Monthly Archives: July 2007

The Aftermath – 2007 Edition: Part 6

July 06, 2007   wildwing64   No comments

The 2006-07 NHL season is now finished. After dropping an adjective from their name, the mighty Anaheim Ducks took the NHL by storm and went on to win their first ever Stanley Cup.

This Inaugural edition of The Aftermath is a six part series, which will consist of brief summaries of every team’s performance this season. Part 6, the final part of the series, will finalise coverage of the Western Conference with the Pacific Division.

Anaheim Ducks

Final standings: 48W, 20L, 14OTL, 110 points, 1st Pacific, 2nd Western Conference, 4th NHL

Having bought the team from the Walt Disney Company prior to last season, new owners Susan and Henry Samueli decided it was time for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to shorten their name. The identity overhaul proved ironic, as GM Brian Burke managed to snag big bad defenceman Chris Pronger in a blockbuster deal with Edmonton: with Pronger’s help, along with team Captain Scott Niedermayer on the blueline, the newly renamed Anaheim Ducks turned out to be the mightiest ever, as they went on to earn the best record in franchise history. They got started by breaking an NHL record, going undefeated in regulation during their first 16 games, and all season long they, along with Buffalo, were heavy favourites to win the Stanley Cup this year. Eventually, they made the playoffs and made quick work of the Minnesota Wild in five games before beating the Vancouver Canucks in five, and then made their second consecutive (and third overall) Conference Finals appearance, in which they faced playoff nemeses Detroit, beating them in six. The Ducks then made it to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in franchise history, and faced the Ottawa Senators. Anaheim were heavy favourites to win this series, and as the media expected, the Ducks beat the Sens in five games to win their very first Stanley Cup, making them the first ever California team, and West Coast NHL team, to win the Cup.

Dallas Stars

Final standings: 50W, 25L, 7OTL, 107 points, 3rd Pacific, 6th Western Conference, 6th NHL

The Dallas Stars had a very good season; however it was not without disappointment. They battled hard against division rivals Anaheim and San Jose for the top spot in the Pacific Division, but lost a slightly higher playoff seed to the Sharks due to them winning one more game. The Stars could easily have been a much better team this season, if it weren’t for them being hit by lengthy injuries to key players such as Captain Brendan Morrow and veteran forward Mike Modano. The Stars also made some strange decisions when it came to trading players, such as acquiring mainly veterans rather than more young talent and trading away their first round draft pick for 2007. In the first round of the playoffs, the Dallas Stars played a thrilling seven game series in which they lost to the Vancouver Canucks, losing in the quarterfinals for the third consecutive season. On a high note, Dallas had an impressive rookie goaltender on their roster, Mike Smith, who in 23 games with the Stars made a 0.912 percentage save average.

Los Angeles Kings

Final standings: 27W, 41L, 14OTL, 68 points, 4th Pacific, 14th Western Conference, 28th NHL

The Los Angeles Kings celebrated their 40th anniversary in style, having another mediocre season, missing the playoffs for the fourth time in a row, and watching their Southern California rivals the Anaheim Ducks win the cup before them. The Kings were expected to have a great start to this season due to the many changes taking place with staff and players, however Los Angeles ended up becoming one of the worst teams in the NHL, finishing right near the bottom of the standings, in what us at PowerPlayGoal.com like to refer to as the ‘NHL’s toilet’, along with Phoenix and Philadelphia. Perhaps one of the better moments this season for the Kings took place on February 5th, when they traded the most hated player in the league, Sean Avery, to the New York Rangers.

Phoenix Coyotes

Final standings: 31W, 46L, 5OTL, 56 points, 5th Pacific, 15th Western Conference, 29th NHL

The Phoenix Coyotes are another team that spent this season eating sand, sitting at the bottom of the Pacific Division and Western Conference all season long with division rivals the Los Angeles Kings, however they were still 11 points higher than the league lowest Philadelphia Flyers. All season long the Coyotes struggled, and only really had one long winning streak, which lasted from late December until early January, for seven games. On an upside for these desert dogs, their average attendance was very high, although the lowest number of fans they attracted to a game was 11,079.

San Jose Sharks

Final standings: 51W, 26L, 5OTL, 107 points, 2nd Pacific, 5th Western Conference, 5th NHL

For the San Jose Sharks, despite going only as far as the Western Semi-finals in the playoffs, this year was the best in franchise history. They began with their best start in 16 seasons, as in their first 27 games they had a good record of 20 wins and just 7 losses. The losses only came after every few winning games, and it has been like that all season long for the Sharks. Another impressive feat by the Sharks this year was their road win record of 26 games, the most in the league. For most of the year, San Jose battled hard against division rivals the Anaheim Ducks and Dallas Stars for the top spot in the Pacific Division, and at one point it looked as though they were going to take the number one spot; however Anaheim got it, and San Jose settled with second place: they were tied for points with Dallas, but got a higher playoff spot because they won one more game than the Stars. In the playoffs, the Sharks defeated the Nashville Predators 4 games to 1 in the quarterfinals, and then lost to the Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 2 in the semi-finals.

