Flyers will face Blackhawks in Stanley Cup Finals
Greeting from the beaches of Florida. Well, for me it’s really from “poolside”…the Divine Mrs. R is more of a beach-goer.
Anywhoo…given that I am “technically” away on vacation, I’ll keep this short and sweet.
The Flyers ended Montreal’s wild playoff ride by downing the Canadian’s 4-2 Monday night and winning the series 4 games to 1. They will now face the Western Conference champion Chicago Blackhawks, who did away with the San Jose Sharks in a four-game sweep.
With the win, Michael Leighton is now 6-1 in the playoffs since taking over for Brian Boucher and has a .948 SV% and 1.45 GAA with 3 shutouts. Chicago’s Antti Niemi is 12-4 with a .921 SV%, 2.33 GAA and 2 SO.
Jonathan Toews leads all skaters in postseason with 26 overall points, (7 goals and 19 assists), while Philadelphia’s Mike Richards has 6 goals and 15 assists for 21 points. In third is Patrick Kane and his 7 goals and 13 assists for 20 overall points.
Montreal’s Mike Cammalleri’s 13 goals are still the most scored by anyone in the playoffs so far.
Who wins the Stanley Cup Finals?
- Chicago Blackhawks (63%, 89 Votes)
- Philadelphia Flyers (37%, 52 Votes)
Total Voters: 141
Loading ...The two faced off once during the regular season with the Flyers taking a 3-2 decision in Philadelphia on March 13.
In making it to the SCF, Philly has now made it three years out of three that a team participating in the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day has then gone on to advance to the Finals. In 2008, Pittsburgh defeated Buffalo and then lost to the Red Wings in the Finals. In 2009 it was Detroit downing Chicago on January 1, then losing to Pittsburgh in the SCF.
Last New Years as you’ll recall…Philly lost to the Bruins 2-1 in overtime in the game played at Fenway Park.
So the big question is…”who do you pick to skate the Cup”?
When the playoffs began, I picked Chicago to lose to Washington in the Finals. But I will now take the Hawks to win it all in six tough, phisical hard-fought, fun-to-watch games over Philly.
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169 comments Add your comment
Smitty
May 25th, 2010
1:11 pm
Has anybody noticed how well Braden Zhitnick, I mean Alexi Coburn has played? I hope Dudley remembers that trade.
World Be Free
May 25th, 2010
1:12 pm
rob-It’s the loss the the FLYERS in the 70’s that hurts alot more cause Sabres should have beat the Flyers; that darm Bernie Parent.
World Be Free
May 25th, 2010
1:42 pm
Now we have Dudley, Tallon and Stevie Y in our division. Looks like Southeast Div. has some pretty good GMs.
rob
May 25th, 2010
1:52 pm
maybe Stevie Y can show a certain overpaid player in Tampa what leadership is all about…..though I hope he doesn’t do it too good since it is our division!!! Speaking of I hope Nitty goes to the West somewhere, anywhere will do. Doesn’t Luongo need a backup or something?!?!
DWTOO
May 25th, 2010
2:00 pm
WBF – Remember “Only the Lord Saves More Than Bernie Parent”. Saw him on the BSB special on HBO.
rob
May 25th, 2010
2:07 pm
Smoothie,
about the dmen thing earlier. I was advocating getting Volchenkov to replace Kubina, if it wasn’t too far removed paywise. I think that would be a good thing for our blueline. As for the UFA spot you have posted, we have enough guys already between here and the Wolves to fill the lines out I think without going after another one.
Volchenkov/Bogo
Hainsey/Oduya
Enstrom/
Kulda,Pops,Vish,Schubert,et al can fill the rest
World Be Free
May 25th, 2010
2:29 pm
DTWOO-it’s been awhile, but I haven’t forgotten anything from that series. Sabers shoulda won that series, like the Bill shoulda beat the Giants in SB 25.
