Stanley Cup winners seek that feeling again

By Helene Elliott

June 8, 2010 12 AM PT

Reporting from Philadelphia -- The three Chicago Blackhawks who have won the Stanley Cup played it cool on the eve of their chance to win again. But Coach Joel Quenneville, who got his name on the Cup as an assistant coach with Colorado in 1996, wasn’t sure his players would be calm enough to get restful sleep Tuesday night.

“We hope so,” said Quenneville, whose team will carry a 3-2 series lead over the Philadelphia Flyers into Game 6 Wednesday at the Wachovia Center.

Blackhawks center John Madden is two for three in his previous Cup finals, all with New Jersey, having won in 2000 and 2003 and lost in 2001. For Madden, who signed with the Blackhawks as a free agent last summer, the joy of winning the Cup is unequaled.

“It was no better feeling in hockey. That’s for sure,” he said Tuesday after the Blackhawks arrived in Philadelphia.

“The look on your teammates’ faces when you’ve all come together and accomplished your goals. There have been some trials and tribulations, so to speak. You’ve been able to overcome a lot. It’s a real nice feeling to have.”

Winger Tomas Kopecky was a member of the 2008 champion Detroit Red Wings, though a knee injury kept him out of the Cup finals. He played eight playoff games for them last season, when they lost to Pittsburgh.

“Obviously, it’s a thrill. That’s why you play hockey growing up, to win the Stanley Cup,” Kopecky said. “When I was with Detroit, the memories stay with you for the rest of your life. That feeling, it’s unbelievable.”

Winger Andrew Ladd played for Carolina’s championship team in 2006 in a seven-game finals victory over Edmonton.

“It’s what we play the game for,” Ladd said. “The group that we have and the players we have in the room and the personalities, it just makes the whole ride fun.

“It’s really been fun the whole way. If you can cap it off at the end by winning, it’s just a special feeling you can’t really describe.”

His coach was Peter Laviolette, now the Flyers’ coach. He still has great respect for Laviolette, who’s trying to deny him a second Cup title.

“He’s a great motivator. He’s great with words,” Ladd said. “He seems to get the most out of his players, like he did with us in our run. He sets up a great game plan and gives every opportunity for the guys to succeed. That’s why we’re expecting them to come out hard [Wednesday] and we have to be ready to match that.”

So close…

With Game 6 of this finals approaching, Laviolette was asked about his memories of the Hurricanes being unable to finish off the Oilers in Game 6. Actually, they squandered a chance to win in the previous game, too.

“It was nauseating. I went back to the hotel room in Edmonton and I almost threw up,” he said. “To be close, to have an opportunity. … Game 5 wasn’t much better. We were winning, they tied it up late. We went on the power play in overtime and they scored a shorthanded goal in our building with the Cup being polished out back. So that one wasn’t much better.

“You keep fighting. You keep fighting for it. One thing this team really has proven is that they’re capable of fighting. We’ll be ready to do that [Wednesday].”

Chris Pronger: no comment

The Chicago Tribune’s Tuesday editions included a pullout poster of Chris Pronger, with a twist.

Pronger was depicted wearing his Flyers jersey but in a display of frat-boy humor the photo was altered to give him the skirt and legs of a figure skater. He was identified as “Chrissy Pronger” with a smaller headline that said, “Looks like Tarzan, skates like Jane,” and a graphic included the statistics of his minus-five performance in the Flyers’ Game 5 loss to the Blackhawks.

The Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times are owned by Tribune Co.

The poster generated a lot of buzz here, and Pronger was asked if he had seen it. “I don’t read what you guys write. Good or bad,” he said.

Quenneville declined to comment.

Home is where the wins are

Flyers goalie Michael Leighton is 6-0 at home during the playoffs, including back-to-back shutouts of Montreal in the Eastern Conference finals. Overall, the Flyers are 9-1 at home during the playoffs. Their only loss here was in Game 3 of their second-round series against Boston.

Naturally, Leighton hopes home cooking will enable the Flyers to avoid elimination Wednesday.

“I like playing in this building,” he said of the Wachovia Center. “The fans are great. We’ve just got to do what we’ve been doing all playoffs.”

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