They fought until the bitter end, and it's over for the Philadelphia Flyers as tonight the NHL season officially came to a close.
The Flyers fell to the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals as the city of Chicago wins their first Stanley Cup in 49 years. Patrick Kane scored the overtime winner four minutes into the extra session with a spectacular shot that Flyers goaltender Michael Leighton never saw coming.
Jonathan Toews was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy following the game as the Flyers faithful booed the NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and the Blackhawks who celebrated on the Wachovia Center ice.
It wasn't the prettiest hockey game the Flyers have played this postseason especially with some of the sloppy penalties the team committed in the second period following a daniel Breire goal that gave the Flyers a brief lead at 2-1.
Nine seconds after the goal, Braydon Coburn got called for a cross-checking penalty that resulted in a huge power play goal by Patrick Sharp. The B'Hawks scored again before the end of the 2nd with a goal by Andrew Ladd and Chicago went into the third period with a 3-2 lead.
The Flyers struck back in the third period with a clutch goal by Scott Hartnell with 4:59 to go in the game. The goal energized the Wachovia Center and it was rocking as the Flyers got two really good shots by Mike Richards and Jeff Carter at Chicago's goaltender Antti Niemi.
Niemi played well tonight and had some phenomenal saves in the third period and turned away 21 of 24 shots and finished the 2010 playoffs with a 16-6 record as the Blackhawks finally hoist the Stanley Cup.
Another storyline from tonight's game was Marian Hossa. Hossa quest to the cup is well-known around hockey circles as he has made it to the Cup Finals three years in a row with three different teams and he finally will have his name etched onto the Cup he's desperately chased for years.
And for the Flyers, while there is much to be disappointed about, there is also plenty to be proud of when it comes to this year's edition of the Flyers.
Hockey has never been at the forefront in Philadelphia, it has its die-hard followers but it was never the top dog in town and with this run, the Flyers received some much deserved respect from all the Philadelphia sports fans. This was a great year for the Flyers and more great things are to come for this team as many players on this roster are still in their prime.
Hopefully next season it won't take a last day of the season shoot-out victory to get the type of hockey we saw out of this resilient bunch. Congrats to the 2010 Eastern Conference Champions.
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