosby last year.
Toews has been on fire in the play-offs this year and is favourite to claim the Conn Smythe Trophy after scoring an incredible 26 points in 16 games. Combine Toews with Kane and the 1-2 punch could simply overpower Philadelphia.
But with both teams having quality defensemen it’s going to be a hard fought series. Chris Pronger, Kimmo Timonen, Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith ring any bells? Don’t forget Matt Carle and Braydon Coburn for the Flyers and Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brian Campbell for the Blackhawks.
And then we come to the goaltenders, a weak point for both teams. Antti Niemi started 35 games in the regular season for the Hawks and had .912% save percentage. Thought that was bad? Michael Leighton started 31 games in the regular season for the Flyers and had a .905 save percentage.
Maybe both coaches should instruct their players to just pepper the goal and get both keepers under pressure early on.
No matter what happens in the Stanley Cup finals this year a big hockey market looking to end a long championship drought will end up winning it al. Let’s get it on.
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