Stanley Cup

Maureen Powers, a police officer for Amtrak, uses a flashlight to illuminate the Stanley Cup for Dennis Henry to see where the names of this year's champions will be inscribed, last night at 30th Street Station.

The Stanley Cup hangover continues. On the day after the Rangers broke their 54-year date with dismay, a hockey halftime broke out at the basketball game. Mark Messier, the Rangers' team captain, did an encore performance with his sport's most precious trophy. One night after Messier and his teammates did the traditional victory celebration in some New York drinking establishment - sipping from the Cup, kissing the Cup, the whole deal - the captain came back to the Garden and raised high his prize.

The Stanley Cup Finals lost nearly a quarter of what already was a small television audience. Anaheim's 1-0 win over Ottawa in Game 2 on Wednesday night got a 0.6 cable rating on Versus and was watched in 446,000 homes in the United States. The rating was down 33 percent from last year's second game, a 5-0 victory for Carolina over Edmonton, which received a 0.9 cable rating (600,000 homes) on OLN, as Versus was then known. The Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby, at 19 the youngest player in NHL history to get 100 points in a season and to win a scoring title, is now the youngest to wear the captain's C. The youngest previous captain was Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier.

The Flyers will watch the Bruins raise the Stanley Cup championship banner when they open the season Oct. 6 in Boston. On their way to the Cup, the Bruins avenged a 2010 playoff loss with a four-game sweep of the Flyers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. In their second Winter Classic, the Flyers will host the New York Rangers at Citizens Bank Park at 1 p.m. Jan. 2. And former captain Mike Richards, traded Thursday to Los Angeles, will return with the Kings in the Flyers' fourth game of the season, Oct. 15. Oct. 6 at Boston, 7 p.m. Oct. 8 at New Jersey, 7 p.m. Oct. 12 Vancouver, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 Los Angeles, 7 p.m. Oct. 18 at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20 Washington, 7 p.m. Oct. 22 St. Louis, 7 p.m. Oct. 24 Toronto, 7 p.m. Oct. 26 at Montreal, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27 Winnipeg, 7 p.m. Oct. 29 Carolina, 7 p.m. Nov. 2 at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3 New Jersey, 7 p.m. Nov. 5 Columbus, 7 p.m. Nov. 9 at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 13 at Florida, 5 p.m. Nov. 14 at Carolina, 7 p.m. Nov. 17 Phoenix, 7 p.m. Nov. 19 at Winnipeg, 3 p.m. Nov. 21 Carolina, 7 p.m. Nov. 23 at N.Y. Islanders, 7 p.m. Nov. 25 Montreal, 1 p.m. Nov. 26 at N.Y. Rangers, 2 p.m. Dec. 2 at Anaheim, 10 p.m. Dec. 3 at Phoenix, 8 p.m. Dec. 7 at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8 Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. Dec. 10 Tampa Bay, 7 p.m. Dec. 13 at Washington, 7 p.m....

To appreciate the best of what the NHL has to offer - the speed, skill and exquisite timing that attract the game's purists - it's necessary to gaze toward the Western Conference, where the power and entertainment are monopolized by four teams. In St. Louis, Colorado, Detroit and Dallas, the game is played at its highest and most enjoyable levels. So it will be surprising if the Stanley Cup is not hoisted by the Blues, Avalanche, Red Wings or Stars when the most grueling tournament in professional sports ends in the heat of mid-June.

For the next two months inside NHL dressing rooms stretching from Buffalo to Anaheim, the demand for painkillers, sutures, face shields, bandages and vials of ginseng extract will become more frequent. On the periphery of the games, the howls for justice and the accusations of foul play will grow louder, and the secrecy surrounding injuries to key players will be tightened. The Stanley Cup playoffs, the sporting world's most physically demanding tournament, begin tonight with the openers of four Western Conference series.

Last June the Flyers came within two wins of winning the Stanley Cup. Today, Flyers fans can pose and take pictures with the Stanley Cup and snag autographs from their favorite Flyers' alumni. Lord Stanley's mug will be at Ice Works in Aston, (3100 Duttons Mill Rd.) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Former Flyers Bill Clement, Brian Propp, Dave Schultz, Bob Kelly, Jim Watson, Joe Watson, Ed Hospodar and Kerry Huffman will be signing autographs at various times throughout the day. Admission is $5 per person or $10 per family, with all proceeds going to Flyers Charities including Hockey Fights Cancer, the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation and the Jenny Barber Cancer Fund.

Please welcome the 2012-13 Stanley Cup champion Fort Saskatchewan Chiefs? If a member of the Canadian parliament gets his way, it might happen in June. Brent Rathgeber, a lawyer and Conservative Party MP who represents Edmonton-St. Albert, Alberta, says Lord Stanley's Cup should be awarded to a Canadian amateur team such as the senior-level Chinook Hockey League's Chiefs if the NHL labor fight isn't settled in time to save the season. Rathgeber suggested in a blog post last week that the Cup could be the prize in a national competition to determine the best non-pro team in Canada.

The Flyers' struggles down the stretch have not dampened the expectations of Philadelphia sports fans, a year after the team's amazing run to the Stanley Cup finals. In a poll as part of the ongoing "Philly Fan Project" with the Daily News and Temple University's Sport Industry Research Center, 44 percent of respondents said they expected the Flyers to reach the Stanley Cup final, with 33 percent saying they expected the team to win. Another 30 percent said they expected the Flyers to lose in the Eastern Conference final, 19 percent said they will lose in the second round and 7 percent predicted a loss in the first round.

