The Chicago Blackhawks have won the Cup, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in overtime in Game 6 for their first championship since 1961.
RELATED: Indeed, the Flyers have won over the town – a remarkable feat considering all the snags the team and its fans endured this season. The franchise yanked one goalie out of the Russian hinterlands, another out of the lost-and-found bin and pulled a third from obscurity. Mike Richards battled the media and, later on, Jeff Carter and Ian Laperriere battled injuries. John Stevens was fired and replaced with Peter Laviolette, whose system didn’t reap rewards as quickly as some hoped or anticipated. Just to get into the playoffs, the Flyers had to beat the Rangers on the final day in a one of those grab-the-defibrillator shoot-outs, and to stay alive in the postseason they had to come back from down three games to none against the Bruins, not to mention being down three goals to Boston in the first period of Game 7. As if all that wasn’t enough, the Flyers were pitted against the Blackhawks for the Cup – a team the Vegas oddsmakers and the out-of-town pundits almost unanimously believed would crush the Orange and Black without much trouble. And still the Flyers fought, winning one game in overtime and pushing the Hawks throughout the series. The Flyers didn’t win the Cup Wednesday night. That’s a bruise that won’t heal quickly for Snider or the fans. Still, the crowd took it well and chanted “Let’s go Flyers” after the game ended. It was a classy move in honor of one hell of a run. MORE