I Bought a Shot Glass for $4

Blackhawks' fans get a parade. Flyers' fans get a half price sale.

But it was a great run.

For someone who only follows the NHL during the the playoffs, it's hard to be too upset after nearly two months of great games. You couldn't have asked for a more dramatic entry by the Flyers. They got in, as the 7th seed in the East, on the very last game of the regular season, beating the NY Rangers in a shootout, after three regulation periods and an overtime period. Then it was that historic, down 0-3, come-from-behind win over Boston in the second round of the playoffs (left). And before getting to the Stanley Cup Finals, it was those three shutouts against Montreal to win the Conference Championship.

For sports photo fans, it was also an exciting series.  My colleages Ron Cortes, Yong Kim, Dave Maialetti, Ed Hille, Steve Falk, and Michael Bryant time after time came up with great pictures of all the key moments.

For me, and other photo blog fans, the Stanley Cup provided another opportunity. We got to see the work of out of town photographers, and our photographers working out of town.

The Daily News' Dave Maialetti posted photos throughout the playoffs on his blog "The Sight Unseen." Not just unexpected images from the games...

...but his take on the opposing team's cities as he explored during down time. I've always admired photographers who carry their cameras all the time, shooting and sharing everything they find interesting. Dave is one the best of those.

So is Chicago Tribune staff photographer Scott Strazzante. I've never met him, but over the years I've always liked looking at his work through his excellent blog, "Shooting from the Hip." Like Dave, he covered his team for his newspaper...

...and he explored our city between games.

Click on their photos for more of Dave and Scott's work.