The Flyers will add another chapter to their historic 2010 playoffs on Saturday when they open the Stanley Cup Finals in Chicago against the Blackhawks. It’s been a combined 84 years since the people of Philadelphia and Chicago have had a Cup to call their own and that streak will obviously be coming to an end in 7 games or fewer. The Flyers postseason was born in a shootout victory against the Rangers on the last day of the season. And it was most notably defined by their improbable return form a 3-0 grave to beat the Bruins. Teams adding themselves as notches on the Flyers belt were the Devils and most recently the Canadiens.

You play whom you are scheduled against and your mission is to win those series. To that extent, the Flyers have done what they’ve needed to do and are have their lips close to the Cup. But while nobody expected the Flyers to make the Cup at the conclusion of the season, nobody really expected the teams they beat to make it either. That can’t be said for the Blackhawks. After beating Nashville in the first round, they took out the 3rd-seeded Canucks in 6 games and then they went on the road and crushed the top-seeded San Jose Sharks in a 4-game sweep.

Why am I mentioning this? Well, because for as great a run as the Flyers have been on, it will come to an end against the Hawks. They’re too talented, too fast and too tough. Not that the Flyers aren’t any of these things, it’s just Chicago has more in just about every department. For example, the Flyers have Chris Pronger, one of the NHL’s best defensemen. But the Hawks have Duncan Keith, one of the 3 finalists for this year’s Norris Trophy (and a guy who got 7 teeth knocked out in Game 4 of the San Jose series and still logged the most ice time of any player in that game). The Flyers have Kimmo Timonen, one of the NHL’s better #2 defensemen. But the Hawks have Brent Seabrook as their number two (both he and Keith blue-lined Team Canada to gold in Vancouver) as well as Brian Campbell, one of the better puck-moving d-men in the game. Again, no knock against the Flyers merely a slightly better crew dressed in red and black.

And take a look at how the offenses compare. For as well as Mike Richards has played and for as great Danny Briere and Simon Gagne have been, they’re probably not Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. The Hawks also have Dustin Byfuglien, who’s being mentioned as the front runner for the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP). Couple that with names like John Madden, Marian Hossa and Kris Versteeg and the Flyers are up against a pretty formidable squad.

There are two fulcrums upon which this series can swing the Flyers way. The first is in the goaltending department. For as unknown as Michael Leighton and Antti Niemi are, they’ve both been rock solid in net. If Leighton can significantly outplay Niemi, he takes away a big part of Chicago’s potent offense. The ability to stand on his head could be just the edge the Flyers are looking for. And the second thing the Hawks may have working against them is the curse of Marian Hossa. For as great a scorer as Hossa has been (he’s averaged over 30 goals per year for his career), he is about to play in the Cup Finals for the 3rd consecutive year with his 3rd different team. He fell short in 2008 with the Penguins and subsequently jumped ship to the Red Wings, where the heavily-favored Detroit team proceeded to lose last year to the Pens. Hossa seems like a black cat for his teams; for the Flyers sake we should hope this trend continues.

I’m not interested in raining on parades. But I really believe this series will be over in fewer than 6 games and that the magic the Flyers have enjoyed thus far will end against the Hawks. The Hawks are a better team on paper, but more importantly their accomplishments this postseason have been more impressive given the quality of their opponents (one needs to look no further than their Conference Finals sweep of San Jose) than the Flyers. I’m not saying I think the Flyers can’t win, but I don’t see enough evidence for a reasonable observer to go the other way. Sorry, Philly, (and I’m being conservative with this games total): Blackhawks in 6.

Losing 5 games in a row at the end of March is never a recipe for Stanley Cup success. Once that fact was pointed out to them, the Flyers did the only thing they could have done last night: win the game.

By beating New Jersey last night 5-1 the Flyers closed their 6-game season series against the Devils with a fifth win. They did so behind Brian Boucher, the sixth goaltender to dress for the Flyers this season. Because of the rash of injuries to their goalie corps, Boucher’s backup last night was Carter Hutton who was the starting goalie for UMass-Lowell only 2 weeks ago. Amazingly, this development followed Saturday’s loss to Pittsburgh which saw Johan Backlund start his first NHL game in net for the Flyers.

