A Dream Stanley Cup Finals

It happened. It actually happened. My two favorite teams in the world are facing each other for the right to lift Lord Stanley's Cup. Once upon a time, the Blackhawks were never shown on television, leaving a young HBJ without a team to enjoy watching on TV from time to time (the rare times hockey was shown). Enter the Philadelphia Flyers, the team that maintained my interest in hockey whenever I could catch a game. That and I always liked the team name and logo. After all the hardships the team went through during the regular season, they wholeheartedly deserve to be in the Stanley Cup Finals.

However, the Blackhawks are still my team, and after all the hardships they went through for the past FIFTY YEARS, they most definitely deserve a shot at the Cup. Combine the two, and you're looking at one of the best potential Stanley Cup matchups in years. There are a few reasons why this is the best possible matchup the NHL could have had out of the sixteen teams that made the playoffs.

1. The Battle for the Cup this year is fresh. No Penguins, no Red Wings. The Flyers have not made the Finals since 1997, the Hawks since 1992. Both teams have not won the Cup in decades (Flyers since 1975, Hawks since 1961). I know some people were hoping for a Original Six Finals with the Hawks and Habs but this is the better matchup (Fun Fact: The Flyers were the first non-Original Six team to win the Cup). The Cup is going to a city that hasn't seen it in forever, isn't that exciting!?

2. With the NHL trying hard to bring in American viewers, Flyers/Hawks is an excellent selling point. Montreal would not have drawn in nearly as many American viewers, and Canada already has the entire population watching the sport, so they don't need the help. In addition, Philly and Chicago both have huge fanbases, with the Chicago having one of the best and Philly having one of the worst (I say this in a good way. Their fanbase consists of the biggest assholes in the country, and honestly that is one of the reasons I still like the Flyers). You can say this is a battle of good vs. evil (and of course the good guys always come out on top right?).

3. Both teams play an extremely exciting style. They both use a good combination of physicality and skill, with a slight emphasis on one of those (physical play for Philly, skill for Chicago). This is what makes hockey fun to watch, and both teams are sure to put on a good show.

4. Goaltending. Honestly, who expected the starting goalies in the Stanley Cup Finals to be ANTTI NIEMI and MICHAEL LEIGHTON? Hell, at the beginning of the playoffs, both teams were predicted to not do well because of the "shaky" goaltending. Many people predicted Devils over Flyers in the 1st round and Canucks over Hawks in the 2nd because of the goaltending. Niemi is no Marc Andre-Fleury, Leighton is no Ryan Miller. Where are they at now? On the golf course. I wonder if this is the first time that both goalies in the Finals were not even starters at the start of the season. Niemi and Leighton (also Brian Boucher, another "backup scrub" who only owned the Devils and kept Philly from getting swept by Boston) are sending a message to all the mid to low level goalies: Everyone has the potential to be great if you put your heart into it. Niemi and Leighton, along with the rest of their teams, did just that. The Hawks and Flyers really really want to win the Cup, and you could see that when Philly made history in Boston and Chicago got out the brooms against San Jose.


So now that you know that the Finals are going to be amazing, who is going to win the Stanley Cup? I'm predicting every game except one will be close, but the Chicago Blackhawks win in 6 games. And I'll be in Chicago for the parade!