One thing you can say about the Philadelphia Flyers:

They are who we thought they were…in September.

Yes, your Flyers will represent the Eastern Conference in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals — surprising considering their regular season performance, not so much when you consider the preseason expectations.

How did the Flyers get here? By beating the second-seeded New Jersey Devils in five games, coming back from a 3-0 series deficit to beat the Boston Bruins and allowing a whopping two goals in four wins over the Montreal Canadiens.

All that leads to a matchup with the Chicago Blackhawks, a team the Flyers beat 3-2 on a last-second Chris Pronger goal in their only meeting this season. The Blackhawks, like the Flyers, have progressed rapidly in the last three seasons, led by their abundance of youthful talent.

With the Cup Finals not set to begin until Saturday night, the real significance of this playoff run has not fully sunk in. With each game and series won, the bandwagon grows exponentially. It’s not quite real yet — mainly because it’s not a surprise.

This team is now doing what it was expected to do all along. Granted, the path they have taken to the finals was unpredictable. If anything, these playoffs have proven it’s easier to go by preseason predictions than pre-playoff picks.

Don’t agree? Let’s look at the facts:

Paul Holmgren built this team for the playoffs, simply as that. He didn’t exactly expect them to need a shootout in Game 82 to qualify for the second season, but the playoffs were what this team appears to have been waiting for all season.

John Stevens was fired and replaced by an all-around better coach, Peter Laviolette. He has pushed all the right buttons with this squad. It is hard to believe the Flyers would be in the same position if Stevens was still the coach.

As for the players, Danny Briere and Claude Giroux have been point-per-game players in this postseason, rebounding from lackluster regular seasons to produce in the clutch.

Mike Richards has led the way through grit, pluck and timely contribution, no better evidenced than by the first goal in Monday’s Game 5 victory. Jeff Carter has four goals in six playoff games, including the game-winning goal in Game 5.

Braydon Coburn has logged heavy minutes among the top four defensemen, overcoming his tendencies to play brainless hockey. Matt Carle has helped key the Flyers’ offense from the back end as Pronger’s partner. Simon Gagne has been both offensively dangerous and defensively responsible. Ian Laperriere blocks shots, Blair Betts wins faceoffs and Scott Hartnell manages to stay on his skates once in a while.

Then, of course, there are Pronger and Kimmo Timonen, the top two defensemen who provide the steadying influence and high level of performance expected from veteran blue-liners. Pronger-Carle and Timonen-Coburn give the Flyers two strong pairings, meaning their opponents rarely see the third pairing, with Ryan Parent firmly secured to the bench. There is little time off for the four d-men, but that also means there is little time off for the opposing forwards.

Michael Leighton? Well, he’s been a revelation, and no one saw that coming (least of all me). He has done what was generally expected of Ray Emery, though: be a solid goalie who doesn’t allow bad goals and relies on his defense. The player has changed, but the expectation stayed the same.

Are any of these statements outlandish? It would be hard to argue so. The fact is the Flyers are peaking at the right time, and after a season of turmoil and strife are finally performing up to their potential. As has been repeatedly said, the playoffs are a different animal, an opportunity to write a new story regardless of the regular season plot. The Flyers are doing just that, and the reality of where this team currently is has not quite sunk in yet.

The truth can be said: The Philadelphia Flyers are in the Stanley Cup Finals — and we saw it coming all along.