If the Flyers make the playoffs, their cache of minor league goaltenders will probably make them first-round chum in the playoff waters. One exception does come to mind and that would be if they were to be matched up with New Jersey, whom they’ve beaten 5 of 6 times this year. Unfortunately, the Flyers record against their other potential opponents is not so favorable. The three teams (other than the Devils) most likely to finish with home ice advantage in the first round are: Washington (against whom the Flyers are 1-3), Pittsburgh (only 1 Flyers win in 6 games) and Buffalo (only 1 Flyers win in 4 games). It is also conceivable that Ottawa could finish 4th in the Conference, though the Flyers luck against the Senators this season has been equally dismal: only 1 Flyers win in 4 games against Ottawa.

So it would seem the playoffs come down to two things for the Flyers. The first, of course, is to qualify for the postseason. And the second would be to finish fifth and draw the Devils. Otherwise, they’d be facing one of three teams that have combined records of 14-3 against the Flyers.*

*We’re counting shootout losses as losses because, as we are all well aware, in the playoffs a loss is a loss.

It’s only natural that the teams that bookend the State of Pennsylvania hate each other. As both the Flyers and the Penguins have come into their own in the past few seasons, their dislike for each other has grown even stronger. Among a variety of on-ice fireworks, some Tabasco was spilled into the rivalry’s jock strap earlier this month when it was reported that the Penguins’ TV affiliate failed to provide all replay angles on a goal scored by Simon Gagne that was under review.

Well today the National Post of Canada is reporting that they are officially blood rivals. Flyers’ forward, Aaron Asham, is accusing Pittsburgh forward, Matt Cooke, of biting him. The two were involved in a scrum when Cooke allegedly bit Asham on the finger. Said Asham: “there were 2 guys on Harts (Scott Hartnell) and my glove got tangled in his mouth and he bit me, so I lost it…he’s a gutless guy…I have no respect for him at all…I just have no use for him.”

You’ll remember that it was Scott Hartnell who was accused back in October of biting Penguins’ defenseman, Kris Latang’s finger. With the mutual hatred at an all-time high, we can expect a straight-up war when the two teams meet for the final time on March 27.

The Penguins have had the upper hand this season, winning 4 of 5 contests which may help to explain why Scott Hartnell made a point of nibbling on it. With so many points going the Penguins’ way thanks to the Flyers, it was Matt Cooke this time who chose to bite the hand that feeds him. Perhaps there’s a Shakespearean angle to all this with both teams referencing literature’s greatest story of cross-town rivalry, Romeo and Juliet. One can only image Chris Pronger asking Sergei Gonchar “do you bite your thumb at us sir?” I could go on and on with these childish cliches but I should probably just bite my tongue.

The Dallas Stars are in town tonight to play the Flyers and to offer their longhorn-loving souls on the altar of redemption for Philadelphia sports. Presumably if the Flyers beat Dallas, memories of the Eagles trio of failed efforts against the Cowboys will be erased from the collective consciousness of the Delaware Valley. The Flyers, winners of three-in-a-row, are favored to win (you’ve got to love the puckline in hockey betting: it’s always either +/-1.50) and if they do, all will be forgiven surrounding the events of this past Saturday. You can catch the Redemption Classic tonight at 7 on CSN.

The network you won’t want covering the game is FSN Pittsburgh. Apparently they failed to send every replay angle their cameras caught to Toronto for review last week when Simon Gagne scored a short-handed goal in the game against Pittsburgh. The replay crew in Toronto reviewed the play but failed to credit Gagne and the Flyers with a goal because the replays they were provided were inconclusive. As it turns out, FSN didn’t send the one decisive replay angle that would have given Gagne a goal until after the puck had been dropped following the review.

