The 2009-10 NHL season is now finished. The Chicago Blackhawks had been waiting for their turn to hoist the Cup for 49 years, and that drought was finally brought to an end after an exciting series against the Philadelphia Flyers.

This six part series will consist of brief summaries of every team’s performance this season. Part 2 will cover the Northeast Division.

Boston Bruins

Final standings: 39W, 30L, 13OTL, 91 points, 3^rd Northeast, 6^th Eastern Conference, 14^th NHL

After a fairly busy offseason, the Bruins got off to a bumpy start to their campaign, alternating between wins and losses for the entirety of October. After a couple more losses in November, the Bruins seemingly stabilised at last, playing decent hockey for the rest of 2009. On New Year’s Day, they hosted the Philadelphia Flyers for the NHL’s annual Winter Classic event, which was won by the Bruins 2-1 in a shootout, oddly making them the first team to ever win an outdoor NHL game at home. Following that was a horrendous slump through the rest of the month, seeing the team go 3-9-2 over January; however they managed to pick up some wins before the Olympic Break. Once the NHL resumed play in March, the Bruins went back to their alternating ways, but then managed to go 4-1-1 in April, clinching their playoff spot in game 81 against Carolina, giving them a playoff spot for the third straight season. In the first round of the playoffs, they beat division rivals Buffalo in six games, and then went on to play the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round. The Bruins looked to make quick work of the Flyers as they won the first three games, but this was not to be as Philadelphia then won the next four, beating the Bruins in seven games and making Boston only the third team to have ever lost in this way.

Buffalo Sabres

Final standings: 45W, 27L, 10OTL, 100 points, 1^st Northeast, 3^rd Eastern Conference, 11^th NHL

This was (technically) a special time in Sabres history as it was the franchise’s 40^th year in existence, but because of the lockout was their 39^th in play. Buffalo got off to a good start early on, and played very consistent hockey throughout the earlier months of the season, save for a couple of 4-game losing streaks in November and January. February saw the Sabres stumble, going 1-4-2, however things picked up after the Olympics as they went back to their winning ways, and on March 18^th they clinched their first playoff spot since the 2006-07 season after winning 6-2 in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Sadly, their time in the playoffs was brief as they lost to Boston in six games in the first round.

Montreal Canadiens

Final standings: 39W, 33L, 10OTL, 88 points, 4^th Northeast, 8^th Eastern Conference, 19^th NHL

Montreal’s centennial celebrations continued as the Canadiens officially played their 100^th season this year. This was also a year of huge changes for the Habs, including head coach Jacques Martin replacing Guy Carbonneau, a change in ownership, and several player trades and signings: one particularly notable change to the Habs’ roster was the lack of long time captain Saku Koivu, who wasn’t offered a contract and instead signed up with Anaheim: and for the first time in franchise history, the Canadiens started the season without a designated team Captain.  The Canadiens got off to a fairly slow start, splitting their wins and regulation losses in the first two months before picking up a couple more wins in December. There was a rough period through January and February, but after the Olympic break the Habs improved their game and eventually managed to clinch the eighth seed in the East, beating out the New York Rangers by just one point.  The Habs were the underdogs entering the first round of the playoffs as they took on the NHL best Washington Capitals, but after being down 3-1 in the series, Montreal won the next three to upset the Caps in game 7. Round 2 was another surprise for everyone, as Montreal again took the series to game 7 and upset Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Canadiens made it to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1993, but then lost in five to Philadelphia.

Ottawa Senators

Final standings: 44W, 32L, 6OTL, 94 points, 2^nd Northeast, 5^th Eastern Conference, 13^th NHL

Before the season even got underway, there was a slight bit of controversy as Dany Heatley, for whatever reason, wanted out. And in September he was traded to San Jose in exchange for Milan Michalek, Jonathon Cheechoo, and a 2010 draft pick. During the preseason on September 19^th, the Senators took part in their first ever exhibition game, against Tampa Bay, in Regina, which hosted its first NHL game in 19 years. After several changes to the Sens roster, the regular season got underway, and Ottawa played some fairly decent hockey until they hit an 8-9-0 slump in December. As the New Year came around, the Senators had a win followed by a nasty 5-game losing streak, after which they fired their goaltending coach Eli Wildon, then went on to win the next 11 games, setting a new franchise record for consecutive wins. As the Winter Olympics finished, the Sens went on to suffer an 8-game slump, before winning the next six games and clinching their playoff spot in a game against Carolina on April 1^st. Sadly, the Senators didn’t last too long in the postseason as they were defeated by Pittsburgh in six games.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Final standings: 30W, 38L, 14OTL, 74 points, 5^th Northeast, 15^th Eastern Conference, 29^th NHL

Clearly, the Leafs are still in rebuilding mode as GM Brian Burke is still attempting to shape the team into a defense-first winner in the future: d-men Francois Beauchemin and Mike Komirasek were both signed to multi-year contracts, and Pavel Kubina was traded to Atlanta in exchange for Garnet Exelby. Toronto’s preseason was good, but sadly the preseason is completely irrelevant as far as team’s standings go: in October, the Maple Leafs got off to their worst start in franchise history, losing the first eight games and going 1-7-4 in October. Things looked more promising as the Leafs won some more games over the next two months, but in January went completely downhill, winning just 3 games and losing the other 12. March was a good month for Toronto, but by then it was far too late as Toronto had no chance of making the playoffs, failing to qualify for the fifth straight year. With Chicago winning the Stanley Cup this year, this now leaves Toronto as the team suffering from the longest Stanley Cup drought, lasting  42 years.

Coming up next in Part 3 will be the Southeast Division.