Smoothie
May 25th, 2010
2:48 pm
rob,
That (getting Volchie) would be ideal if we decide to go young on the 3rd line and can bring back Moose or a another reliable back-up for less than $2 M. Assuming we spend roughly $10 M on our four RFA’s (Bergie, Lits, C-Mac & Pavs), another $1 M on Slater, $700-800 k on Boulton or an Anthony Stewart type for the 4th line, then the bulk of the extra money (assuming a self-imposed Cap of $50-51 M) for FA could go towards wooing a player of Volchenkov’s caliber. $21.5 M for 4 years perhaps? But that still leaves us quite young and raw on the 3rd line going with Slater / Cormier / Machacek. Are you ready to do that?
Brendan
May 25th, 2010
3:11 pm
Somewhere, Ranallo10 is crying. For his personal choice to be the next Thrashers GM was Steve Yzerman, from 2008 forward. Oh well. Let’s see what he does with the Bolts. I’d be happier if he landed on some team that WASN’T in our division, so I could root for him.
Old Time Hockey
May 25th, 2010
3:20 pm
Smitty…don’t know about you, but I’ve been less than impressed with Coburn this post-season. Too many mental errors. Great talent, but haven’t seen what I thought we would from him. Not a stellar regular season…but he is logging some minutes in the playoffs. We’ll see what the finals bring.
World Be Free
May 25th, 2010
3:32 pm
Old Time on Coburn-
I am glad someone else said this first. I was hesitatnt to creitize Coburn cause of all the bloggers that look at his trading as the low point of our franchise amongst other subious events. He’s Ok, but he’s not hr defensive stud we need anyhow.
Joe Friday
May 25th, 2010
4:05 pm
dmen, like goalies, usually take forever to bloom. I would take Coburn back in a heartbeat (and I was one of the guys chasing him out of town with the pitchforks). He seems to have picked his game back up in the playoffs. It’s why I still hold high hopes for Bogosian, but he’s probably 3 or 4 years away from hitting his stride. Doughty was a freak how quickly he blossomed.
Brendan, what happened with ranallo? He just disappeared one day, I sincerely hope nothing bad happened to him.
World Be Free
May 25th, 2010
4:30 pm
Doughty and Tyler Myers
Fan from Carolina
May 25th, 2010
4:36 pm
The big question is who will Stevie Y pick as head coach. After Melrose and Tocchet it almost has to be an improvement. Good post above about Vinny too. He will either play hard this year or have the C sewn on Marty St Louis’ sweater.
rob
May 25th, 2010
4:51 pm
Smoothie,
I actually would welcome more youth. We need it to erase as much of the past as possible. More effort like Antropov, Kane, and Co. gave us, build a TEAM. There are guys on the farm that either need to PLAY here or move on for more who are ready. New coach, new GM, next year is gonna be put up or shut up time for people and will give us an accurate gauge of what we really have. Armstrong and Kozzy free up 6M+, and if Mr. White can be put on waivers and claimed…. Ponikorovsky and a Versteeg/Sharp type would round us out nicely. I actually don’t see room for Bolts anymore either. Keep our fingers crossed on Pavs! LOL
Brendan
May 25th, 2010
6:09 pm
Joe Friday. I don’t know what happened to Ranallo10. He went off to Austria with his beloved, and watched the Vienna Capitals games. After that, he disappeared into thin air. He’s been gone so long that, perhaps, we have to come up with a new name for a “Ranallo warning?” The codeword Rawhide uses to announce that a new blog is coming, so wrap up all current discussions or carry them over into the new blog.
I hope he’s doing okay. Maybe he got married and his ‘honey do’ list is something a kin to building a pyramid in Egypt. I enjoyed his insights. And your sparring with him was memorable. I hope he landed an assistant GM position with Vienna Capitals.
Your Mammy
May 25th, 2010
6:40 pm
I want the Flyers to win….I just think it would be hilarious to see Hossa to wind up on the losing side of 3 Stanley Cups 3 years in a row with 3 different teams….I don’t think that has ever been accomplished before.
Flagstaff
May 25th, 2010
6:59 pm
I hate the Flyers on principle.
However, if they were to win the Stanley Cup… I would get to say that the Thrashers were undefeated against the Stanley Cup Champions during the regular season!
World Be Free
May 25th, 2010
9:13 pm
Hey YUNG in Montreal- what’s up with Tomas Plekanec?
He was a shoe in for signing with the Habs; now I am not so sure. Canadians are wonder if he’s worth $5M.
