As a Winnipegger, it’s difficult to pick a side in the Stanley Cup final.
After all, if the Hawks win the Cup, the trophy will come to Winnipeg with Chicago captain Jonathan Toews and very likely stay here for a week or two. If the Flyers win the Cup, captain Mike Richards will bring it to Kenora and spend a few days with it in Winnipeg and then Arron Asham will bring it to Portage la Prairie and then I’m sure I’ll run into him — and his little trophy — on the golf course someplace.
When you stop and consider that the captains of the two teams in this year’s final are from Winnipeg (Toews) and Kenora (Richards), you start to get the sense that in the same year Canada won both Olympic hockey gold medals, the game has really, really, really come home.
In fact, if you check the rosters of the Hawks and Flyers, it’s hard not to look at them as Canada’s teams. The Hawks have 15 Canadians while the Flyers have 17 (and that’s just on a list of the regulars). It’s great to cheer for Canadian-based teams at playoff time, nothing wrong with that at all. But if you like to cheer for Canadian hockey players, cheer for the Hawks and Flyers. They have a boat load of ‘em.
And that’s why it’s tough to pick a side. Sure, I’ll go ahead and pick a winner, but I really don’t care who wins. I have no trouble cheering for both of them. And, because I’m 8-6 in series picks this spring, I have nothing to brag about.
The Stanley Cup Final
Chicago Blackhawks (Western Conference Champion) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (Eastern Conference Champion)
Let’s make one thing clear: Both these teams have good players. The Hawks and Flyers didn’t get this far in the NHL’s two-month post-season tournament because they won 12 games by some fluke of nature. Yeah, it’s a great story how the Flyers reached the playoffs because they won a shootout against the Rangers in the final game of the regular season, but at this stage it’s nothing more (or less) than a great story. The Flyers have earned their ticket to the final just as the Hawks have earned theirs. But here’s why I like the Hawks to win: they’re just as tough as the Flyers, they have just as much heart, they skate better, they have more scorers, they have equally qualified special teams (probably a better power play) and a better goaltender. End of argument for me.
Chicago Blackhawks in six games.
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