The Stanley Cup Finals are finally here, where the Chicago Blackhawks will face the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers are the 7th seeded team in the Eastern Conference, and made the playoffs on the last day of the regular season in a shootout over the New York Rangers. The Flyers run shows exactly what the NHL is all about. The teams that
make the finals get hot at the right time. Everything comes together, with stellar goaltending leading the way. On their
way to the Finals, the Flyers did everything you will never see in the NBA. The Flyers lost their number 1 goalie Ray Emery mid-season, then lost their playoff goalie Brian Boucher against the Bruins. Their current goalie is Michael Leighton, who was not even in the NHL when the Flyer's season started. They were the 7 seed in the East, and they came back from a 3-0 deficit against the Bruins in the East Semis. No team in NBA history has come back from a 3-0 hole, and this season the San Antonio Spurs became the first 7 seed in NBA history to win a playoff series. The Flyers did not even need to play the heavyweights of the East to get here, thanks to the Canadiens, who they beat in the East Finals. The Habs knocked out the Caps and Penguins in two grueling 7 game affairs. If the 7 and 8 seeds made the Eastern Conference Finals in the NBA, it would have featured the Bobcats against the Bulls. Would never happen. The NHL may not quite get the ratings that the NBA does, and the casual fan might not care at all about the NHL. I advise everyone to tune into the NHL playoffs, as it is a tournament of 16 teams that can all win it. The NBA probably has a maximum of 6 teams that are capable of winning the title. The NHL's claim to fame is its parity, and its showing its true colors in these playoffs.
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