SCF Preview/Game One Open Thread

[Broad Street Hockey]

[Second City Hockey]

After a long six-day break between the conclusion of the conference finals and the beginning of the Stanley Cup finals, the finale of this year's post season is upon us, with game one set to get underway at 6PM MT/8ET on CBC. The Blackhawks will be looking to put an end to a 49-year cup drought, while the Flyers have now gone 35 seasons without Lord Stanley's mug. Flyers goalie Brian Boucher will return to back up Michael Leighton after spraining both knees in the conference semi-finals against the Bruins, and the Blackhawks' Andrew Ladd will sit this game out with an upper-body injury. This SCF features two of the league's youngest captains in Jonathan Toews and Mike Richards, which will surely be a central story-line of the series, as will the inevitable Pronger vs. Kane/Toews match-up and the play of rookie goalie Antti Niemi vs. that of seasoned veterans Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher. 

Enjoy the game and have nightmares about Chris Pronger's creepy smile in the comments.