The NHL is investigating the situation and as the League’s VP of Public Relations, Gary Meagher, said “at the heart of the matter is the integrity of the system.” Um, yeah. Shockingly, an FSN spokesperson had no comment on the matter. As it turned out the “oversight” didn’t mean much as the Flyers won the game handily. This doesn’t exactly rise to the level of Tim Donaghy-gate but come on, Penguins, you gotta play by the rules.

It’s hard to tell what’s wrong with the Flyers, other than what we see on the ice every time they play. They cannot score their way out of a snowed-in roof deck. And their two “leaders” spend at least a minute per game in the penalty box. Jeff Carter is non-existent, Scott Hartnell isn’t much more than a penalty machine and Claude Giroux is quite a long way from what local observers seem to think will be a very bright future.

Just one quick thought: Peter Laviolette’s hiring has been a disaster. Sure, he’s only coached a few games but he’s lost all of them but one. If Paul Holmgren was hoping the Flyers’ season would change like the Penguins’ did last year upon replacing coaches, he’s looking sadly mistaken. He staked his reputation on this move, and so far he’s got mud on his face.

The Flyers are 3-11 in their last 14 games. At the risk of sounding ridiculous, part of that disgraceful record has to do with the fact they’ve played a brutal schedule. 7 of those losses came to teams that are either first or second in their divisions and 3 of the losses came to 3rd-place teams. In short, they haven’t exactly been playing a lot of patsies (though 2 of their 3 wins were against the Islanders).

None of this excuses a pathetic performance from a team that many thought would contend for the Cup this season. During this 14-game skid, the Flyers have been outscord 26-49. Neither the off-season addition of Ray Emery nor Chris Pronger has proven to make them any better than they were last year. And the Flyers nominally-powerful scorers have done little this year; the highest-ranked scorer on the Flyers is Mike Richards. His 26 points are good for 49th-place in the NHL.

Last night’s 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the Penguins was a good indication of how far removed from the League’s elite teams the Flyers are. And that game put the issue of the Flyers personnel into stark contrast with one of the NHL’s best rosters. Offensively, the Flyers don’t have anyone as good as Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. Defensively they don’t have anyone as good as Sergei Gonchar. And their goaltender (whoever that may be) isn’t as good as Marc-Andre Fleury. With the better part of the season remaining, the Flyers need to start looking at making some moves on their bench, not just behind it.

John Stevens was fired on Friday by the Flyers. In four seasons behind the Flyers bench, Stevens was 120-109-34 and his playoff record was 11-12. True, these numbers aren’t stellar but they aren’t terrible either. Stevens took over in ’06 with a team that was historically awful, posting a record of 21-42-11. In his next two seasons he took the team to the playoffs, reaching the Conference Finals in ’07-’08 and getting bounced last year in the first round by the eventual champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

His replacement is the fiery Peter Laviolette, most recently of Versus TV coverage fame. The upside to this hiring is that Laviolette has a Stanley Cup under his belt (2006 Carolina Hurricanes) and his career winning percentage is 21 points higher than Stevens’ (.562-.541). And maybe most importantly he’s known to be a hot-tempered coach with lots of personality, something Stevens lacked in the way Andy Reid lacks a clear throat.

While Laviolette has 7 years of coaching under his belt, the only season he won a playoff series was the year the ‘Canes went all the way. His teams missed the playoffs in 4 of his 7 years and he was bounced in the 1st round twice while with the Islanders.

The bottom line for the Flyers is that they’re not as good as 9 other Eastern Conference teams right now. Their scoring has cooled: they’ve scored 8 goals in their last 5 games and have been shutout twice during that stretch. And their goaltending is, once again, in flux: of the 9 teams ahead of the Flyers, 7 of them have starting goalies with lower GAAs than Ray Emery (the Islanders’ Dwayne Roloson and the Senators’ Pascal Leclaire are worse) and 7 of them have goaltenders with better save percentages than Emery (only Leclaire and Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury are worse).

If the players continue playing below their collective ability, the Flyers won’t be any better off with Laviolette. Of course, merely the act of changing leadership often times is enough to turn it around. With rumors swirling that Mike Richards will lose his captaincy to Chris Pronger, there’s a lot more than simply the head coaching that needs to improve if this team is going to realize its potential.

