Our Town's sports radio talking heads have been calling tonight's games involving the Bulls and Blackhawks one of the biggest nights for professional sports in Chicago in recent memory. Both teams can advance in their respective league's playoffs with wins tonight. But while the momentum has swung in the Blackhawks favor in their Stanley Cup playoff series with the Vancouver Canucks, the Bulls look like one of the more vulnerable top seeds we've seen in a while. more ›

• "The party in Chicago is going to be all-world. It's been a long time." - Coach Joe Quenneville [Blackhawks.com]
• "It was crazy. At the moment it's just like, 'We won the Stanley Cup' and that's all you're thinking about. To play this game, this is the only thing I want to do in the world and be a part of moments like this." - Patrick Kane [Tribune]
• "We're brothers for life now. We're champions. We're champions for life. This is the pinnacle of our sport, and we won it, and I can't tell you how I feel." - Kris Vertseeg [ESPN]

For the first time in 49 years, the Chicago Blackhawks are Stanley Cup Champions, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in a dramatic Game Six, using aggressive offense, a locked-down defense, and stellar goal-tending to clinch victory in an overtime thriller and hoist the Cup. more ›

• "That was the pace we've been looking for." - Joel Quenneville [Blackhawks.com]
• "All year we've mixed the lines around, and everyone has really played with everyone. So it wasn't a real big thing. It was just going out there and playing together as a team and moving our feet and doing the right things." - Dustin Byfuglien [ESPN]
• "If we play like that every night, it will be hard to beat us." - Patrick Kane [Tribune]

There was no place like home for the Blackhawks on Sunday night. Coming off of two straight losses on the road in Philadelphia, the Blackhawks rebounded to beat the Flyers 7-4 in Game Five of the Stanley Cup Finals to take a 3-2 series lead. With Michael Jordan in the building, the Blackhawks were looking for a great game worthy of his Royal Airness and they got off to a dominant start that paved the way to a high-scoring victory that leaves the team just one win shy of the Stanley Cup. more ›

• "I said when we left (Chicago), I thought we could have won both games. I like our game. I like what we're doing." - Flyers coach Peter Laviolette [Blackhawks.com]
• "We didn't do a lot of little things, especially defensively in the first. We got behind the 8-ball (and) they're a good team, so it's tough to battle back." - Andrew Lad [Tribune]
• "I thought we were very generous in the first period on what we gave them as far as goals went." - Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville [Blackhawks.com]

The Philadelphia Flyers got off to a big early lead and held off a late Blackhawks rally to beat Chicago 5-3 in Game Four of the Stanley Cup Finals. The series now stands tied at 2-2. The Flyers opened scoring less than five minutes in when Mike Richards scored on a power play. It was a little over 10 minutes later that the Flyers added to that, taking a 2-0 lead. Patrick Sharp scored with less than 90 seconds left in the period to cut the lead in half, but the Flyers answered right back, netting their third goal of the period less than a minute later, taking a 3-1 lead to the first intermission. After the four-goal first period, the second period went scoreless as the Flyers maintained the same lead into the second intermission. Less than seven minutes into the third period, the Flyers extended the lead when Ville Leino deflected a shot off of Kris Vertseeg's skate past Anttie Niemi to put the Flyers up 4-1. But the Blackhawks didn't give up, energizing and upping the pressure in the third period. They capitalized on a two-man advantage as Dave Bolland scored with 7:59 left in the game to cut the lead to 4-2. Then, with 4:10 left, a Brian Campbell pass went off of Kimmo Timonen's stick for a goal credited to Jonathan Toews, cutting the lead to 4-3. A frantic finish followed, shots flying from the Blackhawks in the closing minutes, creating opportunities and shots that escaped them earlier in the game. But with an empty net, the Blackhawks lost control of the puck and the Flyers put away an insurance goal in the waning seconds to clinch the victory. more ›

• "We're up 2-1. That's a great situation to be in... It's just one loss. Yeah, it's a tough way to lose, especially in OT, and you have the lead in the third. But we're not going to beat ourselves up." - Jonathan Toews [Tribune]
• "Desperation was the key word, I think. It's almost do or die." - the Flyers' Claude Giroux [ESPN]
• "It was nice to come right back. You think it's over. We don't get it. We just go back to work." - Flyers' coach Peter Laviolette [Philly Inquirer]

With the number of brand-spanking new Blackhawks jerseys we've seen folks wearing around town, we knew the team's bandwagon was getting pretty full. After all, everyone loves a winner and wants to be a part. But at least the new fans are translating to big ratings, good news for a league still recovering from missing an entire season just a few years ago. Monday night's Game Two was the highest rated Stanley Cup Finals Game Two . The overnights in Chicago were also big: a 25.1 rating and 39 share. Here's hoping both the high ratings and the victorious results continue tonight when the puck drops on Game Three. It should be interesting to see how much ratings drop as the series now switches to cable network Versus for Games Three and Four. more ›

• "[Antti Niemi] doesn't get rattled easily. He seems to play his best in big games and we have a few more big ones coming up." - Patrick Sharp [NHL.com]
• "I thought we were way too conservative in the first two periods." - Flyers center Danny Briere [Tribune]
• "I think our 'D' played maybe a little bit better in front of the net in blocking shots and letting me see the puck. But it's always a little bit about the luck, too, how you see the puck, and how it bounces." - Antti Niemi [ESPN]

With the Blackhawks up 1-0 in the series and battle lines drawn, Game Two promised to be a more focused, hard-hitting affair and that's exactly what we got. Both teams played tighter and hit harder but in the end the Blackhawks won 2-1, getting the best of the Flyers in another thrilling game, taking a 2-0 series lead. more ›

The entire city has been buzzing for tonight's Stanley Cup Finals opener and we got a fast-paced, thrilling game that matched the hype. And, lucky for us, the Blackhawks were on the winning end, edging the Flyers 6-5 to take a 1-0 series lead. The Flyers got on the board first but the Blackhawks responded with two goals: Troy Brouwer scored to even the game and Dave Bolland scored a short-handed goal on a breakaway. But the Flyers would complete a wild first period with two more goals and a 3-2 lead at the first intermission. Just 71 seconds into the second period, the Blackhawks tied the game with a Patrick Sharp goal. The Flyers scored again, taking the lead back 4-3. But, once more, the Blackhawks scored twice to take back the lead as Kris Versteeg scored to tie the game and Brouwer netted his second goal of the game. The Flyers swapped out their goalies and then tied the game with 1:11 left in the second, leaving the teams knotted at 5-5 after two periods. Brian Boucher did well for the Flyers after replacing Michael Leighton, stopping the first 11 shots he faced, but Tomas Kopecky scored the go-ahead goal 8:25 into the third period. more ›

• There are now nine suspected cases of Swine Flu in the Chicagoland area: 5 in Chicago, 2 in Kane County, and 1 in DuPage and Lake Counties.
• Former Alderman Tyrone Kenner, who was once found guilty of accepting bribes, passed away on Monday from complications due to diabetes; Kenner was 76.
• ComEd named Anne Pramaggiore its first ever female president and COO today.