Give Philly credit-they got Hartnell and Timonen from Nashville for what I believe was the #1 the Flyers got from the Preds for Forsberg. Nashville had to dump salary and the Flyers had room. That’s what we have to do this year, to a team that needs to dump NHL players into our arms for picks or prospects.
Good move by TB getting Stevie Y. Lawton was a stooge.
HookyBob
May 25th, 2010
10:03 pm
Rawhide,..nice picture. Is that a Christian Bros hockey stick? (Now that’s old time hockey) Looks like you shoot left too?
At last we have the SC finalists. The only bad thing about this is that portends the 9-10 season is coming to a close.
Does anyone else want this series to go 7 games?….all decided in OT? Last goal wins. Settle in for some fine hockey. I’m OK with either team winning,…as long as it is the better team (I just don’t want any fluky goals or bad penalties determining the outcome.)
What match-ups can we look for? How about Pronger & Byfuglin? Toews & Richards (Canadian Olympic teammates, maybe even linemates). The Leighton & Niemi? Lavilolette & that Vincent Price looking guy. Carcillo and Carcillo (he’s his own worst enemy). Oh,..and don’t forget each teams fans,…who can make the other guys the most uncomfortable?
Seven games would mean Duds can’t even talk to Torchetti until about June 12th. I am OK with that too.
Brendan
May 26th, 2010
12:20 am
HookyBob, I like your post above. I have no objections to a seven game series. There is potential for that. I say Chicago in six. And like you, I’m fine with whomever wins. It’s great for Chicago, and a wonderful story for them. Truly, the stars have aligned for them. Chicago didn’t have to play Detroit to win the Cup. Chicago got # 7 Nashville, a worthy opponent in the 1st round. In the CSF they got Vancouver, a solid club this year, and a # 3 seed. And then, they had to dispose of the # 1 seed, San Jose. Which they did, convincingly, in a sweep in the CF. But I repeat, Chicago never had to face the team that eliminated them last year, Detroit. And then, in the East, it wasn’t Crosby, Malkin and Staal waiting for them. Or Ovechkin, Green, Semin, and Backstrom. It’s the 7th seeded Flyers. Stars aligning themselves??? I think so.
But if Philly does win, this gives us that story for our grandkids, nieces and nephews. It really will be a case of, “Hey Grampa, tell us about the 2010 playoffs. Is it true that no one gave Philly a shot? Did anyone, wayyyyy back in 2010, ever think the Flyers could come back against Boston, down 3-0? Is it true Marc Savard returned from injury to play in that series for Boston? Is it true that Tuukka Rask had the best GAA in the NHL that year? Is it true that Ilya Kovalchuk was a rental with NJ when the Flyers upset them in 2010? Is it true that Simon Gagne, Laperriere, and Jeff Carter and Leighton all returned from injuries just in time to help propel the Flyers to the Cup? What an awesome playoffs that must have been. One for the ages, right? You watched, didn’t you? You didn’t JUST STOP WATCHING because the Thrashers were eliminated, did you????”
See, that’s what can follow, if the Flyers pull this thing off. I can’t help to root for them. But I’m no Flyer fan. If they pull this thing off, I go right back to treating them like the enemy that they are next season.
WBF, Re: Volchenkov, I’m interested in knowing if Anton would even consider coming here? If he wants to be here, fine! Great. If his only interest is money, and playing for whomever offers him the MOST $$$$, then I don’t. That’s not the kind of player the Atlanta market would do well to acquire. We’re not a market that’s about paying TOP DOLLAR to players who couldn’t get it elsewhere. No, on the contrary, we’re a market that ought to KNOW WELL AHEAD OF TIME … that we must draft well. We must cultivate our talent. We must PROACTIVELY re-sign it. We must mold and shape it into a team with purpose and identity. That’s called, ‘handling your business.’ If we were to actually do that, a lot of our other problems would simply take care of themselves. I hope Dudley is the guy who can tackle that enormous task.
Brendan
May 26th, 2010
12:27 am
RE: June 12th, to talk to Torchetti. Aren’t we cutting it a bit fine to find a coach, so soon before a draft?? I mean, isn’t it true that the Coach makes out the ’shopping list?’ And then, it’s the GM’s job to go to the store and get what’s on that list?
