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, 3^rd Northwest, 8^th Western Conference, 13^th 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, 4^th Northwest, 9^th Western Conference, 14^th 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, 5^th Northwest, 12^th Western Conference, 25^th 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, 2^nd Northwest, 7^th Western Conference, 11^th 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, 1^st Northwest, 3^rd Western Conference, 8^th 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 7^th or 8^th 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.