Pens and Flyers set to renew hostilties in Eastern quarterfinals

It’s all set but the home-ice advantage, and the Pittsburgh Penguins will face the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference’s four seed/five seed quarterfinal playoff round.

It’s no secret that there’s bad blood between the two squads, with each exchanging blows (literally and figuratively) since they entered the league in 1967 as parts of the NHL’s six team expansion.

First, it was Jean Pronovost against Bobby Clarke, as the Flyers dominated the Penguins for their first few decades of their existence.

Next, it was Mario Lemieux against Ron Hextall, with the Penguins turning things around in the 1990’s and becoming a true powerhouse.

Now, it’s Sidney Crosby against Mike Richards in what figures to be an epic rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals that saw Crosby’s Penguins dispatch Richards’ Flyers in a painless five games.

Don’t be fooled, though. This series reaches far behind the two young captains, Crosby and Richards.

Evgeni Malkin, this year’s Art Ross Trophy winner, teams with Billy Guerin, Chris Kunitz, Petr Sykora, Jordan Staal, Tyler Kennedy, Sergei Gonchar, and Kris Letang to provide the Penguins with a solid measure of scoring depth.

On the other side, emerging center Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Simon Gagne, Joffrey Lupul, Mike Knuble, Jeff Carter, Danny Briere, Kimmo Timonen, and Braydon Coburn provide similar luxuries to the Flyers.

Then, there’s the inevitable aroma of hate and disgust between the two interstate rivals that has consumed much of the rivalry since its inception many years ago.

Clarke, Hartnell, and current GM Paul Holmgren are just a few names of Flyers past and present who have never been afraid to take liberties with the other team and stir up scrums and scuffles.

Max Talbot, Ulf Samuelsson, and Marty McSorley are some players who have never backed down from answering the bell for Philadelphia’s Western Pennsylvanian counterpart.

Rick Tocchet is the common denominator in this matter, having been a tough guy who played for both the Penguins and Flyers over the course of his career.

This series boasts two teams that, while mutual respect is shared, loathe the very core of each other. It has been that way for as long as the Penguins and Flyers have battled in the Patrick Divison, and now in the Atlantic—-in the Prince of Wales Conference, and now in the Eastern.

Buckle up, Pennsylvania.

This should be a rough ride in more ways than one.

*Disclaimer: If you see this written on Faceoff-Factor, it's because the same author wrote it, and PTF has permission to use the article.