Much like it’s odd when the NBA uses rock anthems (read: white people music) to promote the NBA playoffs, the NHL has featured first Eminem in their Stanley Cup Finals promos and now Snoop Dogg:

The video includes some great shots of players walking into the arena before games (Blair Betts, Patrick Kane and Mike Richards, among others). What began with the “History will be made” commercials continues with these Stanley Cup ads, continual strokes of genius from the NHL in their postseason advertising.

And after tonight, we’ll have a new “History will be made” spot to watch continually heading into Friday’s Game 7…

Congratulations, Chicago Blackhawks fans! You have replaced the Washington Capitals as the biggest bandwagon sensation in the NHL (via Puck Daddy):

Apparently these guys are actually ‘Hawks fans, though, which takes a little away from it. Oh, well.

Girooooooooooooooooux.

We have a running joke here at Philly Fan Complex regarding overtime hero Claude Giroux. At one Flyers game in the middle of their mid-season swoon, a creative fellow sitting behind us took it upon himself to single-handedly chant each and every Flyer’s name.

There was no reason for any chanting. The game was rather boring, and the Flyers were having trouble generating offense as usual. During one sequence, Giroux danced through the middle of the ice and made a nice move around a defenseman, otherwise accomplishing nothing else but dumping the puck into the zone. Our resident noisemaker, however, found it the perfect time to unleash a healthy Giroooooooooooux, for no reason other than he wanted to.

With the Giroooooux-ing greeted with nothing but ignorance and apathy, our man was incredulous. “Why isn’t anyone saying it?” he wondered aloud.

And with that question, he has become a sensation. Whenever Giroux has come up big in these playoffs, we ask not why no fans are chanting, but reply instead that they are saying it.

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Per Greg Wyshynski (aka Puck Daddy), Chris Pronger appears to have posted another priceless item for sale on Craigslist: Dustin Byfuglien’s manhood.

Byfuglien was the talk of the hockey world after a monstrous series against the San Jose Sharks, but from the get-go Pronger has trained his sights on the big, bad Blackhawk, effectively neutralizing him. Byfuglien has one point in the series, an assist, and is an impressive minus-3 with only three shots. His lackluster play is part of the general ineffectiveness of his line with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, with a combined one goal among the three of the them.

It’s a little odd to ask for Cliff Lee in return, unless he learned how to hit and play left field since he left for Seattle, but no matter. If Pronger keeps this up, we may have to resume our “Craigslist Ad of the Day” feature.

With a pivotal Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals four hours away, Chris Pronger hasn’t allowed the moment to overwhelm him, continuing to partake in one of his favorite pastimes: selling prized collectibles on Craigslist.

You the fan can now buy the puck used as the Flyers scrambled to score the game-tying goal in both Game 1 and 2, only to fall short. Pronger, the wily vet, made sure his team didn’t come up empty-handed in either game, however, shrewdly snagging these once-in-a-lifetime commodities.

Pronger’s actions upset Chicago’s Ben “Holy shit, I scored a goal!” Eager following Game 2, earning both players misconducts as Pronger shot a towel at Eager:

Now that we see Pronger’s intentions were nothing but pure entrepreneurial capitalism, however, it is obvious why Eager was so upset: His ads in the “Causal Encounters” section keep being removed.

The five day pause between the Flyers’ Game 5 victory to clinch the Eastern Conference and Saturday’s opening game of the Stanley Cup Finals is proving to be a torturous experience. Finally, we are here.

Hockey is hot across the country, with the teams from two of America’s largest cities representing their respective conferences, but only one is getting all the pub nationally: the Chicago Blackhawks.

Inevitably, when the pick is made, each certified expert speaks along the lines of “You have to give the Flyers credit for all they’ve battled through, but…Blackhawks in five.” One of such writers, ESPN.com’s Pierre Lebrun, went so far as to title the Western Conference finals the real Cup Finals. These are the same Western Conference Finals that ended in four games, with Chicago sweeping San Jose.

If that is what embodies a true championship series, then we’ll have to take back our enjoyment of the Flyers’ dramatic run up to this point. After all, these Flyers weren’t supposed to beat Martin Brodeur and the second-seeded Devils, couldn’t possibly have come back and defeated the Bruins after losing the first three games of the series and certainly weren’t going to easily solve the Ovechkin-and-Crosby-slaying Montreal Canadiens and Patrick-Roy-reincarnated Jaroslav Halak.

They definitely weren’t going to do all of that after losing Simon Gagne, Jeff Carter and Ian Laperriere, nor keep playing long enough to get any of them back. They weren’t going anywhere with Brian Boucher in net or, after he was injured, with a just-returned Michael Leighton.

Sure they weren’t.

The Flyers are here though, and for all the talk of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Dustin Byfuglien, Marian Hossa, Kris Versteeg, Duncan Keith, Seabrook and Antii Niemi, there is Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne, Danny Briere, Claude Giroux, Chris Pronger, Kimmo Timonen and Michael Leighton. Is there a definite disparity in talent there? A resounding “No” rises from the rational, the objective and the sane.

Yeah, but…

We know. The Blackhawks swept the postseason-impotent San Jose Sharks and psychologically tormented Gold-medal winning goaltender Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks. It did take them six games to beat Nashville in the first round (a result that may have been quite different if Marian Hossa had been properly penalized —and if Martin Erat felt like holding on to the puck longer) but of course, because it did take six games, it just proves Nashville obviously to be a scrappy band of pluckers, grinders and muckers — and the Blackhawks all the more impressive for beating them.

No one has yet to make a convincing argument for Chicago’s supposed advantage in every aspect of the game. Where is this obvious gap between the two teams? Where is this chasm of talent between the high-flying Blackhawks and the knuckle-dragging Flyers?

It’s not there. Regardless of who they played to get here, the Flyers are in the Stanley Cup Finals and have as good a shot to win the damn thing as the Blackhawks do. Period.

Recapping the conference finals: Andrew picked the Cup matchup; Joe picked the bronze-medal game. For the playoffs, Andrew is 9-5, Joe is 6-5.

Andrew: Flyers in six (Gotta stay with what works — haven’t been right yet, but the Flyers haven’t lost yet.)

Joe: Flyers in seven