This was ‘the Aftermath’, brought to you by PowerPlayGoal.com. Next season; expect it to be finished much earlier…

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The Aftermath – 2007 Edition: Part 5

July 05, 2007   wildwing64   No comments

The 2006-07 NHL season is now finished. After dropping an adjective from their name, the mighty Anaheim Ducks took the NHL by storm and went on to win their first ever Stanley Cup.

This inaugural edition of The Aftermath is a six-part series which will consist of brief summaries of every team’s performance this season. Part 5 will cover the Northwest Division.

Calgary Flames

Final standings: 43W, 29L, 10OTL, 96 points, 3rd Northwest, 8th Western Conference, 13th NHL

The Calgary Flames had a difficult start to the season, winning just 3 of their first 12 games. After this bad performance, the Flames went on to win their next 6 games, and one of these wins, a 3-0 victory against Anaheim, made them the first team this season to win against the Ducks. During the season, fan favourite Craig Conroy was brought back from the Los Angeles Kings, and would play for Calgary for the first time in 3 seasons. The Flames had a hit and miss season, but they topped the league for the most home victories, that number of games being 30. They also made the playoffs for the third straight season, just about stopping Colorado from grabbing the number 8 seed in the Western Conference (there was just a 1 point difference between both teams). In the playoffs Calgary would end up facing the Detroit Red Wings, losing to them in 6 games.

Colorado Avalanche

Final standings: 44W, 31L, 7OTL, 95 points, 4th Northwest, 9th Western Conference, 14th NHL

The Colorado Avalanche were expected to miss the playoffs this season, as star players continued to leave the team. The Avs did not have too bad a season however, as attendance was still high (though lower than in previous seasons), any losing streaks were not too long, and entering March they had a 12 game streak of games in which they mostly won, and were undefeated in regulation. Sadly for Colorado at the end of the regular season, they were kicking their selves for weeks as they lost the number 8 seed to division rivals the Calgary Flames by just 1 point. Had Colorado won another game, or they were tied with Calgary, they would have made the playoffs instead as they had more wins.

Edmonton Oilers

Final standings: 32W, 43L, 7OTL, 71 points, 5th Northwest, 12th Western Conference, 25th NHL

This year’s Edmonton Oilers had a very disappointing ‘rise and fall’ season. It all began with a blockbuster trade in which Edmonton got the bum deal, with star defenseman Chris Pronger wanting to be traded away for personal reasons. He was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for Joffrey Lupul – who proved to be a useless addition to the Oilers line-up – Ladislav Smid – originally drafted by the Ducks and playing his first season in Edmonton – and a number of draft picks. Another player lost at the start of the season was Michael Peca, who was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Despite these huge losses, the Edmonton Oilers would have a good start to the season, at one point leading the Northwest division, but then the Oilers were hit by an injury bug, which caused them to suffer many losses. After 12 years of playing in Edmonton, Ryan Smith, the team’s leading goal scorer this season was traded to the New York Islanders on February 27th, which really did not help as the Oilers would lose 18 out of their last 20 games. Strangely, last season’s other Stanley Cup finalists (and Champions) the Carolina Hurricanes also missed the playoffs.

Minnesota Wild

Final standings: 48W, 26L, 8OTL, 104 points, 2nd Northwest, 7th Western Conference, 11th NHL

Despite a 4 games to 1 defeat by Anaheim in the Western Conference Quarterfinals, the Minnesota Wild had a very good season, finishing with the best record in their franchise history. To start the season off, veterans Kim Johnsson, Mark Parrish and Keith Carney were signed, and the Wild began with 6 straight victories. Losing streaks for this team were very short; however they had a bad slump during November, which was their worst month of the season. Fortunately, a 9 game winning streak in March made up for any lost points during that slump, and they ended up making the playoffs for the second time in their history.

Vancouver Canucks

Final standings: 49W, 26L, 7OTL, 105 points, 1st Northwest, 3rd Western Conference, 8th NHL

At the start of this season, the Vancouver Canucks made a blockbuster deal with the Florida Panthers that gave them goaltender Roberto Luongo, one of the best in the league. Despite this acquisition, the Canucks were predicted to either miss the playoffs or get a lower 7th or 8th seed due to other big names such as Todd Bertuzzi, but they ended up getting the third overall spot instead. In the playoffs, which the ‘Nucks made for the first time since the lockout, the Canucks took on the Dallas Stars in a thrilling seven game series in the first round, then advanced to the semi-finals only to lose to the Anaheim Ducks, 4 games to 1.

