Flyers heroes now were once part of the Blackhawks nightmares

I have a little hockey history for you bandwagon fans (and random others who came across this blog).

The Blackhawks and Flyers meet in this year’s playoffs during the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals. There is not a ton of playoff history between the Original Six Chicago Blackhawks and expansion franchise Philadelphia Flyers, save for a 1971 quarter final series that saw the Flyers get swept thanks to the likes of Blackhawks legends Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, and Tony Esposito to name a few.

That’s why I’m focusing on more modern links between the Flyers and Blackhawks—goalies. Following the departure of stellar goaltenders from each team along with other concerns throughout, Chicago and Philadelphia embarked on an extended search for a Cup-caliber netminder.

For Philadelphia the search seemed to have ended when Brian “Boosh” Boucher battled with the team to the conference semi-finals. Long story short, an injured Boosh was replaced by fellow journeyman Michael Leighton in the fourth game of the conference semi-final series. Leighton would also post 3 shutouts in a single series during the conference finals against the Canadiens.

Coincidentally, Boosh and Leighton are a couple of goalies who have found themselves in the Chicago Blackhawks system at different points in their careers. In addition, they had each spent time with the Philadelphia Flyers at earlier points in their careers before finding their way back to the franchise.

Great day for hockey–OH, WAIT!

It’s that time of year again.

The start of the Stanley Cup Final series is approaching, and YOU’RE TEAM IS IN!

So, maybe you started watching when your team kicked ass in the first couple rounds. Or maybe the local team caught your interest when they made a comeback from a seemingly insurmountable 0-3 series deficit. Whatever the case is, you’ve jumped on the bandwagon of hockey fandom, and all the die-hards HATE YOU.

Figures. It’s hard to be subtle when you’re absolutely clueless about what a “saucer pass”  is, or the only words that come out of your mouth are along the lines of “SHOOT!” while you carry your “[insert attractive, young hockey player name here], marry me?” poster—and he’s the only one you know.

Well. This blog can’t really help you there. But keep your eyes peeled for posts about hockey-culture tidbits and random tutorials (leaving that vague).

Cheers!

<3 Bandwagon’s Best Friend