I took a couple days off to recuperate from all the hockey excitement on Monday evening. While we were watching the Stars take it to the Bulldogs at the CPC (Cedar Park Center) via ahl.com streaming on all the HD TVs, my Flyers ended their 13-year drought to the Cup. What a relief! I remember all the heartbreak I felt with game 7 in 2004 against the Lightning for the Eastern Conference, course that game was over after the first 10 minutes from what I witnessed. Then there was all the excitement of them making it to Eastern Conference again in 2008, only to lose to the Penguins. The 2008 experience didn’t bother me so much. The previous season was just awful and they made it this far during a rebuilding year so anything after the playoffs was gravy.
Unlike a NeoCon, I do remember my prediction for the Flyers two months ago and I’m glad to be wrong. I had seen this lineup play off and on all season, they didn’t give me too much hope, especially when they fired the coach (poor John Stevenson) over the losing skid earlier. Beating the Devils was cool yet not impossible, they’re rivals. Overcoming the really skilled Bruins after being in an 0-3 deficit, amazing! Eliminating the Canadiens was a lock after they jumped out with a 2-0 lead. Will this team hoist the Cup now? Definitely. The Blackhawks are good but they’re not good enough courtesy of their weaker Conference and residing in a division with only one consistently difficult team, the Red Wings; Predators and Blue Jackets are practically a bye. My Flyers may also be inconsistent yet they have more grit than the ‘Hawks. Or to put into terms Southsiders would understand, Pronger will probably put his fist through some people’s faces.
This is a very fitting Stanley Cup Championship too. Both teams have so much in common:
- Their fans are notorious for being poor sports: Philly is known for boo’ing Santa Claus, Chicago…the Cubs incident is the one the world recalls immediately.
- Both host cities are infamous for some of the unhealthiest cuisine in America: Chicago has White Castle, Italian beef sandwiches, deep-dish pizza and Polish sausage; Philly has cheesesteaks, cheesecake and hoagies.
- Both lost their Winter Classics.
- Both were swept by their opponents during their last Cup appearances. Oddly, their vanquishers were last year’s participants too: the Red Wings and Penguins.
- Both have rather inexperienced goalies because their starters are injured or were disappointing.
- Jeremy Roenick was a star player for both. He was a younger, scoring machine with the ‘Hawks but his time with the Flyers was pretty good too.
Now to work out a friendly wager with my ex-roommate Paul regarding the outcome.