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, starting with the Atlantic Division.

New Jersey Devils

Final standings: 49W, 24L, 9OTL, 107 points, 1^st Atlantic, 2^nd Eastern Conference, 7^th NHL

After team captain Scott Stevens retired at the start of this season, his leadership was handed to Patrik Elias, making him the seventh captain in team history. At the start of the season, the New Jersey Devils had a bit of a bumpy road to go along, however thanks to the efforts of Eliáš, Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta and top class goaltender Martin Brodeur, the Devils were able to win plenty of games, and eventually were able to join the elite teams in the Eastern Conference once again. Their postseason did not last for very long however, as they lost in the Eastern semi-finals to the Ottawa Senators, 4 games to 1. In time for next season, the Devils are looking to move out of their current 19,040 capacity arena the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to the brand new 17,615 capacity Prudential Center, not too far away from their current home, in Newark, New Jersey.

New York Islanders

Final standings: 33W, 37L, 11OTL, 79 points, 5^th Atlantic, 13^th Eastern Conference, 26^th NHL

The New York Islanders had a fairly difficult season, and barely made the playoffs in the end. The Isles suffered from high scoring losses to begin with, and their 2006-07 campaign as a whole was particularly bumpy, and their worst losing streak came in late December, which lasted for six games until early January. At the trade deadline, the Islanders got a sweet deal in which the Edmonton Oilers gave them their star player, Ryan Smith, who would become a part of their late season success. The last four games of this season were really crucial for the team, as they would have faced elimination from the playoffs if they had not won them. As a result of this 4 game win streak, the New York Islanders just made the playoffs, knocking the Toronto Maple Leafs off by just 1 point. In the playoffs, the Islanders lost 4 games to 1 to the heavily favoured Buffalo Sabres.

New York Rangers

Final standings: 42W, 30L, 10OTL, 94 points, 3^rd Atlantic, 6^th Eastern Conference, 15^th NHL

The New York Rangers’ performance this season was not much different to that of their friends over on Long Island; however they seem to have had more consistent winning streaks than the Islanders, but also had a slightly longer losing streak in December, which lasted for seven games. At the start of the year, they lost some of their stronger players from last season, such as Steve Rucchin, Martin Rucinsky, Tom Poti and Petr Sykora, though in February they acquired Sean Avery from the Los Angeles Kings, who would play a (surprisingly) big part on the Rangers’ roster come playoff time, despite any arrogant comments he made. For the playoffs, the Rangers came 6^th in the East for the second straight season. In the quarterfinals, they made the only four game sweep to take place in the 2006-07 playoffs, defeating the Atlanta Thrashers to advance to the next round, where they put up a fight against the Buffalo Sabres, but lost 4 games to 2.

Philadelphia Flyers

Final standings: 22W, 48L, 12OTL, 56 points, 5^th Atlantic 15^th Eastern Conference, 30^th NHL

For the Philadelphia Flyers, their 40^th season was definitely one to be forgotten, as they certainly were not flying much at all, and they would have their worst year in franchise history. Most of the season was spent playing junior level hockey – Sorry, I take that back. That’s an insult even to all those junior players out there – and they would record long losing streaks, just 10 home wins, and they would end up being right at the bottom of the league tables all year long, and they finished with 56 points, 11 less than second worst team the Phoenix Coyotes. Adding to the embarrassment, they were also the only team in the Atlantic Division to not make the playoffs this season. February was also not good for the Flyers, as they had to wave goodbye to star player Peter Forsberg, who was traded to Nashville. On an upside for Philadelphia, they averaged a very high attendance rate of 19,282, despite their performance.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Final standings: 47W, 24L, 11OTL, 105 points, 2^nd Atlantic, 5^th Eastern Conference, 10^th NHL

The Pittsburgh Penguins were able to improve upon a terrible performance in the 2005-06 season, in which they finished with just 58 points, and were the second worst team in the league, being one place higher than the St. Louis Blues. Thanks to the efforts of one of the largest groups of young players in the NHL, led by soon to be named team captain Sidney Crosby, they were no longer eating penguin s**t as they raced to join the best teams in the Eastern Conference. During most of the regular season, the Penguins had some bumpy win-lose-win-lose sessions; however they were able to record a number of 4-6 game winning streaks. Most of this season was spent by the Pens ownership apparently looking to sell and relocate the franchise: it never happened, as on March 14^th, Mario Lemieux, former star player and current owner of the Penguins, had reached a joint agreement with city officials to build a new arena, and keep the team in Pittsburgh for at least another 30 years. Come playoff time, the Penguins went up against the Ottawa Senators, and lost 4 games to 1 after some mostly one sided victories.

Coming up next in Part 2 will be the Northeast Division.