The Aftermath – 2008 Edition: Part 6
Here is the final part of the Aftermath series for this year, which will cover the Pacific Division.
Anaheim Ducks
Final standings: 47W, 27L, 8OTL, 102 points, 2nd Pacific, 4th Western Conference, 5th NHL
The Anaheim Ducks entered this season as the defending Stanley Cup Champions. They lost star players Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne to semi-retirement and signed Todd Burtuzzi and Mathieu Schneider as temporary replacements. They also started the season in London, England for a two game series against the Los Angeles Kings, and afterwards returned to the US for a three game road trip where they lost two games and another in OT, before going back to Anaheim for their home opener against the Boston Bruins. The Ducks had a rough start in October, possibly something to do with their trip across the Atlantic, going 3-6-2, and their performance improved afterwards. Scott Niedermayer finally joined the Ducks roster in December (and almost immediately afterwards became one of four Ducks to represent the Western Conference at the All-Star game) and Teemu Selanne signed a one year contract with them near the end of January. The Ducks made the playoffs for the third straight season, but were up against a Division rival that they had trouble against during the regular season, the Dallas Stars, and lost in six games, bringing their defence of the Cup to an end.
Dallas Stars
Final standings: 45W, 30L, 7OTL, 97 points, 3rd Pacific, 5th Western Conference, 8th NHL
The Dallas Stars this year were notable for replacing their mainly green home jersey with a mainly black, college-style one, almost completely eliminating green from the colour scheme. During the regular season, they played fairly good hockey during the first three months of the season, and then slightly worse in January, going 5-7-1. They then had an excellent record in February, losing just two out of 14 games, and then performed much worse in March, going 2-7-3. They later made the playoffs, and in the first round were up against Division rivals and defending Stanley Cup Champions the Anaheim Ducks: the Stars defeated the Ducks in six games, allowing them to make it past the first round for the first time in four seasons. In the second round, they played against another Division rival, the San Jose Sharks, and also beat them in six games. Game 6 of that series went in quadruple OT, and set a record for the 8th longest game in NHL history. Dallas made it to the Western Conference finals, were they lost to eventual Stanley Cup Champions the Detroit Red Wings in six games.
Los Angeles Kings
Final standings: 32W, 43L, 7OTL, 71 points, 5th Pacific, 15th Western Conference, 29th NHL
Changes for the Los Angeles Kings for this year included their new RBK EDGE jerseys, which simply removed the bottom stripe, and they replaced their goal horn, a foghorn, with a train horn. The Kings began the year by going on a brief exhibition trip in Europe, beating EC Red Bull 6-7 and Farjestads BK Karlstad 4-3 before going to London, England to play two games against Southern California rivals and defending Stanley Cup Champions the Anaheim Ducks, where they both lost and won a game each, 4-1. Afterwards, the Kings played poorly for the rest of the year, with their only good months being October, where they went 6-7-0, and January, where they went 6-5-0. For the fifth straight season, the Kings failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Phoenix Coyotes
Final standings: 38W, 37L, 7OTL, 83 points, 4th Pacific, 12th Western Conference, 23rd NHL
The Phoenix Coyotes this year celebrated their franchise’s 35th season, although it was their 28th in the NHL, and 10th as the Phoenix Coyotes (even though they had the patches on their jerseys last season…). The Coyotes had a fairly “evened-out” season, as shown by their overall record. While it was poor, they still won the majority of their games… well, only just. Their best month was in January when they went 9-4-1, and their worst month was March, when they went 4-9-1. The Coyotes missed the playoffs for the 5th straight season, and for the second straight season, the Coyotes were last in revenue, losing $30 million this season.
San Jose Sharks
Final standings: 49W, 23L, 10OTL, 108 points, 1st Pacific, 2nd Western Conference, 2nd NHL
The San Jose Sharks, in order to fit in with the new RBK EDGE uniform system, made a couple of changes to their identity. Firstly, they had a new set of logos designed for them, including an updated version of their original logo (both the old and new were designed by the same person), and also switched to a slightly different shade of teal, and replaced the grey in the colour scheme with orange. Their jerseys are now also of a more traditional style. The Sharks entered the season as a favourite pick by many to win the Stanley Cup, which their overall record does reflect on. While San Jose did have an impressive overall record, their best month was March, when they were almost unstoppable, going 13-0-2. In a game on February 9th against the Nashville Predators, the Sharks won 4-3, giving head coach Ron Wilson his 500th win, making him the 11th coach in NHL history to win 500 games. After a very good season, the Sharks went on to win their third Pacific Division championship in franchise history, and made the playoffs for the fourth straight season. In the first round, they defeated the Calgary Flames in seven games, but in the second round they lost to Division rivals the Dallas Stars in six.
That’s pretty much it for the Aftermath this year. Next time, I’ll try to finish it faster…