The Aftermath – 2008 Edition: Part 2
Here is part 2 of the Aftermath series, in which the Northeast Division will be covered.
Boston Bruins
Final standings: 41W, 29L, 12OTL, 94 points, 3rd Northeast, 8th Eastern Conference, 15th NHL
Before this season started, the Boston Bruins were one of the first teams to unveil their brand new RBK EDGE jerseys and logo, which despite initial fears (as in before the jerseys were revealed) turned out to be an immense improvement over their previous design. The team’s performance also improved, as the Bruins moved up from fifth place last season to third this year. Boston had an overall OK season, and made the playoffs for the first time since 2004, the year before the lockout. Unfortunately for them, their playoff run wouldn’t last very long as they lost in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Montreal Canadiens in 7 games (which ironically also happened in 2004).
Buffalo Sabres
Final standings: 39W, 31L, 12OTL, 90 points, 4thNortheast, 10th Eastern Conference, 18th NHL
After being a favourite pick by many to win the Stanley Cup, as well as being the overall best team in the league last season, the Buffalo Sabres instead put an a much more disappointing performance for their 2007-08 campaign. They didn’t completely suck however, and the better moment this year included a six game winning streak in December, and a streak of ten games from January 24th to February 13thin which they got at least a point in each of those games: the streak included 8 wins and 2 shootout losses. Despite accumulating a fairly large 90 points by the end of the season, the Sabres just missed the playoffs by 4 points: had they won at least two more games, they would have had Boston’s 8th place spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
Montreal Canadiens
Final standings: 47W, 25L, 10OTL, 104 points, 1st Northeast, 1st Eastern Conference, 3rd NHL
After just missing the playoffs in 2007, this year’s Canadiens were a force to be reckoned with. They pretty much ruled the Eastern Conference standings all season long, and in the end finished with a massive 104 points, and the only bad moment Montreal ever really had during the regular season was an odd slump in November in which they went through a streak of win-loss-win-loss games. During the playoffs, they defeated old-time rivals the Boston Bruins in 7 games in the Eastern Quaerterfinals (which for whatever reason resulted in Montreal fans rioting…); however they lost in the next round to the Philadelphia Flyers in 5… And yet, the fans didn’t riot. Weird.
Ottawa Senators
Final standings: 43W, 31L, 8OTL, 94 points, 2nd Northeast, 7th Eastern Conference, 13th NHL
After losing in last year’s Stanley Cup Final against Anaheim, the Senators were able to get over it as they had a fairly good season: they were pretty much unstoppable throughout October and early November, and a six game winning streak in December also helped them. The Senators didn’t have it so easy during the final four months of the season, partly due to a mixture of change in coaching staff and injuries to key players such as Dany Heatley, with more players like Chris Kelly, Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher being injured during the final week of the season, making them unable to play during the playoffs, in which the Senators were swept by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, making them the only team to be swept in the quarterfinals.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Final standings: 36W, 35L, 11OTL, 83 points, 5th Northeast, 12th Eastern Conference, 24th NHL
Let’s just say that this season probably isn’t worth remembering for Toronto. The Leafs consistently played poorly for the majority of the season, with only a small number of winning streaks lasting no longer than 3-4 games, and due to this performance they inevitably ended up missing the playoffs for the third straight season. Because of the team’s lacklustre play in recent years, General Manager John Ferguson Jr. was fired and replaced by Cliff Fetcher in January. For all we know, there’s a chance that the Leafs may get off to a fresh new start next season under their new GM.
Part 3 of this series will be up soon, and it will cover the Southeast Division.