Let The Playoffs Begin

With the 2007-08 National Hockey League regular season in the books, it's time to assess some trends as the Stanley Cup playoffs commence.

• Two Original Six franchises--the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings--wound up with the best records in their respective conferences. The Canadiens used to be a perennial Stanley Cup contender until they fell on hard times (they haven't won the Cup since 1993). The Red Wings are usually in it every year, so this was no big surprise.
• The league got what it wanted when two of its biggest young stars--Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals--made the playoffs.
• After the success of the New Year's Day outdoor game in Buffalo between the Sabres and Penguins, the NHL is planning another one. It's not confirmed yet, but Yankee Stadium in New York might get the next one.
• NBC, in presumably the last year of its no-fee deal with the NHL, chose a Game of the Week format with a 'flex' schedule similar to its Sunday night NFL package. What they ended up with was scheduling the same teams--the Red Wings, Penguins and New York Rangers--into an early-afternoon slot dictated by the network's golf coverage. That's like scheduling the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and New York Giants every Sunday night. Doesn't leave much to showcase the other teams.
• Oh yes, Versus will continue to be the official cable home of the NHL through 2011. So no more whining about why they're not on ESPN.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Minnesota Wild survived the Northwest Division, the toughest in the NHL, and won it. They did it with big (and injury-free) years from Marian Gaborik, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Brian Rolston, along with the goaltending of Josh Harding and Niklas Backstrom. They could have used another veteran scorer. Instead, they got Chris Simon from the New York Islanders, who got a major suspension last season for injuring a Rangers player. He joins the team's other designated goon, Derek Boogaard.

Now the Wild will face the Colorado Avalanche in the first round, a potentially tough series that became even more so with two defensemen unable to play. Kurtis Foster busted his leg in a game at San Jose, and Nick Schultz had his appendix removed. Even with that challenge, the Wild should get through the first round before losing in the second.

And now our long-range forecast on who will be playing for the Stanley Cup when the only ice outside the arena will be in your drinks: Detroit vs. Pittsburgh.