Philadelphia Rams

Bob Probert died yesterday at age 45. He was one of the fiercest players ever in the NHL.

Bob Probert’s tough story ended far too soon [Detroit Free Press]

The NHL has long been the gang that couldn’t shoot straight when it has come to marketing their game. But this post-season has shown they might just be getting it.

The History Will Be Made campaign is simple, yet brilliant and it has really gone viral, whether through the ads posted to the NHL’s YouTube channel or through the countless fan-created versions that are out there. The league has also embraced Chris Pronger as the villain, a role he relishes. He practically has his own channel of videos on NHL.com.

Chris Pronger a +4 and that only tells part of the story.

Tomorrow night the Flyers and Blackhawks faceoff in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Flyers enter this series like each before it, as the underdog.

Who do you have? In the only meeting of the teams this season Chris Pronger scored the game winning goal with 2.1 seconds left.

It’s amazing what a shift can do. When Mike Richards bowled over Canadiens defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron and 40 seconds later lifted a shorthanded backhand into a yawning net as Maroslav Halak and Roman Hamrlik lay sprawled helplessly behind the Flyers captain, Richards did more than lift his team, he defined his legacy.

It no longer mattered if Richards wasn’t a savant with the media, gone were the questions about his bachelor lifestyle, no one wanted to give the captain’s “C” to Chris Pronger. In one energized shift he became the unquestioned Flyers leader, a captain in the style of Yzerman or Sakic. The longterm contract was justified and winning the Stanley Cup was possible, all because of one shift in the first period of game 5 of the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals.

See the NHL commercial the shift inspired after the jump.

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The Flyers roared back in game four, playing the perfect suffocating road game enroute to a 3-0 shutout win and 3-1 advantage in the Wastern Conference Finals.

Among the notable notes, Michael Leighton posted his third shutout in the series. Something no other Flyer goalie has accomplished.

Jeff Carter and Ian Laperriere both made a difference in their return to the lineup.

Numerous Flyers had to get their skates resharpened during the game. The NBC broadcast team mentioned sand or grit outside the Flyers locker room was to blame. What was and is unclear is whether it was an accident or an act of sabotage.

The Flyers have a chance to close out the series on Monday night and to return to the Stanley Cup Finals For the first time since 1997.

The Flyers are up 2 games to none and have outscored the opposition 13-0 since THE TIMEOUT.