If Dudley has already made up his mind on Torchetti, then I’m not so worried about it. But if Dudley is actually going to conduct an exhaustive search for a Head Coach, he needs some time to properly evaluate the candidates, before the Draft. And whomever is selected to be Head Coach, needs some time to brainstorm about what his wishes are … for the draft, through each and every round. Time can be a wonderful luxury. But it may not be a luxury that we no longer have.
Brendan
May 26th, 2010
12:31 am
Sorry, I’m a bit tired. That last sentence was supposed to read, “time may be a luxury we no longer have.”
Tony C.
May 26th, 2010
2:55 am
Hossa is a Jinx….. Flyers in 7
Also, if Prongs is a “classy player”, I’m a jet-fighter pilot. I will admit to being anxious to see how he deals with Chicago’s Byfuglien.
Just saw some vid of Johansen from the Winterhawks-looks good as well-I’m still most impressed by Neidette-oh who am I foolin’ I forget howto spell the kids name-but he’s nasty too.
World Be Free
May 26th, 2010
5:51 am
Hooky Bob-didn’t even notice the Christian stick. I think I still have an old one in my garage, use it primarily for knocking down spider webs. As a player, my favorite wood stick was a Sherwood PMP, minimal whip. Still have a couple metal stick in the inventory as well.
Hope you’re having a good time in FLA Bill.
World Be Free
May 26th, 2010
7:45 am
Brendan, I am not certain if Volchenkov, or any other top UFA would come here. We talked about this last season, focusing more on tier 2 UFAs like Antropov and it worked for the Thrashers. The tier 1 guys, signed on July 1 are normally overpaid becoming a burden to their new teams in the long term. As a player, I like Volchenkov alot but in the overall picture, I don’t think ATL is his preferred destination.
We have talked about Marleau, Volchenkov, Campbell (signed) and Nabokov and what they could mean to the Thrashers. Whether they want to be here is a sell job for Dudley. Volchenkov will probably end up in Washington, which will cost the Caps Semin to free up $$$ long term. Semin was a dud in the playoffs anyhow.
ranallo10 (in AT)
May 26th, 2010
8:08 am
Somewhere, Ranallo10 is crying. For his personal choice to be the next Thrashers GM was Steve Yzerman, from 2008 forward. Oh well. Let’s see what he does with the Bolts. I’d be happier if he landed on some team that WASN’T in our division, so I could root for him.
Brendan — Good memory. I was very conflicted last night when reading the news … an obvious congratulations for Yzerman, but it’s too bad he’s with a club that will be facing Atlanta so often. I think Tampa Bay has the core in place to create a contender sooner rather than later, and his long term goals (perennial contender) are right in line with what I would expect from a new GM. Too bad Atlanta missed the boat on this one, yet again.
I honestly think Yzerman has a chance to prove himself as a top GM in the NHL (good training in Detroit under Holland et ali, cut his teeth in Canada going 3 for 3 in medals), but I’m not confident in the ability of Dudley to elevate himself to that level. Hopefully Dudley proves me wrong.
R. Stroz
May 26th, 2010
8:13 am
Welcome back Sparky. I hope all is well in AT.
ranallo10 (in AT)
May 26th, 2010
8:36 am
Thanks bud, all is well.
Joe Friday
May 26th, 2010
8:42 am
Sparky!
Red Light
May 26th, 2010
8:51 am
REALITY CHECK!!!
Volchenkov is represented by Jay Grossman. Jay Grossman knows the following teams will likely lose several defensemen to free agency or have enough cap room to offer a sweet deal: Anaheim, Boston, Buffalo, Carolina, Colorado, Detroit, LA, Minny, Smashville, NJ, Ottawa, Phoenix, Pitt, San Jose, Vancouver and Washington.
That makes Atlanta choice No. 15 to No. 17 for Volchenkov, Kubina, Paul Martin and countless others. Nothing has changed in that regard so why beat yourselves up about it. Ain’t happening regardless of the GM!
