Do I or Do I Not Touch It?

On Sunday afternoon, after winger Kris Versteeg scored the empty netter for the Blackhawks, I started to wonder will captain Jonathan Toews touch the Clarence Campbell Bowl. Toews decided to stay as far away from the Campbell Bowl as he could while taking a photograph with the hardware.

When captain Mike Richards skated up to the Prince of Wales Trophy on Monday night, Richards was itching at the chance to grab the trophy. Richards was so anxious that he almost forgot he had to pause and take a photograph before leaving the ice.

After the game, Richards admitted that the Flyers season hasn't been a conventional one, so he decided to against the supposed jinx labeled with touching the conference trophies.

Last year, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby decided to touch the Prince of Wales trophy. The Penguins ended up beating the Detroit Red Wings in seven games. In 2008, Crosby decided to stay away from the trophy like it was the plague and the Penguins lost to the Red Wings in six games.

One fact to make Flyers worried could be that in 1997, Eric Lindros decided to touch the Prince of Wales trophy. Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman said publicly that he won't touch the Campbell Bowl. All Flyers fans can remember the Flyers decided to not show up and got swept by the Red Wings.

I can't blame Richards for being excited for getting a chance to lift Lord Stanley because it has been 13 years since the last appearance in the Cup Finals by the Flyers. This might be the only chance that Richards would be able to lift any trophy. The man was living in the moment and letting what the Flyers just accomplished all soak in.

In no way a hockey player really thinks that the main goal of their season is to win the conference trophy. Their goal is to drink out of Lord Stanley during the summer. There is going to be no worries that Richards and the rest of the Flyers will be focused. They will try to bring a parade down Broad Street this summer.

As much as the Flyers are a "team of destiny" right now, they should have been here the whole time. They had one of the best paper rosters coming into the 2009-2010 season in the Eastern Conference. Because of injuries and the under-achieving of the team, the Flyers dug a huge hole for themselves and had to win in a shootout to sneak into the playoffs.

The Chris Pronger deal, last summer, addressed a huge hole on the squad, a shutdown defenseman. Now, with Pronger and fellow defenseman, Kimmo Timonen, has given two shutdown defense pairs, which will be crucial to shown down Toews and Patrick Kane along with Marian Hossa.

If you aren't Flyered up already, well then you might as well start because this series won't be a cakewalk for the 'Hawks. Look for this series to be one the best ever and going either six or seven. Let's Go Flyers!