The Flyers season is 5-games old and Ray Emery is showing himself to be everything we warned that he would be. Namely, Emery is wildly inconsistent. Following the lovefest surrounding Emery’s signing, fans in Philly were giddy about Emery’s addition and saw it as a sure ticket to the Cup. While the excitement surrounding Emery befuddled us, hordes of Flyers fans though the $1 million dollar man would somehow morph into Marty Brodeur or Roberto Luongo. Instead, what we see from Emery is a lot of what he’s always been: on when he’s on and eminently beatable when he’s not.

Emery has backstopped all 5 Flyers games this season and is 3-1-1. He got the shutout in the first contest against Carolina and followed it with a solid 2-goal game against New Jersey. But the next two contests against potent offensive teams (Washington and Pittsburgh) saw him allow in 6 and 5 goals in consecutive games. His last outing was this past Saturday where he was good against Anaheim but yielded the game-winner in a shootout loss.

This short sample size illustrates what you’re going to get from Emery. He’s capable of playing good hockey but sadly incapable of doing it consistently. His ultra-aggressive style means he’s good in his crease and strong against loose pucks but he gets beaten one-on-one so often because he relies less on positioning and more on the direct challenge.

On the season he has a 2.74 GAA and a save percentage of .905. Neither stat is bad, but neither disinguishes him either. His goals-against is good for 16th out of 41 qualifying goaltenders (the minimum for qualification is a projected 27-game season) and his save percentage is 18th in the league. These numbers along with his up-and-down performance so far should give previously intoxicated fans some pause. At the end of the season, Emery’s inconsistent play is going to have the Flyers in exactly the same goaltending position they were last year with Marty Biron.

Adding some fire to tonight’s Flyers-Penguins game (and just ire and fury to Philadelphians in general), The Sporting News has named Pittsburgh the best sports town in the U.S. and Canada. I chose Steelers’ kicker, Jeff Reed, to rep the Iron City as he best exemplifies the mentality of a backwards city that happens to have fallen into multiple hockey and football championships over the years. To check out their “methodology” in coming up with the rankings, click here.

If it’s any consolation, Philadelphia is number 2 on the list. I don’t know whether I neccesarily agree with that either but hey, there’s a reason nobody reads The Sporting News anymore.

I do know one thing for sure about Pittsburgh fans: they’re easy to spot. Whether male or female, they will always be wearing a Steelers jersey with at least one Steelers t-shirt underneath. They will most likely be overweight and are almost always on their second plate of chicken wings when you see them. The men generally have frosted tips and the women (more often than not) are sporting Willie Parker jerseys speckled with hot sauce, blue cheese and ranch dressing. A funny bunch, for sure.

The road to the Stanley Cup goes through Pittsburgh. Whether you like that statement doesn’t matter; the Penguins are the defending champions and there’s no reason to think they won’t do it again, other than the high hopes of Eastern Conference aspirants like the Capitals, Rangers, Bruins and Flyers. Tonight at the Wachovia Center will be the first installment of the Flyers’ season-long test to see whether they can unseat the Pens.

Barry Melrose and E.J. Hradek have a pretty good piece today about the impact that Chris Pronger will have on the Flyers hopes. There’s no two ways about it: the addition of Pronger in the off-season was made largely because of the need to shut down Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. To boot, Pronger becomes the point man on the power play and (along with Matt Carle) will make the man-advantage a whole lot more productive for the Orange and Black.

Through the first 3 games the Flyers hold the statistical edge on the Penguins in just about every department. They’ve scored more goals, allowed fewer, have a better power play %, a better penalty kill percentage and are 3-0 while the Pens are 2-1. Of course, 3-games into a season doesn’t tell much of a story other than being representative of the Flyers doing their homework for their first big test. And that’ll be tonight at 7 pm at the Wachovia Center.

UPDATE: In case you haven’t heard, the Flyers are giving remaining tickets to tonight’s game away for $25 if you have a Phillies ticket. If the Phils are successful this afternoon, that spillover crowd could make the arena even louder and more raucous than usual.