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Beginning this weekend two longtime franchises battle for hockey’s greatest prize, as Chicago and Philadelphia square off in the Stanley Cup Final.

Blackhawks vs. Flyers – Two great sports towns, two units with great home-ice advantages, but two teams that can truly play tough in any rink.

One city will see a long championship drought end with this Cup Finals battle — the only question is whether it will be Philadelphia or Chicago.

The Blackhawks have waited longer than any other team (1961) for another Stanley Cup title and would obviously prefer that the championship dry spell doesn’t reach an even 50 years. A half-century of futility, that could be as bad as their baseball brethren, the Cubs who haven’t won since 1945.

There are some similarities with these Blackhawks to the championship team of 1961.

Take scorers Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita to Chicago’s current offensive powers, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Hull and Mikita were at similar age levels when they had their greatest successes, just like Kane and Toews. Sometimes opportunity comes early in one’s career.

On the other hand, the biggest differences are that the old team didn’t possess a bulky offensive standout like Dustin Byfuglien, but at the same time the current Blackhawks don’t have a Hall of Fame goalie the caliber of Glen Hall.

Ultimately, though for Chicago Blackhawks fans, the only thing the two teams really NEED to have in common is a Cup title.

Philadelphia’s 35-year wait also seems like an eternity (first time in the Finals since being swept by Detroit in 1997) as they are hoping to garner their first title since winning the second of two straight Cups in 1975.

There really isn’t much to compare the current Flyers to the famed rough-and-tumble Broad Street  Bullies of the mid-Seventies. Yes Chris Pronger is a Hall of Fame candidate, but Bobby Clarke and his Bullies were in a group like no other.

In the end, one of them is going to come out on the short end of the stick once again. Who will it be?

A look at their strengths can be revealing.

Both have strong defenses that contribute offensively as well. During last year’s draft, the Anaheim Ducks traded Chris Pronger to the Philadelphia Flyers for what seemed like a bounty of picks and players. In all, the Ducks received two first round draft picks, a conditional third round pick, a Flyers first-rounder in Luca Sbisa and Joffrey Lupul. Some critics felt at the time the Flyers gave up too much.

Chris Pronger

Pronger, a certain Hall of Famer, has undoubtedly been instrumental in Philadelphia’s drive to the Stanley Cup. The former Hart and Norris Trophy winner is leading all NHLers with an average of 28 minutes, 48 seconds of ice time per games in the playoffs. He enters this series tied with San Jose’s Dan Boyle for the most points by a defenseman in this postseason, notching 14 points on four goals and 10 assists.

-Pronger’s Regular Season Numbers:

10 goals, 45 assists for 55 points

-Pronger’s Playoff Numbers

4 goals, 10 assists for 14 points

In addition to Pronger, Philadelphia also has the sharp Kimmo Timonen as well as a pair of talented youngsters in Matt Carle and Braydon Coburn. Coburn has one goal and two assists so far while Carle and Timonen have collected 10 and eight points, respectively, on all assists.

Chicago is led on defense by Duncan Keith who leads not only by producing results, but ALSO by example. Toughness? Not even a puck to the chops can get him off the ice. He blocked a shot with his face in Game 4 of the Western Conference final against San Jose, spit out sixth teeth, then returned to play a game-high 29:02, spitting out a seventh molar that was wedged in his throat after the game.

Keith, a Norris Trophy finalist logged a career-high 34:44 in Game 3 against the Sharks and has collected points in eight of his past nine games. Brian Campbell is also a force on the back end as well as Brent Seabrook who has three goals and six assists in the postseason and is second on the team in ice time.

Keith leads the Blackhawks this postseason with 10 points (1g, 9a) and an average of 27 minutes, 52 seconds of ice time per game.

Speaking of defense, the surprise comes from the fine overall performances of both team’s goalies, both of whom are playing at red-hot levels.

Philadelphia is Michael Leighton’s seventh NHL stop since turning pro in 2001,  but it looks as if he’s finally found a home. Leighton has been brilliant so far in the postseason, going 6-1 with a 1.45 GAA and .948 save percentage. He also set a Flyers club record with three shutouts in one series, in the last round against Montreal. To cap it all off, Leighton has a chance to beat one of his former teams in Chicago, which selected him in the sixth round of the 1999 draft.

For the Blackhawks netminder, Antti Niemi of Finland who played himself into the starting role on this club, taking the No. 1 spot from Cristobal Huet, was seen by some as inferior because he had never seen action in the playoffs before this year, but the backstop has proven his detractors wrong so far in the postseason, going 12-4 with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage and giving up just yielded a total of eight goals over his last five game.

Leading the attack against  Niemi in the Flyer offense will be their captain, Mike Richards who has been the most consistent offensive weapon for Philadelphia in the postseason. Philly’s centermen on its second and third lines, Danny Briere and Claude Giroux, have had very productive playoffs as well. Scott Hartnell and Ville Leino are also big threats.

Still Philadelphia will need ALL of that firepower and more as Chicago is truly deep in its offensive capability. Led by brilliant youngsters, sneaky winger Patrick Kane and team captain and centerman Jonathan Toews, a pair of Olympians, the formidable Blackhawk top line comes with the stout standout Dustin Byfuglien.

Jonathan Toews

Toews, the pass-first team leader at just 22 is leading the entire league with 26 points (7 goals, 19 assists) and enters the Finals with a 13-game point streak — the longest such streak in Blackhawks playoff history. Kane, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft, is second to Toews with 20 points on seven goals and 13 assists, while Byfuglien adds eight goals.

The danger for Philadelphia is that is just the topline, for Chicago has 11 skaters with two or more goals in this postseason and 10 of those players are forwards.

Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa are the biggest weapons up front for Chicago and both have produced so far in this postseason. Sharp, who began his career in Philadelphia, has seven goals and 16 points, while Hossa has only scored twice but has added nine assists.

Chris Pronger and Philly’s defesne will take all the help they can get and it might come from bad luck, as talk around the league and among fans is that there is a curse that Hossa brings.

Two years ago, Marian Hossa played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who lost in the Stanley Cup. Last year, Hossa played for the Detroit Red Wings, who lost in the Stanley Cup. This year, Blackhawk fans are hoping he does not make it a threepeat.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers ensure that whoever wins the Cup will end a long drought for a historic NHL team.

Team Records -

Chicago: 52-22-8 (112 points, 1st in Central, 2nd in West)

Philadelphia: 41-35-6 (88 points, 3rd in Atlantic, 7th in East)

Season series (Philadelphia won 1-0)

Stanley Cups -

Chicago: 3 (1934, 1938, 1961), Philadelphia: 2 (1974, 1975)

-  * denotes if necessary

-  All Times Eastern