The first opportunity came six years ago, after Patrick Kane left South Buffalo at age 14

to pursue hockey at higher levels. He lived with and played for former NHL winger Pat Verbeek,

who coached superpower Detroit Honeybaked into the national midget finals against the team

Kane left, the Depew Saints.

Kane played well but the underdog Saints won the national title, leaving the skilled winger

in tears but plenty hungry for more. You know what happened with Kane in the years that

followed. He spent two years in the USA Hockey developmental program. He led the OHL in

scoring. He became the first pick overall in the NHL.

He was named Rookie of the Year. He became an NHL superstar. He played for the U.S. Olympic

team in Vancouver. He has accomplished everything he imagined and more in hockey, but he has

never won a major championship. And now he can win the title that matters most, the Stanley

Cup, with the Chicago Blackhawks.

These big games are where Kane can be found at his best.

Remember, he had a hat trick to knock Vancouver out of the playoffs last season. He was

terrific in the gold medal game against Canada, which the U.S. lost in overtime. He scored

short-handed in the closing seconds to tie Game Five against Nashville this year, shifting the

first-round series toward Chicago. He has seven goals and 20 points in 16 playoff games this

season, and he's looking for more.

"You always feel like there's a next level," Kane told the Chicago Tribune. "Why not bring

it out at a stage like this, the Stanley Cup finals? I can play even better."

How he performs against the Philadelphia Flyers in the best-of-seven series starting

tonight in the United Center will largely determine Chicago's fate. Kane is among the primary

reasons the Blackhawks, armed with talent and big-game experience, were a popular preseason

choice to win it all.

Bucky Gleason's outlook:

The Flyers have had an incredible run, but it stops here. This has been the Blackhawks' year since the beginning. Take the 'Hawks in six games.

Kane is playing on a line with Jonathan Toews, who leads the NHL in playoff scoring (26

points) and bruising winger Dustin Byfuglien. They are expected to get a heavy dose of center

Mike Richards and defenseman Chris Pronger.

The Blackhawks are looking for their first Stanley Cup since 1960-61, or since the Kennedy

Administration for heaven's sake. Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita led the way that season, back in

the days of the Original Six. The 'Hawks haven't been in contention since 1991-92, when Kane

was a Sabres-loving 3-year-old.

All grown up and coming off his best NHL season (30 goals, 88 points, plus-16), he has an

opportunity to join Kevyn Adams (Carolina), Todd Marchant (Anaheim) and Brooks Orpik

(Pittsburgh) as Western New York-raised players to win the Cup.

OK, when do Patrick Kaleta and Tim Kennedy get a turn?

The Blackhawks first need to get past a Flyers team convinced that this is their year.

Philly slipped into the postseason with a shootout win over the New York Rangers in the season

finale, knocked off second-seeded New Jersey, stormed back from a 3-0 series deficit to beat

Boston and blew away Montreal. The Flyers haven't won it all since 1974-75, when the Broad

Street Bullies toppled the Sabres in six games.

"The biggest thing for us is we're here," Kane said. "We feel we have a good team. I'm sure

Philly feels the same way. Obviously they've been playing really good. And for them to get to

this position they would have to be playing really good, especially the positions they've been

in. They've had a roller-coaster ride of a season."

The ride continues in this best-of-seven series, which will not be short on story lines and

Buffalo connections. Blackhawks General Manager Stan Bowman was raised in Williamsville and

graduated from Canisius High. Pete Hassen, the senior director for marketing and community

affairs, graduated from Sweet Home High.

Former Sabres defenseman Brian Campbell is looking for his first Cup with Chicago after

reaching the conference finals two years in a row with Buffalo. Former Sabres co-captain

Daniel Briere is playing for Philadelphia — he scored one of the two shootout goals

against the Rangers in the season finale that got the Flyers into the tournament — and

has been terrific in the postseason with 18 points in 17 games. Ex-Sabres forward and top

scout Don Luce, who played for Buffalo against Philadelphia in 1975, is director of player

development for the Flyers.

Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa is making his third straight trip to the finals after losing

to Detroit while playing for Pittsburgh and losing to Pittsburgh while playing for Detroit in

the past two seasons. He's the first player in history to reach the finals three consecutive

years with three different teams.

"This is the time, [we] definitely want to win," Hossa said. "Being in the finals, you

definitely want to touch the trophy."

Chicago and Philly provide evidence that winning the Cup is usually a process. The

Blackhawks are looking to become the fourth straight team to win it all after playing in the

conference finals the previous season. The Flyers aren't far behind. They lost in the

conference finals two years ago.

That theory holds up. One stating proven goaltending is required to win the Stanley Cup

does not. The Blackhawks and Flyers skated into the season with major question marks in goal.

Chicago signed Cristobel Huet to a four-year contract worth $22.5 million two years ago, but

he's been nailed to the bench in these playoffs. The 'Hawks rode rookie Antti Niemi into the

finals after paying him $827,000 for the season.

Philly, well, where do we begin?

The Flyers have used five goaltenders this season. They took a flier on Ray Emery, a loose

cannon who played in Russia last season while trying to get his head back in order. They

backstopped him with Brian Boucher, who before this season hadn't started a playoff game since

he played against the Sabres in 1999-2000.

Philly had no choice but to turn toward Michael Leighton in the postseason after Boucher

was injured. Leighton spent years bouncing between the NHL and AHL for different

organizations, including Buffalo's. He had a 15-22-1 record and a 3.21 goals against average

while sharing time in Rochester in 2005-06 while Buffalo reached the conference finals.

Leighton has been spectacular with a 6-1 record, a 1.45 GAA, .948 save percentage and three

shutouts in eight postseason appearances. He made $600,000 during the regular season. He and

Boucher combined to pocket $1.525 million, which was slightly more than what the Flyers paid

Emery. And that was a risk.

Now, Leighton gets a chance to beat the Blackhawks, who selected him in the sixth round of

the 1999 draft and were the first of many teams to give up on him.

"Any time you play for a team and you kind of get traded off like that, they pick someone

else over you, you look at it and can say, obviously it was my own fault," Leighton said

earlier this week. "But you're always a little bit mad you didn't get more of a chance or you

didn't play well and they just ditched you."

Hey, Patrick Sharp knows the feeling.

Sharp was the Flyers' third-round pick in 2001 and spent parts of three seasons with them

before they traded him. He landed in Chicago, where he blossomed into a 20-plus goal scorer,

leader and one of the NHL's most underrated players. Sharp has been crucial in the Blackhawks'

success.

"I know Sharpy would love nothing more than to win this series, especially against his

[old] team," Kane said. "I haven't been in that situation where I've had to play against my

former team. But I'm sure it's something, every time you do, you want to beat them."

Apparently, the Saints are a distant memory.