World Be Free
May 26th, 2010
9:01 am
Let’s talk tier 2 UFAs compared to who they could replace. We can’t do all of these, but 2 out of 4 would be an improvement over our current roster.
Exit-Colby Armstrong-Leafs’ fan blog are clamoring for Tronna to sign him July 1. They obviously haven’t seen Colby’s play lately, his habit of taking a few games off every week. The Leafs can have him.
Insert-Lee Stepniak, who is more talented than Colby. “Step” returned to his previous form in the right situation when he went to Phoenix.
Exit-Kubina, who I don’t think will give the Thrashers the hometown discount. He’s not worth $5M over 3 years, which is what I think he’ll be asking.
Insert-Paul Martin, who is 4 years younger and can probably be had for $4M/year, a $1M savings over what we paid Kubina last year. Oduya to recruit?
Exit-Moose
Insert-Dan Ellis, who is 7 years younger than Moose, but still goalie young at 29. All depends on what the coaches think of Opie and whether he is ready to step into #1 with the right goalie coach. I would fret if they brought Moose back. This is one that could go either way.
Exit-Jimmy Slater, you got one more year of support out of me Jimmy, but it’s time to for you to head to Peoria or somewhere like that
Insert-Matthew Lombardi who has speed and skill. Tomas Plekanec may be an option here, but he may be considered tier 1 and not tier 2; he is no longer a lock to return to Montreal.
Thoughts?
Nikita
May 26th, 2010
9:04 am
My vote goes to Philly. As you guys know, I moved to PA. I am tepidly positive toward both PA teams, but since I detest Sid Crosby and Matt Cooke and I actually like Chris Pronger a lot (because he may be a jackass, but he’s also a very good player) I favor Philly. I’ve been watching them all season.
…Chicago, technically, is a better team. But they have the Hossa curse, and Philly has really performed far beyond what I would have expected from watching their season. I think they will win, but it will be in Game 7.
ranallo10 (in AT)
May 26th, 2010
9:12 am
I was somehow remiss … Joe Friday and Brendan — Everything here is good, thanks for caring. The lovely one is still unofficially part of the ranallo10 (in AT) crew, but maybe one day she’ll make an honest dude out of me… one day. As for my absence, nothing bad has happened on my end, just needed more time for work and less time for having fun with the good people on this board.
I hope I’m not too far off on the assumption that Mr. Friday is my old buddy Bob? I was hoping you would go with “The Program” as your next name. Shucks.
rob
May 26th, 2010
9:15 am
Reality sucks.
However, there is an upside to the same story, depending on who you are and how you swing it. Here’s the pitch. Come to Atlanta, where we are starting something new and need a foundation. You can be a part of that foundation, and if we can build it into something, that next round of negotiations will be huge for you. Or you can go to an already established team and be just another part of it.
Sure it won’t work on someone just in it for the money, but just might appeal to someone who wants a challenge and has the desire to be a leader and a catalyst. They just have to be sold on the fact that Atlanta is changing for the better, and while we are mostly up in the air about that, the ones who know if this is true or not are the ones who will be deciding who to go after this off season.
So I will hold out hope that somehow we can get the needed parts to the roster through draft, signing, trading this year, and cringe when they announce that Pavs/Moose are our goaltenders again LOL
Rawhide
May 26th, 2010
9:15 am
pulling self off of beach..shaking off sand from in between toes, fingers and other assorted body parts…making way to laptop to acknowledge return of one of this blog’s most favoite sons who has been away for far too long…
Ranallo10 (in AT) – Hey there buddy…nice to see ya back in here!! Good to hear life is still going well for you in the Big AT??!!
Hooky Bob – Yup, it’s a Christian Bros…but I shoot rightie.
…heading back to beach …
rob
May 26th, 2010
9:25 am
WBF,
If Slater can stay as focused as he was last year, I would be hesitant to let him go. He was a spark that we at times lacked and was not scared to stand up for his line or take one for the team if need be. If he were to slump again I would agree though, he has had his time.
With Antro having hip problems last year, might it be better for him as a winger, and if that is the case who would center there? Not sure how bad the hip was but if he was missing practices frequently….