A replica of the Stanley Cup made from 6,000 Lego bricks that was stolen from a Las Vegas show earlier this week has been found. Brian Copp, of Tucson, Ariz., told police he was working in Las Vegas when he bought the cup for $50. He contacted police when he saw an article about the stolen model in a newspaper. "He was being a good Samaritan," Tucson police spokeswoman Kathy Wendling said yesterday. "He was being a good kid, doing the right thing. " Copp could not immediately be reached for comment yesterday.

Johnny Oduya and Marcus Kruger scored in the third period, Corey Crawford made 20 saves, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the visiting Detroit Red Wings, 4-1, in the opener of their second-round playoff series Wednesday night. Chicago dominated the final two periods in its first game in the Western Conference semifinals since it won the Stanley Cup in 2010. Marian Hossa scored the first goal, and Patrick Sharp had an empty-netter and two assists to give him nine points in the playoffs.

The Ottawa Senators will attempt to pull off their second straight series upset starting Tuesday night when the NHL's conference semifinals get under way. Ottawa, seeded seventh in the Eastern Conference and coming off a five-game win over No. 2 Montreal, will play Game 1 at top-seeded Pittsburgh. The other Eastern Conference semifinal will pit the New York Rangers against the Boston Bruins after both advanced in Game 7s Monday night. In the Western Conference, defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles and surging San Jose will begin on Tuesday, while heavily favored Chicago and Detroit will start Wednesday.

Dustin Penner could have simply dumped the puck and allowed the clock to run out on the second period of yet another dead-even game. Instead, he ripped a long slap shot at the net, and it ramped off a St. Louis stick and flew past Brian Elliott right before the buzzer sounded. "You might as well try," Penner said with a shrug. "You never know if you don't throw it on net. " That's the type of positive thinking that made the Los Angeles Kings into champions, and that's why they finally got rid of the Blues after a bruising first round of their title defense.

'OUR FANS love the game and know we're trying hard every year to get better. Fans aren't stupid. They know when an organization is doing everything possible and when it's not. They probably wouldn't support us if we weren't working our butts off. " These are the words of 80-year-old Ed Snider to the Inquirer and Philly.com last week, spoken from the heart as always. Whether it's the fat deal he gave Chris Pronger or the one he gave Ilya Bryzgalov 2 summers ago, Ed always has backed that heart with his checkbook, and for that he escapes much of the vitriol that fans express toward ownership of our more recent champions, such as the current Phillies.

The last time the Flyers won the Stanley Cup, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a box-office sensation, sentences were handed out for the Watergate cover-up, and gas was about 57 cents a gallon. Yeah, it's been a while. Thirty-eight years, to be exact. No one is more frustrated than Ed Snider, the Flyers' founder and chairman of Comcast-Spectacor, the team's parent company. The frustration grew this season. First there was the senseless lockout. Then the Flyers' head-scratching, inconsistent play caused them to miss the playoffs for just the second time in the last 18 years.

IT WAS A SEASON to forget, one of just nine in 45 seasons in which the Flyers have not qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Rather than look back on the season, here's an inventory of what the Flyers have moving forward. (Players are listed alphabetically by position. Contracts are what's remaining.)   FORWARDS DANNY BRIERE Stats: 34 GP, 6 G, 10 A. Grade: C- Age: 35 Contract: 2 years, $13 million Outlook: Steep production drop, accounting for his worst career season.

Bryan Bickell scored in overtime on a two-on-one rush, and the Chicago Blackhawks started the playoffs on a winning note after dominating the regular season, beating the visiting Minnesota Wild, 2-1, on Tuesday night. Corey Crawford settled down after allowing a weak goal in the opening minutes. Marian Hossa also scored, and the Blackhawks took the early lead in this first-round series. Game 2 is Friday at the United Center. Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom was a late scratch because of a leg injury.

Penguins star Sidney Crosby practiced Monday but his status remains uncertain for Wednesday's playoff opener against the New York Islanders. Crosby hasn't played since suffering a broken jaw a month ago. He said he'll see doctors again Tuesday and will not play until he is given clearance.   Another chance The St. Louis Blues are getting yet another shot at the Los Angeles Kings, starting Tuesday. Los Angeles beat the Blues during its run to the Stanley Cup championship last season and swept St. Louis this season.

ALEX STEEN stole the puck from goalie Jonathan Quick behind the net and scored a shorthanded goal to give the Blues a 2-1 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night in St. Louis in the opening game of their Western Conference playoff series. Steen scored unassisted on a backhander at 13:26 of overtime less than a minute after Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk was whistled for double-minor high sticking when he cut Dustin Penner. Steen also scored on a power play in the first period for the Blues, who ended an eight-game losing streak against the team that swept them in the second round last spring.

With about 400 fans cheering loudly, the Flyers unveiled a statue of Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent hoisting the Stanley Cup during a ceremony Saturday morning outside Xfinity Live. The seven-foot bronze statue commemorates the Flyers' championship teams in 1974 and 1975, and it sits outside the pub Broad Street Bullies, the nickname of those teams. Clarke, Parent, and club officials spoke at the ceremony, which was attended by former Flyers Reggie Leach, Bill Barber, Joe Watson, Don Saleski, Orest Kindrachuk, and Bob Kelly.