NHL Playoff Bracket 2012: East Will Set Up Nicely for Flyers' Stanley Cup Run

If you asked any member of the Philadelphia Flyers who they would prefer to avoid in the second round, to a man they would tell you they don't care who they have to play. They'll go out and battle whomever they oppose.

If you asked a Flyers fan that same question, however, the answer would be quite different.

Sure, Flyers' fans like to think their squad could take on all comers. But if they were being honest, they would tell you they'd prefer to avoid the New York Rangers, a team that gave them fits all season long.

And by fits, I mean beat them all six times the two teams faced this season. Without question, Philadelphia has become an Ottawa Senators town, at least for the time being.

Sports is all about matchups. The Flyers don't seem to match up well with the Rangers this year. Likewise, the Rangers haven't matched up very well against Ottawa this season.

Even a diehard Flyers fan can't deny that.

But the Eastern Conference has developed in such a manner that traditional Flyers' rivals may fall to the wayside as well. Both the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils trail in their respective series (at the time of publishing, the Bruins were tied with the Washington Capitals, 3-3, in Game 6).

Believe me when I tell you, most Flyers fans would be quite pleased to see those teams go home after one round this year.

With an upset here and an upset there, the Flyers could go from a fifth seed that defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins—the team many pundits felt were Stanley Cup bound—to the most talented team in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

That's no knock against the Florida Panthers, Washington Capitals or Ottawa Senators, it's simply a matter of regular-season pedigree. This year, the Flyers finished with more points than those teams and would be favored against any of them.

And frankly, trying to slow down this Flyer's attack seems like a tall order for whomever is unlucky enough to play them in the second round. If they play a more defensive game and get a few gems from Ilya Bryzgalov, they would be a very difficult team to beat, indeed.

For the Flyers, this playoffs has the makings of a special run. They have rookies who are playing like seasoned veterans. They survived a wild series against the wildly talented Penguins. Claude Giroux played like a superstar against the Penguins with 14 points.

14 points!

And a few traditional obstacles look primed for defeat. The Flyers are playing with a lot of confidence right now, and I guarantee you they aren't afraid of any opponents. Nor should they be.

But the matchups may fall in their favor yet. And even though they may not worry about such things, the fans are most certainly aware.

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