Stanley Cup Finals

The bear hug a joyous Jason Arnott gave Petr Sykora after he scored the second of his two goals last night was not the only time the big, brawny center had shown affection for his linemate. There was a slightly more contentious scene earlier in the game, when Arnott took exception to the way Darius Kasparaitis was using his piece of lumber on Sykora and dumped the Pittsburgh defenseman on his rump with a forearm shiver. Indeed, the New Jersey Devils' top line of Arnott, Sykora and Patrik Elias, who has emerged as perhaps the game's top left winger, not only does it all on the ice, but the players cover for one another as well.

Controversial goalie Ray Emery, who helped the Ottawa Senators reach the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007 - and who excelled in Russia this season - has drawn interest from the Flyers, general manager Paul Holmgren confirmed yesterday. "I have spoken with his agent numerous times over the course of the season on various matters, and, yes, Ray's name has come up," Holmgren said. Known for his hot temper, exotic cars, and extravagant lifestyle, Emery conceded that he was a heavy partyer in a 2008 interview with USA Today.

Led by Eric Lindros, the Flyers have all the tools - speed, size, strength, scoring and sound defense - to make it to the Stanley Cup finals. They finished atop the Atlantic Division last year.

Chanting and applauding, about 2,000 fevered Flyers fans turned out yesterday for a rally at the City Hall courtyard. The audience was surely further fueled by the week of anticipation leading up to the Stanley Cup finals. The series against the Detroit Red Wings begins tonight.

Jack Fisher signs the "World's Largest Flyers Jersey" at 30th Street Station, where fans may autograph it. The jersey - 18 feet tall and 28 feet across the shoulders - will be placed on the William Penn statue atop City Hall if the Flyers reach the Stanley Cup finals.

With the Stanley Cup finals over, the Flyers jersey is removed from the statue of William Penn atop City Hall. Getting the job done yesterday were city employees (from left) Ray Cromley and Charles Gay. The giant jersey was one of the most visible signs of the hockey team's winning season - and ultimate loss.

Playoff block parties are scheduled for 4 p.m. today and Friday outside of the AT&T Pavilion on the 11th Street side of the Wachovia Center in advance of the Stanley Cup finals games. Doors to the arena will open at 6 p.m. Game time is 8 o'clock for both nights.

Chris Pronger and Ville Leino are the only players on the Flyers' roster to have played in the Stanley Cup finals. For the other guys on the roster, Saturday's Game 1 will be a long time coming. The first number next to the player's name is his number of games played; the second is the number of Stanley Cup finals he's been in: Chris Pronger 1104, 2 Ville Leino 68 1 Ian Laperriere 1083 0 Kimmo Timonen 812 0 Scott Hartnell 679 0 Danny Briere 666 0 Simon Gagne 664 0 Arron Asham 648 0 Blair Betts 402 0 Jeff Carter 381 0 Mike Richards 372 0 Lukas Krajicek 328 0 Matt Carle 307 0 Braydon Coburn 297 0 Brian Boucher 280 0 Dan Carcillo 225 0 Claude Giroux 126 0 Darroll Powe 103 0 Michael Leighton 103 0 James van Riemsdyk 78 0 Oskars Bartulis 53 0  

It appears as if Michael Leighton will be the starting goalie for the Flyers Wednesday night in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks. Coach Peter Laviolette indirectly said Leighton will start a few minutes ago, although both Leighton and Brian Boucher said shottly before that that they hadn't been told who will play. But Danny Briere said, "I'm hearing it's Leighton. " - Sam Carchidi  

1. First punch. The Flyers need to grab the first goal, which they didn't in Game 5, to take the edge off themselves and the fans who will be packed into the Wachovia Center. 2. First line. Mike Richards and Jeff Carter have a combined two goals in the Stanley Cup finals. Carter's was an empty-netter and Richards' came on the power play. They need to be better. 3. Confidence. If the Flyers are nervous, they won't be successful. Each time they have staved off elimination this season, they have played like the more confident team.

Derek Stepan and Arron Asham both scored tiebreaking goals in the third period for the host New York Rangers in a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals in Game 3 on Monday night. The Rangers finally found their offense and got back into their first-round playoff series. New York defenseman Marc Staal returned after being sidelined since early March when he was struck near the right eye by a puck. New York still trails, two games to one, in the Eastern Conference series, with Game 4 Wednesday in New York.

