Flyers Put Slump Behind Them as Playoff Run Begins

The Philadelphia Flyers adjusted their championship caps, pulled on the T-shirts and accepted congratulations from their founder.

Winning their first Atlantic Division title in seven years was a fun way to end the season and forget about the sorry month that preceded the clincher.

Sure, the division championship and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference are nice accomplishments. It's just not what the Flyers played for this season, not after losing a year ago in the Stanley Cup finals. For nearly six months, the Flyers used that defeat as motivation and played at an elite level that proved they could make another run toward the championship round.

A memorable season unraveled in March, though, leaving it tough to predict if the Flyers are legitimate contenders for their first championship since 1975, or if a first-round exit against the seventh-seeded Buffalo Sabres and one of the hottest goalies in the NHL in Ryan Miller is the more likely scenario.

The Flyers would get a huge boost if defenseman Chris Pronger can return from his broken hand to play against the Sabres. When Pronger went down in late February, so did the Flyers. Pronger is the emotional fuel in the locker room and on the ice, and no one pokes and prods the opposition - like he did by swiping Chicago's winning pucks last year - better than the one-time NHL MVP.

Pronger has been publicly hesitant to say if he'll be back this week. But, he'll likely find a way.

The Flyers face the Sabres in a playoff series for the ninth time, and are 5-3. But the Sabres have won three of the last four series, and, of more importance, they won the last two regular-season games vs. Philadelphia. The Sabres, in fact, capped a two-goal comeback in a 4-3 overtime victory over the Flyers on
Friday night.

Even with 47 wins and a division title for the first time since 2003-04, the Flyers' championship hopes are shaky. The win over the Islanders snapped a five-game losing streak (0-3-2), and ended a six-game skid at home (0-2-4).

But the new season has instilled a new belief in the Flyers that they can win it all and parade down Broad Street hoisting the Stanley Cup.