Philadelphia Flyers Coach Fred Shero has a simple formula for hockey games: "If you keep the opposition on their asses," he says, "they don't score goals." Since the opening face-off of the season, the Flyers have executed that rough-and-tumble philosophy with savage enthusiasm, sending opponents sprawling across the ice at every opportunity. The tactic has worked: the Flyers finished with the second-best record in the National Hockey League and last week became the first expansion team in the league to play as a serious contender in the Stanley Cup finals.
By the time...