So What

The Flyers can play with these guys. That we know for certain after Saturday's wild 6-5 Chicago Blackhawks victory in game one of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. The afternoon before the game The D-train Staff took a walk on the other side of the road and listened to Chicago sports-talk radio, as well read some op-eds in Chi-Town papers.

It's a wonder the Flyers took to the ice. The Blackhawks are better skaters, they are more skilled, and so on they went.

Obviously, the result of these finals will not be so clear-cut if Game-one is any indicator. However, there were some visible deficiencies to go along with the strengths.

Consider these our keys to tonight's game 2:

A LITTLE HELP OVER HERE: The backside of the Flyers' defense (with the puck in their zone) stunk like a crack addict in the August heat. And Philly's humidity is merciless!

Michael Leighton gave up just as many goals (5) as Chicago's Antti Niemi. So if Leighton was bad, he as at least bad enough to win. The Flyers allowed quality opportunities on their doorstep by not attending to the forward on the opposite side of the puck. This led to Blackhawks forwards firing away off one-timers or getting rebounds.

The Flyers might not have been sleeping so much as anxious. Settling down and sticking to assignments will go a long way too victory tonight.

THE LAW OF AVERAGES: You had to marvel at Philly's disciplined play as they did not commit one penalty. The Flyers had committed four or more penalties in 15 of 17 playoff games going into Game 1. So that essentially assures us of the fact that the Flyer penalty killing unit will get plenty of work tonight.

A little fun fact on that note; Before Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, only once in 432 NHL post-season games since the lockout, had a team not had a power play for an entire game. The Blackhawks have done it twice in their past five games. Unfortunately, they were both Chicago victories.++

RUBBERS ARE VALUBLE: With respect to turnovers, the most damning ones that the Flyers committed were in their zone. Chicago players would dart for the puck rather than retreating for defense and go off to the races toward an already beleaguered Leighton. Philly has to value that piece of rubber and not have the giveaways that lead to crucial goals, such as the short-handed goal given up in the second period.

POSITIVE RE-ENFORCEMENT: Other than when deep in their zone, the defense was solid. Chicago's top line forwards were a combined -9 Saturday. Philly will likely continue due a great job of challenging the puck and disrupting players rhthym.

Offensively, Philly will find a way within the flow of the games to score. They literally matched the supposedly more skilled Blackhawks shot-for-shot (32-32). We have the utmost confidence that the offense will figure it out.

The Flyers have been down before in a series this post-season as you may have heard. And also the last time that the Flyers won the cup, they lost game one in that series as well.

You could answer that with, "They also lost game one in their last final defeat."

Touche. Perhaps it would be best to let tonight play itself out.

++ Chicago Sun-Times

You So Crazy!

The Zen Master, King Kobe, and Ronnie Loco took a 3-2 lead over the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Western Conference Finals last night 103-101 at the Staples Center.

The finish was great. DVR is what truly made the finish great.

The Suns overcame a 17-point deficit to tie the game on Jason Richards lucky bank-shot with 3.5 seconds left. Ron Artest won the game with a lay-up off the glass off a Kobe Bryant missed three pointer; and the love-fest ensued.

Just before the start of the last period, TNT side-line reporter Craig Sager, wearing a nuclear powered sports coat, was doing his lead-in to a short interview with Lakers' Head Coach Phil Jackson . Jackson,with his chin to his chest and eyes closed, appeared to LITERALLY be sleeping as Sager was talking.

The Zen Master's power-nap was confirmed by the glorious DVR. Perhaps Jackson's Staples office throne, on the bench for him due to back problems, is a little too comfy.

Ronnie Loco set the stage for Richards unsightly display of marksmanship by entertaining all viewers with his customary craziness.

After Artest missed a long two-point attempt Pau Gasol got the offensive rebound for the Lakers and passed it out to Artest, who was now behind the three-point line.

"Don't you dare," said our Engineer before the pass reached Artest; as if one is capable of predicting what the certifiably mad forward will do next.

Sure enough Artest, just as crazy as he wanna be, got the ball back and fired up a three as the Lakers' home-crowd collectively yelled, "NOOO!"

