Peter Laviolette

There is an old saying that the most popular athletes in a sports town are the backup quarterback and the backup goaltender. Any time the starters struggle, the fanbase automatically looks to the guy on the bench with longing in their eyes and see the second-stringer as the answer to all of the world's problems.

In Philadelphia this way of thinking seems to be an epidemic. This is the same town, after all, that had some maniacs shouting themselves hoarse that AJ Feeley was better than Donovan McNabb.

The Philadelphia Flyers have had a pretty good start to the season, and their new acquisitions have been playing well. They have come together pretty quickly, and at this point, it looks like GM Paul Holmgren made good decisions this offseason.

However, one move that he didn't make that would be extremely beneficial to the team is getting rid of Scott Hartnell.

According to Anthony SanFilippo, the Philadelphia Flyers are going to announce a three-year, $4.5 million contract extension with general manager Paul Holmgren on Thursday.

Holmgren, 55, replaced long-time GM Bobby Clarke after Clarke announced his resignation during the 2006-07. At the time, the Flyers were in the midst of their worst season in franchise history and head coach Ken Hitchock was fired.

With the Philadelphia Flyers coming off one of their most successful seasons in a decade, it comes as no surprise that Peter Laviolette was selected to be one of the coaches for the All-Star Game on Jan. 30. It's also no coincidence that the Flyers seem to be having an even better year this year, which is Laviolette's first full season with Philadelphia.

If the Flyers want to return to the Finals next season and beat the Blackhawks, they know they can't rely on four defensemen for the entire playoffs.

On Saturday, the Flyers announced their plan for the off-season: Build a stronger team that has the ability to contend for the Cup yet again through free agency. With no picks in next week’s NHL Draft until the third round, the Flyers knew that free agency was going to be key to their success next season.

The NHL Awards will be taking place in Las Vegas on Wednesday night, and the three nominees for the Jack Adams award for Best Coach are definitely deserving of the honor.

They include Dave Tippett of the Phoenix Coyotes, Joe Sacco of the Colorado Avalanche, and Barry Trotz of the Nashville Predators.

Here are a list of five other coaches that could've been nominated for the award, based on what each of them accomplished during the 2009-10 regular season.

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Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals was NOTHING what I expected it to be in terms of scoring.  This game had more of a preseason tune-up feel to it in terms of performance on both teams.

I really had to analyze this game before submitting an article as there was so much that happened, it really needed to be reviewed carefully.

With all the "too many men" calls in these playoffs, the zebras missed one on Chicago that proved to be the difference-maker of the game.

A dance-a-thon had 16 competitors in April and now, the dance floor is cleared and the last two standing are left to decide who will hoist Lord Stanley's Cup—the Western Conference's Chicago Blackhawks or the Eastern Conference's Philadelphia Flyers.

Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago was the second seed in the Western Conference and the third-best team in the league so most thought that this young squad will be a hard team to beat.  So far, they are on the money.

Earlier, I discussed the Devils' new coaching vacancy, and put my money (albeit not overwhelmingly) on current assistant John MacLean to replace Brent Sutter. However, I'd like to play Devil's advocate (no pun intended, I promise, it's just a coincidence) and point out what could be working against Johnny Mac.