Today on Philadelphiaflyers.com, I take a look at the way the Flyers have
answered the critics who have labeled them major underdogs in the upcoming Stanley Cup Finals.
Also today on the team's official site, I re-trace the pre-series conventional wisdom on the
Flyers past Stanley Cup Finals appearances in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1985, 1987 and 1997. Interestingly, the series in which the Flyers entered as underdogs they've historically tended to do better than when they are the favorites.
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Team defense and goaltending are what wins in the playoffs. The 2010 Stanley Cup Finals pits two teams that have played outstanding team defense through most of the postseason. Chicago played excellent team D during the regular season as well, while the Flyers took some time to get used to Peter Laviolette's version of the left-wing lock and then took a step backward again after the Olympic break before gelling defensively in the final week of the regular season and playoffs.
One of the biggest keys to the Finals for both teams will be to force the opposition to stretch the gap between the forwards and defense, force failed clears and turnovers between the bluelines and to get shots through from the point in order to force the defense to play more honestly.
Both club feature a highly effective top defense pairing. Duncan Keith has emerged as a premier NHL two-way defenseman, while Chris Pronger has shown why the Flyers paid such a hefty price to acquire him last summer. Brent Seabrook is tough to play against one-on-one and is an underrated outlet passer as well. On an individual basis, Matt Carle has been somewhat inconsistent after a tremendous start to the season, but has worked very well in tandem with Pronger and there has rarely been a need to juggle the pairing.
Kimmo Timonen remains a fine two-way defenseman, and being able to run out his pairing to play nearly as many minutes as Pronger's has enabled the Flyers to minimize the exposure of its weak third pairing. This strategy has worked because Braydon Coburn has really stepped up his game in the playoffs. Once on the club gets down to Lukas Krajicek and Ryan Parent, it's hold-your-breath time.
For Chicago, there is greater depth from numbers 4 to 5 on the blueline (Brian Campbell, Brent Sopel and Niklas Hjalmarsson). It is scary to think how formidable the entire D corps would be if ex-Flyer Kim Johnsson (3 points, +7 in eight games after his acquisition from Minnesota) had not missed the last two months with a concussion. But the blueline is still deep enough for Joel Quenneville to mix and match his personnel effectively when penalties or other in-game absences take one of the top 3 defensemen off the ice. Peter Laviolette doesn't have that luxury when he can't go with Plan A.
Of course, defense is just as much the responsibility of the forwards as the players on the blueline. The Flyers have their best pure checking line in years in Blair Betts' line with Ian Laperriere and Darroll Powe. The Blackhawks, meanwhile, can send John Madden's line out to restore defensive order.
Both Quenneville and Laviolette demand that all their forwards backcheck diligently, and their players have bought in. The return of Simon Gagne to the lineup in the Boston series was a turning point in Philly's two-way play.
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Today's
Daily Drop at Versus.com looks at the potential effects of the long layoff between the Conference Finals and Cup Finals. Both teams are pretty much in the same boat, but there could be a longer-than-usual feeling out process in the first period of Game 1.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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