The Aftermath - 2008 Edition: Part 4

For the final three parts of the Aftermath series, the Western Conference will be covered, starting with the Central Division.

Chicago Blackhawks

Final standings: 40W, 34L, 8OTL, 88 points, 3^rd Central, 10^th Western Conference, 20^th NHL

The Chicago Blackhawks began the season mourning the loss of long-time owner Bill Wirtz, who died on September 26^th, 2007; he was succeeded by his younger son, Rocky Wirtz, who has since sought to make big, positive changes to the team. His statement was reflected by the fact that the Hawks had their first winning season since 2001-02, winning nine more games than in 2006-07, and losing eight less. They also made a big improvement in the overall league standings, by jumping up from 26^th last season to 20^th this year. However, the Blackhawks once again were unable to make the playoffs for the fifth straight season, but the future is looking brighter for this franchise.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Final standings: 34W, 36L, 12OTL, 80 points, 4^th Central, 13^th Western Conference, 25^th NHL

The 2007-08 campaign for the Columbus Blue Jackets saw them attempt to make the playoffs for the first time in team history (and fail). Columbus also made a change in management with a new General Manager, Scott Howson, replacing Doug MacLean. The Jackets had a fairly good start in October, going 7-3-1, but afterwards the team’s usual habit of suffering from a bad season began to kick in. What didn’t help was that the team’s number one goalie Pascal LeClaire was injured in March, and the team lost the majority of their final 16 games, going 4-9-3, and thus they missed the playoffs once again. A positive thing for the team to look back on is that their mostly better play resulted in them having the most successful season record in franchise history, earning at least 80 points for the first time.

Detroit Red Wings

Final standings: 54W, 21L, 7OTL, 115 points, 1^st Central, 1^st Western Conference, 1^st NHL

After making it only as far as the Conference Finals last year, the Detroit Red Wings came right back and went all the way, defeating Nashville, Colorado and Dallas in the first three rounds and then winning in the Stanley Cup Final in six games against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, making it the second time the Wings have won the Cup this decade. The Red Wings also won the Presidents’ Trophy for the sixth time: their Cup championship made it the seventh time that a team has won the Stanley Cup after winning the Presidents’ Trophy, a rare occurrence considering that the trophy has been around for 22 years, and some hockey fans consider it to be cursed. Not much else can be said about Detroit for this year, although the only bad time of the year, which was particularly bad, happened in February, when the Wings went into an eleven game slump, in which they went 1-7-3.

Nashville Predators

Final standings: 41W, 32L, 9OTL, 91 points, 2^nd Central, 8^th Western Conference, 17^th NHL

The 2007-08 Nashville Predators season began with a new owner. After Jim Balsillie failed in his attempt to buy the franchise from Craig Leipold, and instead the team was sold to a group led by local businessman David Freeman. The team had a bad start in October when after their first two games they went into a six game losing streak. They did better in November, and then went on another slump in December, when they lost 9 out of 15 games. They played fairly good hockey for the rest of the season, and beat out Edmonton, Chicago and Vancouver in clinching the number 8 spot in the West. Naturally, as the number 8 seed, they went into the first round as the underdogs, and lost to division rivals the Detroit Red Wings in six games.

St. Louis Blues

Final standings: 33W, 36L, 13OTL, 79 points, 5^th Central, 14^th Western Conference, 27^th NHL

The St. Louis Blues started off by introducing their new mascot, Louie, a blue bear with sunglasses. He was named following a ‘name the mascot’ contest that the team held. The Blues performed fairly well early on in the season, but after November they suddenly went downhill as they lost the majority of their games for the rest of the season. They failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third straight season, and had a worse season than in 2006-07. Despite all this, the team saw a massive increase in attendance, filling approximately 92% of their capacity, whereas last year they only filled about 59%.

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