My teenage son is channeling Superman these days. Of his Flyers, he says, "Cup, Cup, and Away!"
Actually, it's not a bad reference.
The Flyers have been skating into tons of kryptonite all season long. A head coaching change, a momentum-snapping Olympic break, a goalie-go-round, and other injury-related happenstances were far more dastardly to the orange and black than Lex Luthor could ever be. Even the Flyers' final regular season contest against the Rangers with a playoff berth on the line went down to the final shot of a home shootout.
But then, the Philadelphia skaters were exposed to the bright, yellow sun, and their powers returned!
As if a switch was flipped, the Flyers (disguised most of 2009-10 as Clark Kent) began playing with abandon.
They found a sturdy defense anchored by playoff pro Chris Pronger. Whoever was in goal; Brian Boucher or Michael Leighton, got the job done. The offense proved resourceful beyond a fan's wildest dreams. Captain Mike Richards started acting and playing like one. Foot surgery couldn't stop Jeff Carter from returning to sniper status as the team's top goal scorer. Nifty Claude Giroux started getting shout-outs from the network hockey heads. Shot blocker extraordinaire Ian Laperriere took the ice as soon as he was cleared from his brain bruise and returned to full strength. The balance of the roster made very few mistakes while stepping up its game. Finally, tying it all up in a neat bow; head coach Peter Laviolette and his staff, who by now must feel their team is buying whatever it is they're selling.
So, let's take stock of what the Men of South Philly Steel have done lately:
Win a must-win game in a shootout to make the post-season. CHECK.
Throttle your divisional arch rival and the best goalie of his era. CHECK.
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Shock the world by coming back from three games down and 3-0 down in game 7. CHECK.
Eliminate the most storied team in NHL history while holding its best scorer to a measly one (1) goal. CHECK.
The Flyers now head to their first Stanley Cup Final in 13 years against a team that hasn't hoisted the holy hardware
in 49 years. The Chicago Blackhawks are waiting. They'll be favored, perhaps heavily. But, it's not as if that's anything new to
the Flyers.
All they have to do is skate faster than a speeding bullet, check more powerfully than a locomotive, and leap tall defensemen in a single bound.
Cup, Cup, and Away!