And sure enough it was a miss that was rebounded by the Suns, who then called a time-out.

Again the DVR proved to be the greatest thing in analytical sports viewing as our Conductor grabbed the remote control.

"I hate him," he blurted.

"Who," asked asked our Engineer.

"Kobe. I hate to see him succeed."

"Why do you hate him,"

"I hate how he stands there with his arms up on the rare occasions that he hits a game-winner. I hate how he walks to the bench. I hate..."

"Yeah, but WHY do you hate him?!"

"I hate Kobe because... he's a bitch."

"Fair enough."

As Artest launched the ill-advised three Bryant raised his hands, dumbfounded by the attempt like everyone else except Ronnie Loco. Then as the shot clunked off the basket, Kobe threw one of his patented mini-tantrums.

When Artest sat next to Bryant during the subsequent timeout, Bryant got up and walked away in utter disgust.

On the Lakers final possession of the game, Bryant took the inbounds pass and prepared to shoot, but Grant Hill put a timely hand in his face. Bryant got the shot off and held his follow through as though his 28-foot, double clutch, fade away was about to be all net.

After Artest's game-winner put him back in the good graces of Jack Nicholson, Bryant was the first to hug L.A.'s favorite "302" candidate.* And Artest held the hug long enough for Kobe's jubilation to fade and discomfort to set in.

In Artest's defense, one should be prepared for such things when hugging a crazy person.

*: "302" references the voluntary/involuntary commitment of someone suffering a mental health crisis in PA.

Yes!

Break out the aluminum-foil Stanley Cup replicas, attach it to the top of your car, add some orange and black streamers, and cruise down Broad Street!

The Philadelphia Flyers are making perhaps the franchise's most unlikely appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals after defeating the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 in game-five of the Eastern Conference Finals at home, and winning the Prince of Wales Trophy.

They will face the Chicago Blackhawks in Chi-town Saturday in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Montreal looked to jump on the Flyers early and grab some type of foot-hold in the series. The Canadiens took a 1-0 lead 59 seconds into the first period.

Three-plus minutes later Mike Richards, once again, proved why the captain's "C" is on his jersey.

Breaking for the puck as it headed into the Canadien's zone, Richards eluded Montreal Goalie Jaroslav Halak. Halak made an all or nothing gamble that he would beat the hustling Richards to the puck. Instead he ran into his own defenseman like a Keystone Cop. Richards was sliding along the ice when he saw the puck, sprang to his feet, and put it in the net to tie the game.

That goal was not only huge in that it tied the game, but how and when it was scored. Richards made the type of play that lifts a team. Oh, and appropriately, it was a short-handed goal.

The last five minutes or so had to be nervous ones for Flyers fans as their team, up 3-2, seemed content to tempt fate taking icing call after icing call. Philadelphia had visibly not been doing a good job with face-offs in their own zone all night. And just as they have done during this gloriously wild ride of a post-season, the Flyers persevered.

The story lines that permeate this Finals run for Philadelphia are plenty tremendous:

The Road Here: Dec. 14 and 14th place in the Eastern Conference is a faded memory at this point.

-The shootout against the New York Ranger.
-Overcoming long-time nemesis New Jersey.
-The comeback against the Boston Bruins.
-Defeating fellow bottom seed Montreal.

The Flyers journey through this year's tournament has had the type of high drama one would expect in a sports movie.

The Journeyman: Who was that masked man? The masked man between the pipes for Philly that seems to think he's Bernie Parent 2010; Michael Leighton. Leighton probably keeps a bag packed by the front door of his residence since this is his seventh NHL stop.

Leighton is only here in Philly (2nd stint) because the Flyers needed an experienced backup after Ray Emery was injured. And he's only starting because Brian Boucher sprained his MCL.

By the way, the Blackhawks were the team that drafted Leighton into the NHL.

A little fun fact about Leighton: He has the AHL record for saves in a game with 98 (on 101 shots) in a five-overtime playoff game.

He's always had potential if not a chance... until now.

