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The Flyers magical run to the Stanley Cup Finals has already converted many skeptics throughout the Delaware Valley. Not nearly as many nationwide believe they will defeat the Blackhawks however.
ESPN.com unscientifically polled sports fans on a variety of questions pertaining to the Philly-Chicago Cup Finals match up. Of the over 104,000 fans across “sports nation” who have chimed in as of this morning 68% believe the Blackhawks will win their first championship since 1961. The Flyers 35-year title drought meanwhile will be ended in the opinion of 32% of ESPN voters.
Looking at state by state results the Flyers are the pick in just three states all making up the greater Philadelphia tri-state area. Delawareans are the most confident with 73% taking Philly in the Finals. Seven of ten Pennsylvanians (70%) are too counting on a Flyers victory. In the Garden State meanwhile 53% think the Orange and Black will hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup. On the flip side many states are leaning heavily against the Flyers chances in this upcoming series. Philadelphia gets under 20% of the vote in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Not surprisingly it was the Blackhawks home state of Illinois that ranked as the most fiercely confident of any to the tune of 93% believing in their home team’s chances of victory.
A far smaller sample size of around 13,000 responded to the question of which team did they want to win the Cup. The Flyers-Blackhawks match up in this instance was far more evenly divided. Currently Chicago had the favor of a slight majority of sports fans outdistancing Philadelphia by a slim 52-48% margin. While cultivating one of the NHL’s larger national fan bases through the years the Flyers are also one of the most vilified teams in hockey. This dates back to their “Broad Street Bullies” teams of the 1970s that resulted in two Stanley Cup championships and a boat load of critics. A recent HBO documentary also titled “Broad Street Bullies” examined in greater depth the perception of team who was both a hero and villain.
The Flyers are the more popular team in several states including Hawaii, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C. and in West Virginia where there is a 50-50 tie between the two combatants. In New Jersey meanwhile some 79% are pulling for a Flyers victory. That figure balloons to 88% when talking about Pennsylvanians and a whopping 95% of those residing in the First State of Delaware. Conversely 95% of those in Illinois are rooting for their Blackhawks and Chicago is also heavily supported in North Dakota (89%) and neighboring Indiana (88%). In total the Hawks are the people’s choice in 38-states.
Better coach? The Flyers Peter Laviolette who already has one Cup victory on his resume and was largely responsible for engineering Philadelphia’s amazing comeback in their Conference Semi-Finals series against Boston gets the slight nod. Chicago coach Joel Quenneville who led his Blackhawks to the second best regular season point total (112) in the league is beaten out by a modest 54-46% margin. Those residing outside the borders of the United States are evenly split 50-50 on the subject. Overall Laviolette is the pick in 28-states and Washington D.C.
Better goalie? It’s a neck and neck race between Flyers goaltender Michael Leighton and Blackhawks netminder Antii Niemi. Both have excelled in these playoffs and neither was considered amongst the elite at their position prior to an impressive postseason run. Leighton in particular didn’t even compete in the playoffs until the second round against the Bruins due to an injury to goalie Brian Boucher who himself was a backup to Ray Emery, injured during the regular season. Leighton is the choice in 25-states plus Washington D.C. while Niemi gets more respect in 22-states. Voters in Maine, New Mexico and Utah are currently locked in a 50-50 tie.
Lastly another evenly divided result was voted upon by over 50,000 sports fans on ESPN.com. Chicago and Philadelphia are widely considered to be two of the very best sports cities in America and this question asks the general public who is more of a “hockey town”. The Hawks have tradition as a member of the “Original Six” and claim for the highest NHL attendance over the past two seasons. Still the Flyers have enjoyed consistently higher attendance, revenue and local TV ratings over at least the last two decades. In recent years Philadelphia was also ranked in publications such as Sports Illustrated and the Sporting News as either the best, or amongst the top-three American hockey markets.
Including D.C. Philadelphia was recognized as the better hockey town in 28-states with three others; Alaska, Idaho and Washington, split 50-50. Of course it’s not surprising to see 85% of those living in Illinois believing their home city of Chicago being the better of the two whereas three-quarters (75%) of Pennsylvanians claiming Philadelphia is the more passionate hockey town – a state that also has a rival team residing in Pittsburgh.
The Stanley Cup Finals begins on Saturday at 8pm on NBC with a majority of national analysts picking the Blackhawks to win the series. Noted ESPN analyst and former NHL head coach Barry Melrose predicted these two teams would meet each other in the Finals during the preseason and he now picks Chicago to defeat the Flyers in six.
