The Chicago Blackhawks swept the San Jose Sharks and the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Montreal Canadiens in five games to earn the rights to meet each other in the Stanley Cup finals.  If you would’ve told me that these two teams would meet each other for the cup in October, I wouldn’t have been surprised as Chicago has been my pick to represent the West all season long, and Philadelphia was my third choice in the East after Washington and Pittsburgh.  What is a surprise is how Philly got there, almost imploding during the regular season and needed a shootout win on the final day of the regular season just to make the playoffs.  Game 1 between these two teams will be Saturday night.  One has to wonder if this is a smart move for the NHL as they will go dark for five days before the finals start, one would think the NHL would want to keep the playoff momentum going.  Let’s take a look at the upcoming matchup.

Chicago versus Philadelphia

Offense: Both of these teams have talented offensive players on their roster.  The Flyers boast Simon Gagne, Daniel Briere, Jeff Carter, and Mike Richards, while the Blackhawks have Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews, and Marian Hossa, so putting rubber on the net shouldn’t be a problem.  The difference may lie in the depth of both teams.  Chicago can roll three lines pretty effectively as Kris Versteeg is also a goal scorer and Dustin Byfuglien is a monster in front of the net.  The most important news for Flyers fans may be that this team is finally healthy.  Jeff Carter returned from his broken foot late in the last round and scored two goals in the series clincher.  Simon Gagne had returned earlier in the playoffs with the same injury.  The key to the series may be how well Hossa plays for Chicago.  For the second straight postseason he has been pretty close to invisible in the playoffs, and he certainly doesn’t want to lose in the Stanley Cup finals with a third team for a third straight season, now does he?

Advantage:  Chicago

Defense: There were rumors coming out of Philadelphia late in the regular season that his teammates had grown tired of Chris Pronger’s attitude.  It seems Pronger didn’t sugar coat what he believed the team needed to do to win and this rubbed some of his teammates the wrong way.  Well wrong way or not this team would be nowhere without Pronger.  You may not see what he brings to the game in the box score, but he is tasked with holding the opposing team’s top players in check, something he has done incredibly well so far this postseason.  If the Flyers go on to win the cup, Pronger’s name should come up for Conn Smythe consideration.  Speaking of awards, the Blackhawks Duncan Keith will be a contender for the Norris Trophy and showed to the world why he is a leader for the Hawks when he took a puck to the mouth in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, lost seven teeth, yet sill played almost thirty minutes and assisted on the first goal for Chicago, just incredible.  The Blackhawks also have Brian Campbell and Brent Seabrook to help slow down the Flyers.

Advantage:  Chicago

Goaltending: This may be the most interesting matchup of the finals as neither Antti Niemi of the Blackhawks nor Michael Leighton of the Flyers were expected to be manning the crease at this point in the playoffs.  Niemi took over the starting job from Cristobal Huet and although he has had quite a few bumps in the road has played better and better throughout the playoffs.  His confidence seems to be at an all-time high and if he doesn’t collapse under the pressure of the spotlight in the finals, Niemi may bring Chicago a championship.  As for Leighton he has had a roller coaster ride himself, from being released by the Carolina Hurricanes to starting in the Stanley Cup, not to mention a few injuries in between.  The biggest question I will have about Leighton and the entire Flyers team for that matter is that they had the easiest road to the finals.  The played a slumping Devils team in the first round, an offensively challenged Bruins team in round two, and an out of gas team in the Canadiens in round three.  The Blackhawks will put more pressure on the Leighton and the Flyers than all those teams combined in this series.  How Leighton reacts will go a long way to showing if the Flyers can hang with the Hawks.

Advantage:  Even

Prediction:  Chicago in six

Tags: Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Philadelphia Flyers, Playoffs, Stanley Cup