Injuries: feet, ligaments, gunshot wounds, the Flyers had been losing guys to all types of injuries this year. And many of those players have made timely returns to give significant contributions. Most recently, Jeff Carter who scored the key third goal in only his second game of the series.

The Man With The Plan: Peter Laviolette was 2-8 in his first 10 games with the Flyers. That was the set-up move. From there the composed Laviolette put his finger on the pulse of his team, and has essentially pushed all the right buttons since. Usually a team takes on the personality of its coach. So to praise this Flyers teams' resilience is to praise Laviolette as well.

Captain My Captain: What is there to say regarding Richards and his play? HE'S THE MAN!

All of it in the Flyers playoff run suggests a certain... In traditional Philly superstition and pessimism we will avoid a certain "D" word.

"I think this team is a team of destiny." -Comcast Spectator Chairman Ed Snider after the Flyers Game 7 victory over Boston.

NOOO!

"I don’t want to say destiny or anything, but we have a great team and we feel we have a good chance." -Richards after last night's game.

We will grant that Captain. It was different in 1997 when the Flyers last played for the Cup. You couldn't help but have the feeling that Steve Yzerman, Sergei Federov and a loaded Detroit Red Wings team were going to skate circles around Philly's hulks; And they did as they sweept Philly.

This year, it is impossible not to believe. If you've seen these games, belief is mandatory.

This news just in: Sylvester Stallone was spotted buying printer ink and paper. Sounds like someone's FINALLY getting a new idea for a script. If we suggest a title, "Broad Street Badasses."

What A Day!

Yesterday, in cafe car on the D-train, the staff sat around brainstorming about how we could hypnotize Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban into trading Dirk Nowitzski for Elton Brand and Samuel Dalembert, when the teletype machine began to go nuts.

Of course the Lawrence Taylor story was the first feed to go through.

It was initially reported that Taylor was suspected of rape, however "third-degree" should have preceded it. Taylor was arrested and released on $75,000 bail for patronizing a prostitute, among other charges. According to TMZ, Taylor admitted to police that he had sex with the 16 year-old girl who was under the control of a pimp. No drugs or paraphrenalia was found in the room.

We are curious to know what went through LT's mind when he heard the police knock at the door.

"The cops are at the door of my out of the way hotel room in the wee hours... AGAIN," is our guess.

The next feed was that the Oakland Raiders had the "this isn't going to work out" talk with JaMarcus Russell yesterday. Well "talk" might be a bad description. NFL players usually find out they've been released from a reporter.

It is not like Al Davis to give up so easily. At the press-conference where he fired Lane Kiffin, Davis said, "I realize that you (Kiffin) did not want to draft JaMarcus Russell. He is a great player. Get over it, and coach this team on the field."

Russell rewarded Davis' faith in him by never working on his craft and constantly being overweight. Russell seriously looked like he had been to three family reunions in a month.

Russell was bound for disaster. A holdout in which he was not under contract until after his team's first game made his rookie season a wash. And a disaster Russell was from then on. Last season, he completed 48.8 percent of his passes, with three touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Russell's 50.0 passer rating was the lowest since 1998 when three players finished below 50. The three players were: Ryan Leaf, Craig Whelihan, and... wait for it, Bobby Hoying.

This season, Davis gave current coach Tom Cable permission to bench Russell for the second-half of the season. The move paid dividends in the locker room as it was popular with the team. And off as well as the Raiders had comeback wins over playoff-bound Cincinatti and Pittsburgh (needing wins) in the last few weeks of the 2009 season.

So after acquiring Jason Campbell, having a solid draft, and attempting to correct the Russell mistake it would seem that the old man just might finally be listening the people he pays. Seven straight seasons with at least 11 losses can have that type of effect.

And finally, break out your flak jackets because Gilbert Arenas was released from his 30-day stay in a halfway house. Washington fans have to chew on the fact that the Wizards have neither attempted to trade Arenas void his contract which means he will be back at the Verizon Center next season; hopefully unarmed.

