Hawks have no preference concerning Finals foe

Philadelphia or Montreal?

The Blackhawks say they don't care.

Either way, the Stanley Cup Finals will open at the United Center later this week against the Flyers or the Canadiens.

Philadelphia leads the Eastern Conference finals 3-1 with Game 5 on Monday night at the Wachovia Center.

"To be honest with you, we're going to enjoy our victory, we're the Western Conference champions, and let them figure out who's going to be playing us," Hawks center John Madden said. "Obviously, we'll be watching the game. We'll pick up as much as we can and see who it is."

The Flyers were the seventh seed in the East and the Canadiens the eighth, but both teams have found their games in the playoffs.

The Flyers, who won in a shootout against the Rangers on the final day of the regular season to even make the playoffs, are big and physical led by defenseman Chris Pronger, whom Hawks fans remember well from his days in St. Louis, Edmonton and Anaheim.

"They were picked to do real well and struggled a lot of the season," Hawks defenseman Brian Campbell said of the Flyers. "The thing is they've turned it on now and found their chemistry."

Not only did the Flyers sneak into the playoffs, they rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the second round to stun the Bruins, winning Game 7 in Boston after falling behind 3-0.

"I think it's a remarkable story," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "They're on life support the last game of the year, in the Boston series as well. They found a way to get themselves where they were playing as well as they played at any stretch this year. They got healthy.

"They've got a lot of ammunition there, but we'll see what happens."

The Bolland effect: The matchup Joel Quenneville wanted all along against the Sharks paid off big time.

Not only did Dave Bolland have 2 clutch goals and an assist on Dustin Byfuglien's Game 3 overtime winner, he held Sharks No. 1 center Joe Thornton to 1 assist.

"I thought Bolland had a great series," Quenneville said. "I think one thing with him, whether he's underrated or underappreciated, I think we have a real good sense of his value to our team. You trust him (with) the top matchups.

"I think defensively, you know he's always surrounding the puck, around the play. Offensively, I think that's where he can chip in and be the difference. When you make plays against top players, sometimes you get some nice chances along the way."

Thornton was minus-5 in the series as well and finished the playoffs minus-11 with 12 points in 15 games.

Comeback kids: There was no panic among the Hawks when they fell behind 2-0 midway through the second period Sunday.

"We believe in each other," John Madden said. "As long as there's time on that clock and the gap isn't too big, we feel we can win.

"We were down 5-0 against Calgary, and I know it's the regular season, but we came back to win 6-5. From that day on (in October), we've always believed in what we can do.

"There wasn't one guy on the bench who panicked or was frustrated. We just stayed with it."

Ladd update: Joel Quenneville said left winger Andrew Ladd should be fine after leaving Sunday's game in the first period with an undisclosed injury.

The Hawks will have several days to rest up their bumps and bruises with the Stanley Cup Finals not expected to begin until at least Thursday but more likely on the weekend.

Heatley hurting: Shark coach Todd McLellan said Dany Heatley played the series with a bad groin injury. Heatley, with 39 goals during the regular season, had no goals and 2 assists and was minus-4.

"Dany Heatley had a very bad groin injury in the (first round) Colorado series," McLellan said. "He really gutted it out. In my opinion, I don't think he's ever got back to where he needed to be skating-wise. I think it was evident.

"You know, he's a pretty noble guy. He's going to tell you he's pretty close to being good, but he never really got back to where he needed to be."