PHILADELPHIA — At this point in May, the Wachovia Center is supposed to be a cost-efficient building — an empty, quiet cavern with the light switched off following a dreadful 76ers season and a Flyers team that inspired little hope heading into the NHL playoffs as a No. 7 seed.
Instead, the arena — and the city — was jolted with some optimism with the Flyers advancing to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1997 with a series-clinching 4-2 Game 5 victory over the Canadiens on Monday night.
They'll face the Blackhawks, who have an equally enthused and hungry following, in the finals.
Earlier in the day, the Sixers introduced former Bulls coach Doug Collins as the new head coach. So, Philadelphia has one up on Chicago in the coach vacancy area.
Get the Chicago Tribune delivered to your home for only $1 a week >>
But after beating the Canadiens for a 4-1 series wrap, the Flyers seem to know what they're in for as one of the 19,986 orange-clad fans held up a sign reading "Bring on Da Hawks."
"It's one of the best teams in the league all year," Flyers Ian Laperriere said. "They're hungry and it's going to be a really, really tough challenge. It's the last one. You might as well make it a good one."
Like Chicago, void of a title since 1961, Philadelphia is yearning for its first hockey title in 35 years.
The eighth-seeded Canadiens, who embodied a never-say-die attitude after avoiding five previous playoff eliminations, looked like they might shock everyone again when they climbed to within a goal early in the third period on Scott Gomez's goal.
But Jeff Carter scored his second goal of the game into an empty net for the two-goal Flyers edge with 23 seconds left.
The Canadiens led1-0 just 59 seconds after the puck drop on a goal by Brian Gionta, but the Flyers rebounded quickly on a short-handed goal by Mike Richards when Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak made an error by skating to the top of the circle to stop the puck.
Second-period goals by Arron Asham and Carter provided the Flyers with a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
Michael Leighton, who started his career with the Blackhawks, allowed two goals against 27 shots. He had set a franchise record by recording three shutouts in a playoff series.
The Flyers were an unlikely team to advance to the finals, needing a shootout victory against the Rangers to make the playoffs, putting together four straight victories to beat the Bruins after falling behind 3-0 in that series, surviving a coaching change and overcoming an injury to starting goalie Brian Boucher.
"We were a shootout away from going home and now we're still standing," Simon Gagne said. "There's a lot of character in that room."
Instead, the arena — and the city — was jolted with some optimism with the Flyers advancing to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1997 with a series-clinching 4-2 Game 5 victory over the Canadiens on Monday night.
They'll face the Blackhawks, who have an equally enthused and hungry following, in the finals.
Earlier in the day, the Sixers introduced former Bulls coach Doug Collins as the new head coach. So, Philadelphia has one up on Chicago in the coach vacancy area.
Get the Chicago Tribune delivered to your home for only $1 a week >>
But after beating the Canadiens for a 4-1 series wrap, the Flyers seem to know what they're in for as one of the 19,986 orange-clad fans held up a sign reading "Bring on Da Hawks."
"It's one of the best teams in the league all year," Flyers Ian Laperriere said. "They're hungry and it's going to be a really, really tough challenge. It's the last one. You might as well make it a good one."
Like Chicago, void of a title since 1961, Philadelphia is yearning for its first hockey title in 35 years.
The eighth-seeded Canadiens, who embodied a never-say-die attitude after avoiding five previous playoff eliminations, looked like they might shock everyone again when they climbed to within a goal early in the third period on Scott Gomez's goal.
But Jeff Carter scored his second goal of the game into an empty net for the two-goal Flyers edge with 23 seconds left.
The Canadiens led1-0 just 59 seconds after the puck drop on a goal by Brian Gionta, but the Flyers rebounded quickly on a short-handed goal by Mike Richards when Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak made an error by skating to the top of the circle to stop the puck.
Second-period goals by Arron Asham and Carter provided the Flyers with a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
Michael Leighton, who started his career with the Blackhawks, allowed two goals against 27 shots. He had set a franchise record by recording three shutouts in a playoff series.
The Flyers were an unlikely team to advance to the finals, needing a shootout victory against the Rangers to make the playoffs, putting together four straight victories to beat the Bruins after falling behind 3-0 in that series, surviving a coaching change and overcoming an injury to starting goalie Brian Boucher.
"We were a shootout away from going home and now we're still standing," Simon Gagne said. "There's a lot of character in that room."