This Is When The NBA Is Worth Watching

There was a Sheed citing Cleveland yesterday. Rasheed Wallace, who Columnist Bill Simmons recently said, "showed up for training camp wearing a fat suit," had 17 points and played above his usually horrid defensive standard as the Boston Celtics dominated the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-86, and even the series at 1-1.

After being called out by Celtics Head Coach Doc Rivers for essentially doing paycheck work Sheed responded to being called out like a true North Philadelphian.

The real story of the game was Celtics guard Rajon Rondo. Rondo scored 13 points and demonstrated extraordinary control of a game with 19 assists. Rondo's defense was not shabby either; Cleveland's Mo Williams was held to 1-9 shooting. Rondo was a Nor'easter if you will.

To say that Rondo has improved his game substantially since the Celtics title run '08 title is a gross understatement. The point-guard match-up already looked like a mismatch before the series began and now it is evident.

Lebron James' elbow was not the Cavaliers problem as much as the 40 percent they shot as a team. It appears as though James' march to his coronation is fraught with treacherous obstacles. Now that his team has lost home-court advantage he will have to rally his subjects to surmount the supposedly brittle Celtics. And after that, Orlando will likely be waiting; And that is just to get to The Finals. Orlando must first get past the Atlanta Hawks in a series that starts tonight.

So far it does not appear that the third time will be the charm for the Utah Jazz. In Sunday's series opener the L.A. Lakers used their size advantage to control the game when they needed to. Utah is on its way to losing to L.A. for the third consecutive year in the playoffs.

L.A. obviously learned the perils of not exploiting their height in their first-round series with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Basketball is after all, a big man's game and these guys are long. Having the basketball equivalent to Yankee's closer Mariano Rivera in Kobe Bryant doesn't hurt the cause either!

The Phoenix Suns, as said before on The D-train, is going to run circles around the San Antonio Spurs. Well it was not quite that bad for the Spurs in their Game 1 defeat. The Suns did jump out ahead at the start holding a nine-point lead after the first period. Phoenix then held serve the rest of the way winning 111-102.

Soon the Spurs will get a taste of what they have done to so many TV audiences over the years, and be put to sleep.

Mr. Money Bags

The old dog tried a new trick. In the second round of his fight with Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather Jr. mixed it up in the ring for a minute. Rocked by a hard right "Pretty Boy's" knees buckled and it looked as though what many had hoped would happen would come to fruition.

"It would be unfair to expect "Money" to stand in the middle of the ring and slug it out with "Sugar" Shane. He is not that type of boxer, and he would get killed." - D-train Daily, 4-30, "A Mouth Made of Money"

Well shut our mouth!

Mayweather not only withstood the punishment, but went on to dominate. He won every round but the eventful second. In fact by the ninth round it was "Money" who was moving forward and Mosley was the one backing up.

Mayweather masterfully executed the fundamental purpose of boxing: hit and don't get hit. He doused Mosley with punches landing 208 of 477 punches to 92 of 452 for Mosley. It was an impressive display by perhaps the best technical fighter of this generation. Mayweather said earlier this week that he not Muhammad Ali is the greatest. Saturday he fought like a boxer who wanted to be known as such and not as a good boxer.

However, the opponent was Shane Mosley; hardly worthy of the moniker that was used previously by two legends (Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard). Is it us here at the D-train or is this guy always smiling? Mosley's incessant grinning just does not suit a boxer.

Mosley said before the fight that Mayweather chose him as the replacement opponent for Manny Pacquiao because he was the best fight for Floyd. And he was right. Mosley's past association with BALCO and his admission that he took "the cream" and "the clear" before his career's biggest victory over Oscar De La Hoya helps lend creedence to Mayweather's argument about Pacquiao.

Now, instead of it appearing as though Mayweather is ducking "Pac Man", the pride of the Phillipines will have to prove he is clean if he wants the fight to happen.

"I never knew a guy that didn't wanna take a 25 million dollar drug test." - Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Otherwise Paquiao vs. Mayweather will be titled, "What should have been."

This is so complicated. It used to be that what was ruining boxing was simply Don King's patented brand of greed and corruption!