Red Light
May 26th, 2010
9:26 am
rob: “Sure it won’t work on someone just in it for the money, but just might appeal to someone who wants a challenge and has the desire to be a leader and a catalyst.”
I can assure you, there isn’t a Russian hockey player alive who isn’t in it for the money.
Your view is a purist’s view, one I’d like to believe in too, but it isn’t realistic. The only thing most of these guys want to be a part of is a big paycheck.
World Be Free
May 26th, 2010
9:36 am
rob-move Antro to wing and bring in Plekanec and leave Jimmy alone.
Alan R.
May 26th, 2010
9:54 am
Hey Ranallo. Welcome back, my friend!
DWTOO
May 26th, 2010
10:33 am
If having Plekanec or Lombardi meant parting ways with Slates I’d have to do that deal. Either is an upgrade over Jimmy. Not a knock on Slater, because he’s the one guy who never takes a shift off, but, these guys have more skill.
Joe Friday
May 26th, 2010
10:40 am
Ranallo, hope you get the girl “wid the program, Sparky!” and signed up to a long term contract.
But I am surely pleased to see that you are safe and sound, I had a nagging field the Austrian mafia got to you, or something. Glad to hear you’re fine. Didya see that Waddell finally got fired? Oops, I mean promoted?
“Ain’t happening regardless of the GM!”
I know, you’d think if Kubina was staying he’d have re-upped by now. We need to keep and and do upgrades and his loss will be sting. I was worried that Oduya was a replacement for Kubina, when that trade was made.
Red Light, you didn’t answer about TJs for Game 1 on Sat. nite? You up for that? Anyone else as well?
GaVaHokie
May 26th, 2010
10:50 am
WBF… I’m fine with your choices except the Slater one… Lombardi and Plekanec is more of a Top 6 move. You still need someone like Slater for your bottom pairings. So, you’d have to look at the Malhotra’s and Madden’s of the league.
Red Light
May 26th, 2010
10:54 am
Would love to Joe Friday but my next two weeks are miserable for scheduling. Lots of visitors and family in for all kinds of events, etc. It looks like my lone opportunity would be Game 7 and don’t think the series will go that long. I’ll keep you apprised if I can get loose before that.
GaVaHokie
May 26th, 2010
11:02 am
Just saw some vid of Johansen from the Winterhawks-looks good as well-I’m still most impressed by Neidette-oh who am I foolin’ I forget howto spell the kids name-but he’s nasty too.
Tony… I’m fine with those choices… I’m still high on Etem, personally. Would love to see Kane, Pevs, Bergfors, Little and Etem burning up the ice.
He reminds me a lot of Evander Kane, and is bigger than Kane was coming into the draft… Etem is 6 foot, 190 lbs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_SfNHjPANw
World Be Free
May 26th, 2010
11:04 am
GaVa- I was thinking Malholtra, as I did last summer but I did not see him on my UFA listing. Manny os one of the best faceoff men in the league and he can play all 3 forward positions, if needed.
goose
May 26th, 2010
11:04 am
Joe- maybe we haven’t resigned kubina because of the coaching situation.
It will be interesting to see what happens to Philly after the playoffs. They currently have 46.4 million tied up in 8 players. 28.3 in 5 forwards and 18.1 in three defense men. They need to sign 2 goalies, 4 defense men and 3 forwards. Somethings gotta move.
Red Light
May 26th, 2010
11:12 am
Malholtra is a UFA July 1. Current salary is $700,000. He signed a one-year deal last summer after earning $1.5 million in Columbus the prior year. But, would the Thrashers put him on the third or fourth line? He’s a lot like Marty!
J.B.
May 26th, 2010
11:15 am
I thought last off season we’d made an offer to Malhotra that was bigger than the sharks but he turned it down and essentially said he was not interested in playing here. Did I make that up? If not, why even bother talking about him.
Red Light
May 26th, 2010
11:21 am
Perhaps the reason Red Wings’ assistant coach Paul MacLean turned down the Blue Jackets job is to take over in Tampa Bay for Stevie Y? I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he or McCrimmon are finalists for the post. McCrimmon played with Yzerman for three seasons in Detroit and I’m sure he’d like to make life difficult for a certain division rival seven hours to the north that threw him under the bus.