Home ice not all it's cracked up to be

It's tempting to assume the Blackhawks reaped a tangible benefit from the deafening sellout crowds at United Center.

It's also tempting to presume Philadelphia has a better chance to cut into the Hawks' 2-0 lead now that the Stanley Cup Finals have relocated to the Wachovia Center.

"It's a fantastic building to play in," said Hawks defenseman Brent Seabrook. "I think it can play to a team's advantage, especially Philly's."

Alas, Stanley Cup history suggests home-ice advantage isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Since 1927, when other major hockey leagues folded and the NHL turned its last playoff round into the official Stanley Cup Finals, the home team has won just 59.2 percent of the time.

Only three years has the home team won every game: In 1955, 1965 (when Montreal beat the Hawks in seven games) and 2003.

At least the Flyers and the Hawks get to play their games at home.

Three times in the early years, the New York Rangers were booted out of Madison Square Garden by the circus.

Niemi for Smythe? When the Stanley Cup Finals began, captain Jonathan Toews was the odds-on favorite to claim the Conn Smythe Trophy if the Hawks won the Cup.

But after two games without a point - and a minus-3 rating in Game 1 that dropped Toews' postseason plus-minus to +2 - could teammate Antti Niemi be in line for the Most Valuable Player award in the playoffs?

Three goalies have won the Smythe in the last eight seasons: Carolina's Cam Ward (2006), Anaheim's J.S. Giguere (2003) and Colorado's Patrick Roy (2001).

It sounds like the Flyers are going to try their utmost to wreck Niemi's candidacy in their bid to disrupt the Hawks' Cup chances.

"He's a rookie goaltender playing in the Stanley Cup Finals," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette told reporters. "We have to get on the board here (Wednesday) night and put a little bit of doubt there.

"It's a tough position, goaltending. He's representing a city that hasn't won a Cup in 50 years. We have to give him a crack of doubt. We can do that (Wednesday) night."

No, the Flyers aren't exactly trying to reinvent the puck here.

"To score goals in the playoffs, it's no secret," said Hawks forward Patrick Sharp. "You've got to get to the net and get the puck and bodies there and disrupt the goaltender as much as you can.

"We're not surprised by these comments. I guess we're going to try to do the same thing to their goalie."

Good ol' what's-his-name: The Hawks and the Flyers met just once in the regular season, so the first two Stanley Cup contests served as a bit of a familiarization process.

Philadelphia center Danny Briere acknowledged being impressed with several young Hawks - a group that included Dave Bolland, Kris Versteeg and, apparently, Niklas Hjalmarsson.

"Obviously we know all about their top guys," Briere said. "But on defense, tough to say his name. I'm not too sure. Number 4. He's playing well - been blocking a lot of shots."

Hjalmarsson posted 2 assists and threw his body in the way of a game-high 4 shots in Game 1. He added 3 more blocked shots in Game 2.

The Hawks blocked 29 shots to the Flyers' 22 in the first two games, which continued a selfless trend that began at the postseason's start.

Ladd update: Similar to the first two games, Hawks coach Joel Quenneville plans to wait until after Wednesday's morning skate to declare third-line forward Andrew Ladd out with an upper-body injury.

Home-ice advantage?

Since the NHL became the sole Stanley Cup competitor in 1927, here's how the home teams have fared by decade:

DECADE W-L-T PCT

2010 2-0-0 1.000

2000s 34-23-0 .596

1990s 22-27-0 .449

1980s 35-16-1 .683

1970s 35-19-0 .648

1960s 34-21-0 .618

1950s 34-20-0 .630

1940s 28-23-0 .549

1930s 21-17-0 .553

1920s 4-5-2 .455

Total 249-171-3 .592