The (second) Oldest Trophy in Sports

A few months ago, TCD brought you in depth coverage of the America's Cup, which is the oldest continually contested (nice alliteration) trophy in competitive sports. NHL teams compete for Lord Stanley's Cup, which is the second oldest trophy and was first awarded in 1893. It is only appropriate that we provide some insight into the upcoming contest. The Chicago Blackhawks and 'Iladelphia Flyers face-off for the Holy Grail starting Saturday.

TCD is rooting for the Hawks. At least Client 9 is. It was great when the Flyers took down the Bruins after being down 3-0 in the series and then 3-0 in Game 7, and it was nice when they defended America's honor by demolishing the Canadiens - although from a hockey fan's point of view a Bruins vs. 'Habs (aka Canadiens) matchup would have been epic, bloody and exhilarating - but it's time to put Boston/North America rivalries aside and root for a city whose sports teams we don't hate. So we're going with ChiTown.

Objectively (seriously) I think the Hawks will take this one. The Flyer's goalie has severely overachieved - he was riding the bench 10 games ago - and the Toews/Kane/say-it-with-me-Byfuglien line for the Hawks appears unstoppable. Especially that last guy. Dustin Byfuglien. He has scored 8 goals in the Hawks' last 8 games, including 4 game winners, 3 of which were in the Western Conference finals. That's ridiculous. If Toews didn't lead all playoff scorers with 26 points (7 goals-19 assists), and Leighton (Flyer's keeper) wasn't playing unconscious, Byfuglien would be the front runner for the Conn Symthe (playoff MVP). Consider this, he was playing defense when the playoffs started and is now on Chicago's first line. If Byfuglien pots a few more goals and the Hawks win, the gold jacket is his.

Standing in the way of a Hawks' victory is Leighton, Simon Gagne, Chris Pronger and Danny Briere. It's time Leighton played to his ability, which as far as anyone knows is below the level he's played at so far. Gagne resurrected the Flyer's against the Bruins when he came back from injury, but who knows what he has left in him. The Flyer's have played a lot of hockey. Briere can be nasty. Really nasty. The dude snipes goals, but I don't think he comes through enough to tilt the series in Philly's favor.

It is true that playoff hockey usually comes down to goaltending in the same way that playoff baseball comes down to pitching. The world saw this truth play out when Ryan Miller carried the USA into overtime of the gold medal game in Vancouver. The problem for Philly is that Leighton is not Miller. If the Flyer's netminder stands on his head I could be proven wrong, but I am taking the Hawks in six. They have a stud keeper of their own. Heard it here first.