Well, here we are at Round Three, the Conference Finals. It’s hard to believe hockey is almost over for the summer (can I go cry now?????), but first we need to decide who will compete for the prize in the very last round. This playoff year has been really exciting, though I heard Super_Dave say it first and I totally agree: Round 2 lacked the excitement and luster of Round 1. The Quarterfinals boasted pretty much everything you could ever want in a playoff round: seven games series, a bunch of overtimes, hard hits, spectacular goals, even more spectacular saves, even matchups and back and forth play that didn’t allow you to pick a decided winner until the very last game! The Semis didn’t have much of that, as three of the four series started out 3-0, with one of them ending in a sweep, another ending 4-1, and the last one finally getting interesting as the team down came back to force a game 6 (and a game 7 if you will, since the marathon game lasted for six and a half periods!). The last series ended 4-1 as well, although you wouldn’t really know it by how well both teams played and how evenly matched they appeared to be.

Well, now we are down to the Final Four. The winner of these two series will determine who will advance to the all-important Round 4, The Stanley Cup Final. Only two teams will remain, and then, just one. The one who will hoist the Cup and earn bragging rights for the next year. Who will it be? It’s hard to tell. All four teams remaining have the strengths, skills, passion, and determination to go all the way. The intensity has already picked up, with the players, the fans, the media, the whole hockey world waiting with baited breath for these teams to step on the ice once again, and show us who has the right to bring home Lord Stanley.

In the West, we have the Dallas Stars and the Detroit Red Wings. Dallas has been a good team for a long time, but this year they had been above average for most of the year, and got even better with the addition of Brad Richards at the trade deadline in February. They fell off the face of the earth for a while, which plummeted them in the standings, as well, but picked it up again at just the right time. Marty Turco unstrapped the 900-pound gorilla that was hanging on his back for dear life by winning the first round series against the Ducks and thus proving that, yes he can, actually win a playoff series! Things got a little chippy for him and his team in the second round, though, as they were nearly embarrassed by the Sharks, who were all set to come roaring back from a 3-0 deficit to take the series. However, the Stars showed their talent and resilience once again; and led by their captain Brendan Morrow, and by Turco, they managed to take out the Sharks in a marathon game 6, which pretty much turned into game 7, if you ask me, since it lasted for six and a half periods! Now they are in the Western Conference Finals against the Detroit Red Wings, a team that had its own monkey on its back. They are usually an elite team, a powerhouse, a team everyone expects to make the post season every year and do well. But lately they haven’t been doing so well in the playoffs, despite their talent and usually finishing at or near the top of the League. This year, they finished with the President’s Trophy yet again, and are playing like the top team in the League. Although Nashville and Colorado were the numbers 8 and 6 seeds respectively, and Colorado was struggling by the time they got to the second round, with injuries and goaltending problems, Detroit showed they’re not a team to mess with. Led by Johan Franzen, a guy who came absolutely out of nowhere to explode for nine goals in one four-game sweep, they dominated the entire series and looked like the powerhouse Detroit Red Wings we all know and (sorta) love. Okay, maybe some of us know and hate them LOL (I’m one of them, I admit it), but even we have to admit that they are playing great. Which means this series between the Stars and Red Wings should be a helluva Conference Finals!

In the Eastern corner, we have the much-talked about, MUCH-anticipated Battle of Pennsylvania, an on-going war between two in-state divisional rivals in which the players and fans alike love to hate each other and the other team. On one team, we have Sidney Crosby, a.k.a. ‘The Next One’, along with Evgeni Malkin, the Russian Phenom; and let’s not forget Marian Hossa, Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts, and the spectacular work of their goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. On the other team we have Danny Briere, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, and OH YEAH, the Penguin destroyer R.J. Umberger, who just so happened to be one shy of Franzen’s spectacular performance with eight goals against Montreal in the last round. And let’s not forget our other beloved ex-Buffalo Sabre Martin Biron, who is getting his first ever taste of playoff hockey. Well, Marty, you must be having a feast, because you are a beast in this postseason so far! So can the Flyers handle all the Pens talent? Can Marty the Beast stop the onslaught of Crosby, Malkin, and Hossa? Or maybe the question is, can the defense of the Penguins, and their last line Fleury, deal with the onslaught that is the Flyers’ balanced attack? Maybe this will be a high-scoring series and the goaltenders along with the defense will be left out to dry. Or maybe all that offense will be stifled and the goaltenders will put on the shows of their lives. Nobody knows how this series will turn out. All I know is, the Flyers are the serious underdogs here; I’m not sure I know anybody who would be willing to bet that Philly will end up beating Pittsburgh. It’s just too certain that the Pens have a spot in the Stanley Cup Final.

Well, boys and girls, the Flyers have been the underdog in both of their series so far, and look how they performed. Look what they’ve done, and they just keep getting better and better. The Flyers can’t handle the Pens’ talent? The Flyers have talent of their own and what if we haven’t seen the full effect of it yet? I am making no predictions, nor am I going anywhere near the trash talking that’s been going on. I am simply pointing out that maybe my team will continue to surprise people… maybe they have what it takes to produce another upset. I wouldn’t be so quick to count them out if I were any of you. They are going to give the Penguins all they can handle, but you know what? Maybe in the end Pittsburgh WILL prevail. No one knows for sure. All I know is, when it’s all said and done, being a Flyers fan at this point in time is one of the most exciting, intriguing, and passionate past times anyone could hope for. I love my team, and no matter how they perform, I’m so damn proud of them!

We will give those Penguins one hell of a series! To all my Pens fan friends who are the coolest: (you know who you are ) good luck to your team! This is going to be one of the most exciting series in recent history and I can’t wait for it to start!