MONTREAL - Forget the rumors about Peter Laviolette's being fired after the season. It sounds as if the Flyers' fiery coach is staying. Without formally announcing it, general manager Paul Holmgren gave Laviolette a strong vote of confidence in Montreal on Monday. Asked whether he planned to make a coaching change after the season, Holmgren was succinct. "I haven't even thought along those lines," he told The Inquirer in a phone conversation. "I think it's been a difficult year because of the [injury]

The contrast only makes it worse. A year ago, the Flyers eliminated their bitter rivals from Pittsburgh in the first round of the playoffs. The year before, the Flyers went one round further than the Penguins. The year before that, the Flyers went all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. On Thursday, Penguins fans woke up to news that their first-place team had acquired future Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla in a late-night trade. Iginla joined winger Brenden Morrow and defenseman Douglas Murray, brought in as Pens general manager Ray Shero loads up for a run at the Cup. Flyers fans?

BOSTON - The Flyers are in crisis mode. They have lost three straight, haven't scored in the five periods since taking an early 4-1 lead before collapsing against Pittsburgh on Thursday, and are in danger of missing the playoffs for just the second time in the last 18 seasons. After a listless 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, coach Peter Laviolette, whose job isn't as safe as it looked a month ago, held a closed-door meeting with his players that lasted 20 minutes. Twenty minutes to coax the Flyers into playing 60 minutes each game.

THE NEW JERSEY Devils signed center Travis Zajac to a long-term contract. Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello announced the deal on Wednesday, shortly after Zajac scored a goal in a scrimmage against Albany of the AHL. The deal will run 8 years, and pay Zajac, who should be the No. 1 center this season, $46 million. Lamoriello said the two sides had started to work on the new contract before the NHL lockout began in September. They finished it after the league and its players finalized a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement.

After a 4½-week binge of laser-cutting, wiring, soldering, programming, and debugging, it all came down to the moment when a tall man in a dark gray suit took the stage. "It's time to plaaayyyy some HOCKEY!" he shouted. Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" blared from the sound system. The crowd, many of them zonked from pulling repeated all-nighters, was in a state of near-delirium. This was Robockey 2012 - hockey played by wheeled robots. It is the culmination of a notoriously tough engineering course at the University of Pennsylvania - taught every fall by Jonathan Fiene, the man in the gray suit - and it is a wild scene.

THE NINTH class of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame was inducted on Thursday night. It is a legendary list, as always: * Dan Baker, winner of the Legacy of Excellence award: Baker has been the Phillies' public-address announcer for 40 years and the Eagles' public-address announcer since 1985. * Debbie Black: Saint Joseph's all-time leader in steals and assists. Led Hawks to two Big 5 titles and an Atlantic 10 title. * Johnny Callison: Four-time All-Star who was MVP of the 1964 All-Star Game and runner-up for NL MVP award.

The Winter Classic, the crown jewel of the NHL's regular season, was canceled Friday, making some wonder if scrapping the entire 82-game season will be next. The league announced that the Jan. 1 matchup between Detroit and Toronto at Michigan Stadium was canceled because a collective bargaining agreement is not in place. Setting up the event, along with the alumni game at Detroit's Comerica Park, would be virtually impossible on short notice, the league said. The lockout reached its 48th day Friday, but representatives for the players and owners planned to resume bargaining Saturday at an undisclosed location.

Ian Laperriere waited until after the Stanley Cup Finals ended, with the Los Angeles Kings on top, to announce something that was two years in the making. Laperriere, 38, officially announced his retirement from hockey Tuesday. He spent the last two seasons of his contract working with the Flyers' prospects in a coaching role after being sidelined with postconcussion syndrome. Laperriere spent only one season in a Flyers uniform, but will go down as one of the most beloved players in franchise history for his sacrifice, dedication, and passion.

NEWARK, N.J. - On the exact two-year anniversary of Patrick Kane's crushing, Stanley Cup-clinching overtime goal at the Wells Fargo Center, the New Jersey Devils kept Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne without a title. For two more days, at least. In prolonging their season, the Devils did two things with a 2-1 win over the Kings in Saturday night's Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals that no other team was able to accomplish so far in the postseason: beat Los Angeles on the road and push the Kings to a sixth game in a series.