NHL Playoffs 2010: Chicago's Big Shot

Jun 07, 2010

The Chicago Blackhawks are one game away from winning the Stanley Cup against the Philadelphia Flyers. If the Hawks win game 6 in Philadelphia, they will end the longest current Stanley Cup drought for any city in the NHL, which dates back to 1961 when they beat the Detroit Red Wings.

Home-Ice Hooray

NHL Playoffs 2010: Chicago's Big Shot

Home-Ice Advantage seems to be the big trend in this Stanley Cup Finals Series. Both teams have won all their games in their home hockey rink. That’s good news for the Flyers as the next game shifts back to Philadelphia where all the fans are wearing orange. The bad news for the Flyers is that if they win game 6, they will have to figure out how to win in Chicago as game 7 is scheduled there. Chicago’s arena is called “The Madhouse” , and the Blackhawks seem to enjoy the madness as they have won all their games their quite easily.

Boom-Boom Byfuglien

NHL Playoffs 2010: Chicago's Big Shot

Game 5 showed that Dustin Byfuglien is still the big reason why Chicago is the favorite to win the Stanley Cup. Dustin scored 2 goals and 2 assists and was named the 1st star of the game. Chicago ended up winning the game 7-4 halting Philadelphia’s momentum of winning the previous 2 games.

Phili Phloosies

For Philadelphia to have any chance at winning game 6 and game 7, the Flyer’s captain Mike Richards has to get linemates Jeff Carter and Simone Gagner to play physical. Mike has been a tremendous force and it shows that his physical play works well for the Flyers. Unfortunately Jeff and Simone haven’t been hitting and they are not generating as many goals as they should be. It’s possible that they are suffering from previous injuries that they suffered recently.

There has been an extra-day for rest before game 6, and both teams should come out hard on Wednesday night. Can the Blackhawks finish off the Flyers? Can the Flyers pull off another miracle? Who will win the Stanley Cup?