PITTSBURGH -- Some NHL rivalries evolve from a big game, a major trade or a short-lived scuffle, then fade after a few years. Not the Philadelphia Flyers versus the Pittsburgh Penguins.
This rivalry is real, perpetual, and, mostly, downright nasty.
Evolving from state lines and bloodlines -- and it's mostly bad blood -- it's been one of the league's most heated since the teams were born in 1967. Now, for the first time, it will decide a Stanley Cup finalist as the Pennsylvania teams meet in the Eastern Conference finals beginning tonight.
"All the games (during the season) were heated and now we go into the conference finals and I'm expecting it to be heated again, and even more," Flyers defenceman Kimmo Timonen said.
Only Timonen won't be part of it. He is expected to miss the series with a blood clot in his left ankle that developed during the second-round series against Montreal.
Timonen is their most skilled defenceman and was expected to be matched against Pittsburgh leading scorer Evgeni Malkin's line.
"We have to view this that he's not a player for us in the series, and march on," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said.
Mimicking their locations in diametric corners of one of the East Coast's biggest states, the teams are polar opposites. The Penguins haven't advanced to the finals since 1992. The Flyers' most recent appearance was 1997.
The Penguins, much like the days when Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr were the team's big names, are flash and dash, speed and flair with scoring stars Sidney Crosby, Malkin and Marian Hossa.
The Flyers, while possessing multiple scoring lines like Pittsburgh, are rightful descendants of the franchise's fabled Broad Street Bullies, winning through toughness and intimidation. They muscled up to the Penguins' stars, pushed them around, distracted them with some success while winning five of eight during the season.
-- The Associated Press
PREVIOUS
