Chillin' and Thrillin'

Sitting here at home, you wonder 'how cool would it be to have my favorite team in the Stanley Cup Finals'?

Do you wonder that, also? Because, at least in Chicago and (I assume) Philadelphia, these are indeed heady times for Blackhawks and Flyers' fans alike. For the young and speedy Hawks, this is the culmination of years of lousy teams, high draft picks, and dogged perseverance, while the fan base in the Windy City was rebuilt, virtually overnight, from the days of 11,000 (announced) attendances in the cavernous United Center.

For the Flyers, it's been upset after upset -- first New Jersey, then Boston -- and then, a Montreal team who had pulled off two of the largest upsets in NHL playoff history, in back-to-back series (Washington and Pittsburgh), was eschewed by the Flyers in five semi-blowout games.

So now, it all comes to this series. If Game 1 was any indication of what's to come, we are in for a good series with which to send hockey fans into the summer. Don't underestimate what either team can do. They can play the other team's game if they need to. Saturday night in Game 1, Philadelphia played Chicago's game. The Flyers may need to get better at that for Game 2 on Monday night in order for this series to go much beyond the minimum, however.

Defense, anyone?