ESPN.com unscientifically polled sports fans on a variety of questions pertaining to the Philly-Chicago Cup Finals match up. Of the over 104,000 fans across “sports nation” who have chimed in as of this morning 68% believe the Blackhawks will win their first championship since 1961. The Flyers 35-year title drought meanwhile will be ended in the opinion of 32% of ESPN voters.
Looking at state by state results the Flyers are the pick in just three states all making up the greater Philadelphia tri-state area. Delawareans are the most confident with 73% taking Philly in the Finals. Seven of ten Pennsylvanians (70%) are too counting on a Flyers victory. In the Garden State meanwhile 53% think the Orange and Black will hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup. On the flip side many states are leaning heavily against the Flyers chances in this upcoming series. Philadelphia gets under 20% of the vote in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Not surprisingly it was the Blackhawks home state of Illinois that ranked as the most fiercely confident of any to the tune of 93% believing in their home team’s chances of victory.
A far smaller sample size of around 13,000 responded to the question of which team did they want to win the Cup. The Flyers-Blackhawks match up in this instance was far more evenly divided. Currently Chicago had the favor of a slight majority of sports fans outdistancing Philadelphia by a slim 52-48% margin. While cultivating one of the NHL’s larger national fan bases through the years the Flyers are also one of the most vilified teams in hockey. This dates back to their “Broad Street Bullies” teams of the 1970s that resulted in two Stanley Cup championships and a boat load of critics. A recent HBO documentary also titled “Broad Street Bullies” examined in greater depth the perception of team who was both a hero and villain.
The Flyers are the more popular team in several states including Hawaii, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C. and in West Virginia where there is a 50-50 tie between the two combatants. In New Jersey meanwhile some 79% are pulling for a Flyers victory. That figure balloons to 88% when talking about Pennsylvanians and a whopping 95% of those residing in the First State of Delaware. Conversely 95% of those in Illinois are rooting for their Blackhawks and Chicago is also heavily supported in North Dakota (89%) and neighboring Indiana (88%). In total the Hawks are the people’s choice in 38-states.
Better coach? The Flyers Peter Laviolette who already has one Cup victory on his resume and was largely responsible for engineering Philadelphia’s amazing comeback in their Conference Semi-Finals series against Boston gets the slight nod. Chicago coach Joel Quenneville who led his Blackhawks to the second best regular season point total (112) in the league is beaten out by a modest 54-46% margin. Those residing outside the borders of the United States are evenly split 50-50 on the subject. Overall Laviolette is the pick in 28-states and Washington D.C.
Better goalie? It’s a neck and neck race between Flyers goaltender Michael Leighton and Blackhawks netminder Antii Niemi. Both have excelled in these playoffs and neither was considered amongst the elite at their position prior to an impressive postseason run. Leighton in particular didn’t even compete in the playoffs until the second round against the Bruins due to an injury to goalie Brian Boucher who himself was a backup to Ray Emery, injured during the regular season. Leighton is the choice in 25-states plus Washington D.C. while Niemi gets more respect in 22-states. Voters in Maine, New Mexico and Utah are currently locked in a 50-50 tie.
Lastly another evenly divided result was voted upon by over 50,000 sports fans on ESPN.com. Chicago and Philadelphia are widely considered to be two of the very best sports cities in America and this question asks the general public who is more of a “hockey town”. The Hawks have tradition as a member of the “Original Six” and claim for the highest NHL attendance over the past two seasons. Still the Flyers have enjoyed consistently higher attendance, revenue and local TV ratings over at least the last two decades. In recent years Philadelphia was also ranked in publications such as Sports Illustrated and the Sporting News as either the best, or amongst the top-three American hockey markets.
Including D.C. Philadelphia was recognized as the better hockey town in 28-states with three others; Alaska, Idaho and Washington, split 50-50. Of course it’s not surprising to see 85% of those living in Illinois believing their home city of Chicago being the better of the two whereas three-quarters (75%) of Pennsylvanians claiming Philadelphia is the more passionate hockey town – a state that also has a rival team residing in Pittsburgh.
The Stanley Cup Finals begins on Saturday at 8pm on NBC with a majority of national analysts picking the Blackhawks to win the series. Noted ESPN analyst and former NHL head coach Barry Melrose predicted these two teams would meet each other in the Finals during the preseason and he now picks Chicago to defeat the Flyers in six.
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