Coming up next in the sixth and final part will be the Pacific Division.

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The Aftermath – 2007 Edition: Part 4

July 04, 2007   wildwing64   No comments

The 2006-07 NHL season is now finished. After dropping an adjective from their name, the mighty Anaheim Ducks took the NHL by storm and went on to win their first ever Stanley Cup.

This inaugural edition of The Aftermath is a six-part series which will consist of brief summaries of every team’s performance this season. Part 4 will begin coverage of the Western Conference with the Central Division.

Chicago Blackhawks

Final standings: 31W, 42L, 9OTL, 71 points, 5th Central, 13th Western Conference, 26th NHL

To be honest, there’s not really much that can be said about the Chicago Blackhawks. They got off to a slow start, have had too many long losing streaks, and attendance was incredibly low for most games, sometimes even going below 10,000: the United Center’s capacity for Hockey games is 20,500, and the lowest number of fans that went to a game was just 8,008, and it was lucky for the Hawks that they were able to attract at least 15,000 whenever Original Six rivals the Detroit Red Wings visited Chicago. Coach Trent Yawney was fired and succeeded by Denis Savard partway through the season, unfortunately that didn’t help much as the Blackhawks finished near the bottom of the Western Conference.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Final standings: 33W, 42L, 7OTL, 73 points, 4th Central, 11th Western Conference, 24th NHL

Like for pretty much most of their 6 year existence, the Columbus Blue Jackets were unsuccessful again, still hanging around near the bottom of the Western Conference, taking even more severe beatings from other teams. The Jackets had at least 3 long losing streaks, as well as a bumpy series of win-lose-win-lose games entering the year 2007. At the end of the season, the Blue Jackets failed to make the playoffs once again, and as the Atlanta Thrashers qualified, Columbus is now the only team in the NHL to have never made the playoffs. On an upside, they finished with their, umm… best record in franchise history.

Detroit Red Wings

Final standings: 58W, 16L, 8OTL, 113 points, 1st Central, 1st Western Conference, 2nd NHL

This season was the Detroit Red Wing’s 80th NHL season. Despite losing long time captain Steve Yzerman to retirement, as well as another long time Red Wing Brendan Shanahan to the New York Rangers, Detroit were still able to climb to the top of the Western Conference, and make the playoffs for the 16th straight season, the most by any North American pro sports team. After Yzerman’s retirement, captaincy was passed on to veteran defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, who would lead the Red Wings all the way to the Western Conference Finals, where they would end up losing in 6 games to the Anaheim Ducks. Another reason for the Wings’ success this season was the return of Dominik Hasek, who at the age of 42 is currently the oldest goaltender in the NHL: he averaged a 0.923 save percentage this season. At the end of the regular season, Detroit looked like they were set to win yet another Presidents’ Trophy; however they lost it to the Buffalo Sabres, who had won more games. As for attendance figures, the Detroit Red Wings were one of the only teams to sell out every home game this year.

Nashville Predators

Final standings: 51W, 23L, 8OTL, 110 points, 2nd Central, 4th Western Conference, 3rd NHL

This season looked to be very promising for the Nashville Predators, who ended up finishing with the best record in their franchise history. For most of the year they led the Central Division, as they were able to consistently win games, and they held this lead until Detroit took the Division Championship once again. Back in February, the Preds were able to acquire Peter Forsberg from the Philadelphia Flyers, and he was able to aid them in making the playoffs for the third straight season. Sadly, they lost to the San Jose Sharks in the Western quarterfinals, 4 games to 1, for the second year in a row.

St. Louis Blues

Final standings: 34W, 35L, 13OTL, 81 points, 3rd Central, 10th Western Conference, 22nd NHL

This season, despite missing the playoffs for the second straight year, the St. Louis Blues were able to improve upon an embarrassing performance in 2005-06. The first half of this season seemed very reminiscent of the previous one, however halfway through December; the Blues began playing better hockey again, and they were even able to overtake the falling Edmonton Oilers. Despite a strong rebound season from the Blues, they were unable to make the playoffs. Despite being third place overall in the Central Division, which for the past two seasons has been ruled by the Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators, St. Louis were not even close to playoff contention anyway, as they were 14 points behind 9th place Colorado Avalanche, who didn’t make the playoffs either.

Coming up next in Part 5 will be the Northwest Division.

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