This year’s Stanley Cup Final, which starts on Saturday in Chicago, seems to have a freshness to it. Neither team, Chicago or Philadelphia, has been here in more than 10 years, and there are plenty of easy-to-root-for story lines.
For the NHL – and television partner Versus – this is as good a matchup as Gary Bettman and the suits could hope for, especially without superstars Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. Both teams have plenty of stars and personalities to make for great highlights and off-day headlines.
It was only a few years ago that the Blackhawks were an afterthought, pretty much irrelevant. Then they drafted Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Now, their playoff run has been buoyed by the rough-and-tumble Dustin Byfuglien. Byfuglien was moved up to the top line alongside Toews and Kane, and has been a thorn for opposing defensemen and goalies because his wide frame (6-4, 257) is tough to move. His three game-winning goals against San Jose in the Western Conference final have helped make him one of the faces of this championship.
As James Mirtle wrote in the Globe and Mail this week, the Blackhawks’ forwards are aggressive and not afraid to get a little dirty. Not to mention that sharpshooter Marian Hossa is on the second line.
Playing against those talented forwards will be the veteran pair of Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen, who play separately even strength, but excel on special teams. Pronger, although he seems like a graybeard, was one of the keys to the Flyers’ historic comeback against Montreal in the Eastern Conference finals.
The top pairing on the other side is expected Norris winner Duncan Keith, who may be best known for losing seven teeth against San Jose, and his partner, Brent Seabrook.
Philly’s forwards, led by the Big Four of Daniel Brière, Mike Richards, Simon Gagné and Jeff Carter, play a lot bigger than they’re listed in the program. They’ll need to keep the puck in Chicago’s zone to keep pressure off of their defense, which is expected to struggle against the Blackhawks’ front line. Gagne (seven goals) and Daniel Briere (18 points) are playing like they did five years ago.
There are plenty of parallels in this series. Both teams have considerable Cup droughts: Philly hasn’t won since ’75 and Chicago hasn’t since ’61. Both have relied on unknown goalies that have hit a hot streak at the precise time their teams needed them. Antti Niemi for the ‘Hawks was a free agent from Finland who many wondered if he was good enough even in the regular season. Then the Flyers’ Michael Leighton, who stepped in for the injured Brian Boucher and had three shutouts against the Canadiens, has a .948 save percentage in seven games.
The key to the series will be Pronger and Matt Carle. If they can slow down the Blackhawks’ big line, Philly has a shot. Pronger, after all, is in his third Cup final in the last five years since he’s become a bit of a journeyman (Hartford, St. Louis, Edmonton, Anaheim and now Philly).
But given the Flyers’ two-pronged comeback against Montreal (down 3-0 in the series, then down 3-0 in Game 7) it’s difficult to count them out. And Chicago’s seven game road winning streak has to end sometime.
Still, count me in the chorus that says Blackhawks in six games.
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