The Stanley Cup Finals that the NHL Didn’t Want but is Glad They Got…
By Rory Douglas
It’s the last game of the regular season and the Philadelphia Flyers claw there way into the playoffs. I team that limped in in an overtime shoot out against the rival Rangers. They face off with New Jersey in Round 1, but most around the NHL could careless. The match ups their eyes are glued on are Washington/Montreal and Pittsburgh/Ottawa. Stars Crosby and Ovechkin respectively carrying their teams. The NHL wants that rematch of a great Conference finals series between the two. But it never happened. Montreal played the part of Cinderella and crushed Washington’s Stanley Cup dreams.
In New Jersey future Hall of Fame net minder Marty Brodeur showed signs of age as his gas tank hit E. The Philadelphia Flyers, the NHL’s last entrant into the Stanley Cup Finals had a date with Boston.
The NHL’s hopes of a star studded Finals series was left up to Sidney Crosby and his Pittsburgh Penguins. In a series that saw the true rise of Jaroslav Halak as a true top goaltender and a playoff star the Montreal Canadiens put the glass slipper on one last time and sent Crosby home hoping for his Prince Charming to come next season.
The NHL has lost its top two marquee names from the Eastern conference… but another story was developing in Boston.
Down 3-0 in the Series the Flyers took to home ice in game four in what most would consider a pride game. Its one to lose on home ice, but to be swept in for and finish in your building its another. But the boys from Philly weren’t done. Simon Gagne returned to the Flyers lineup since going down with a foot injury in New Jersey. Signs of rust weren’t evident as the Flyers forward scored the game winning overtime goal to force the series back to Boston.
From there the story was born. The Flyers, a never say die team that limped into the playoffs had somewhere in the final minutes of that game four transformed into the new bullies. Grit determination and physicality, in a sense true Flyer hockey. They took 5 on the road in Boston and won game 6 back home for the Philly faithful. Then they hit a bump, game 7 in Boston. Down early 3-0 in the first period, but they didn’t quit, they simply played their brand of hockey and gutted out a 4-3 comeback that will go down as one of the greatest hockey playoff series ever.
The NHL had a new team from the East that would make for great ratings come time to broadcast the finals. After disposing of the Canadiens in 5 Philadelphia headed into Chicago, and as we’ve all seen that series has played out to a 3-2 edge for the Blackhawk’s. Gary Bettman and other NHL officials want one more game in Chicago, because these never say die Flyers, the new era Bullies like Richards, Hartnell, and Giroux, are a story worth watching. A team with out the NHL’s marquee big names, Philadelphia may have brought back some old fans and created some new ones, and for the future of the NHL, their appearance in the finals is a welcomed change of plans.
By Rory Douglas
It’s the last game of the regular season and the Philadelphia Flyers claw there way into the playoffs. I team that limped in in an overtime shoot out against the rival Rangers. They face off with New Jersey in Round 1, but most around the NHL could careless. The match ups their eyes are glued on are Washington/Montreal and Pittsburgh/Ottawa. Stars Crosby and Ovechkin respectively carrying their teams. The NHL wants that rematch of a great Conference finals series between the two. But it never happened. Montreal played the part of Cinderella and crushed Washington’s Stanley Cup dreams.
In New Jersey future Hall of Fame net minder Marty Brodeur showed signs of age as his gas tank hit E. The Philadelphia Flyers, the NHL’s last entrant into the Stanley Cup Finals had a date with Boston.
The NHL’s hopes of a star studded Finals series was left up to Sidney Crosby and his Pittsburgh Penguins. In a series that saw the true rise of Jaroslav Halak as a true top goaltender and a playoff star the Montreal Canadiens put the glass slipper on one last time and sent Crosby home hoping for his Prince Charming to come next season.
The NHL has lost its top two marquee names from the Eastern conference… but another story was developing in Boston.
Down 3-0 in the Series the Flyers took to home ice in game four in what most would consider a pride game. Its one to lose on home ice, but to be swept in for and finish in your building its another. But the boys from Philly weren’t done. Simon Gagne returned to the Flyers lineup since going down with a foot injury in New Jersey. Signs of rust weren’t evident as the Flyers forward scored the game winning overtime goal to force the series back to Boston.
From there the story was born. The Flyers, a never say die team that limped into the playoffs had somewhere in the final minutes of that game four transformed into the new bullies. Grit determination and physicality, in a sense true Flyer hockey. They took 5 on the road in Boston and won game 6 back home for the Philly faithful. Then they hit a bump, game 7 in Boston. Down early 3-0 in the first period, but they didn’t quit, they simply played their brand of hockey and gutted out a 4-3 comeback that will go down as one of the greatest hockey playoff series ever.
The NHL had a new team from the East that would make for great ratings come time to broadcast the finals. After disposing of the Canadiens in 5 Philadelphia headed into Chicago, and as we’ve all seen that series has played out to a 3-2 edge for the Blackhawk’s. Gary Bettman and other NHL officials want one more game in Chicago, because these never say die Flyers, the new era Bullies like Richards, Hartnell, and Giroux, are a story worth watching. A team with out the NHL’s marquee big names, Philadelphia may have brought back some old fans and created some new ones, and for the future of the NHL, their appearance in the finals is a welcomed change of plans.
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