(April 8th, Part II) West Conference Preview

MINNESOTA WILD (3) vs. COLORADO AVALANCHE (6)

SERIES STORYLINES

History: The Avalanche and Wild have met only once in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Wild, making their first NHL playoff appearance in 2003, rallied from a 3-1series deficit to defeat the Avalanche in the seventh game of the Conference Quarter-final -- Colorado's Andrew Brunette, then with Minnesota, scored at 3:25 of overtime of Game 7 to give Minnesota the victory on April 22, 2003.

Golden Gopher returns: Colorado D Jordan Leopold, a Golden Valley, capped his four year career with the University of Minnesota with a 4-3 victory over the Maine Black Bears at the Xcel Energy Center for the 2002 NCAA title -- Leopold, the 2002 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner, helped set up the winning goal in overtime giving Minnesota its first NCAA win
since 1979.

Familiar foes: Minnesota's Brian Rolston (1999-2000), Chris Simon (1995-96) and Martin Skoula (1999-2002) all played for the Colorado Avalanche and Mark Parrish (79th overall in 1996), and Branko Radivojevic (93rd overall in 1999) were Avalanche draft choices. Martin Skoula, also a Colorado draft pick (17th overall in 1998) and Chris Simon helped lead the Avalanche to Stanley Cup victories -- Simon won with Colorado in 1996 and Skoula in 2001.

Balanced scoring: Both teams had nine players score at least 10 goals in 2007-08, with Colorado posting 224 goals and Minnesota 220 goals. Their defenses are also equally balanced, with Minnesota giving up only 218 goals against and Colorado 219.

Road woes: The Avalanche went 3-4-1 against the Wild this season, but finished 0-3-1 in Minnesota -- both teams have struggled on the road with only 43 of Minnesota's 98 points and 39 of Colorado's 95 points coming on the road in 2007-08.

MINNESOTA WILD

NHL Playoff Appearance: 3rd (2nd consecutive)
Stanley Cups: 0
Last Playoff Series Win: 2003 (Conference Semi-final vs. Vancouver)
All-Time Playoff Series Record: 2-2
All-Time Playoff Game Record: 9-14

KEY DATES

Dec. 17/07 -- Jacques Lemaire coaches his 1,000th career NHL regular-season game.

Dec. 20/07 -- RW Marian Gaborik scores five goals and adds an assist in victory over the Rangers.

March 1/08 -- Gaborik is named captain.

April 3/08 -- The Wild defeats Calgary to win the Northwest Division title, the first in team history, and gives Jacques Lemaire his 500th career regular-season victory as an NHL head coach.

WILD STORY LINES

'Monnesota' Wild?: GM Doug Risebrough played on four Cup-winners with Montreal, Coach Jacques Lemaire played on eight Cup-winners with Montreal and Assistant Coach Mario Tremblay played on five with Montreal -- four of them as a teammate of Lemaire and Risebrough. . . Of the 1,090 players who have skated for Stanley Cup champion teams since 1893, only four players (all of whom played for the Canadiens) have played on more champs than Lemaire: Claude Provost (9), Jean Beliveau and Yvan Cournoyer (10) and Henri Richard(11) . . . Lemaire scored the Stanley Cup-winning goals in 1977 (against Boston) and 1979 (against the Rangers). The Cup-winning goal scorer in the 1978 Final against the Bruins? Tremblay . . . Lemaire also is the only person to play in 800 NHL games and coach in 1,000.

Not To Be Overlooked: Minnesota's other assistant coach, Mike Ramsey, played on the USA team that shocked the hockey world by winning the gold medal at the 1980 Olympics after playing for the 1979 NCAA champion University of Minnesota.

Don't Scratch My Backstrom: Wild G Niklas Backstrom won a franchise-record 33 games this season, going 7-0-4 in his last 11 decisions with a 1.61 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage . . . Over the past two seasons, Backstrom has lost only twice in regulation in the months of March and April. He is a combined 18-2-6 with a 1.60 GAA and a .970 save percentage from March 1 forward.

Marian Gaborik finished with 42 goals, a team record, plus 83 points (another team record) and tied his own team record with eight game-winners. Brian Rolston also had 8.

Best of 15?: Brian Rolston, prior to the regular-season finale, said "I think we’ve completely been in playoff mode these last eight or nine games." Rolston has scored 30-or-more goals in each of the past three seasons.

Best of 29?: G Niklas Backstrom said, "It’s been like playoffs for a month or two."

Center of Attraction: Minnesota went 25-11-5 at Xcel Energy Center in 2007-08 after going 29-7-5 in the previous season. The Wild's all-time home record is 149-88-49.

Looks Familiar: Avalanche defensemen Jordan Leopold (Golden Valley) and Kurt Sauer (St. Cloud) are Minnesota natives . . . Colorado LW Andrew Brunette spent three seasons with the Wild (2001-04).

Tough Tickets: In its seventh NHL season, the Wild has sold out all 318 home games played in club history, including 287 regular season games, 21 preseason contests and 10 playoff games.

Burning Up: D Brent Burns (all 6-5, 219 of him) established franchise records for goals and points by a defenseman with 15 and 43, respectively . . . Burns' mother, Gaby, went into labor with him while she was at a rink watching her husband, Rob, play in a recreational league game in March 1985 . . . According to Larry Wigge of NHL.com, Burns loves to read, has five tattoos, three guitars, two racing bikes, two huskies, two cats, two talking birds and a large sampling of fish -- including a shark.

Lemaire Fiddles, Burns Roams: The Wild drafted Burns expecting he would play forward. Burns had played defense, then right wing, in junior. Wild coach Jacques Lemaire experimented with Burns up front in 2005-06.

COLORADO AVALANCHE

NHL Playoff Appearance: 20th (1st since 2006)
Stanley Cups: 2 (2001, 1996)
Last Playoff Series Win: 2006 (Conference Quarterfinal vs. Dallas)
All-Time Playoff Series Record: 24-17
All-Time Playoff Game Record: 126-107

KEY DATES

What a week -- The seven-day period from February 24 through March 1 was a defining one for the Avalanche this season. After a 3-2 loss to the Oilers on Feb. 24, they sat in10th place In the West – in the midst of a streak that had seen them win just one of seven games - and were four points behind 8th place Nashville.

Feb. 24/08 -- C Joe Sakic returned to the lineup after missing 38 games due to hernia surgery (Dec. 28). It was the most games he has missed in his career in a single season.

Feb. 25/08 -- C Peter Forsberg was signed for the remainder of the 2007-08 season and would make his debut on March 4 vs. Vancouver.

Feb. 26/08 -- D Adam Foote was acquired from Columbus on trade deadline (for a conditional first-round draft choice in 2008 or 2009 and a conditional fourth-round choice in 2009). After hopping a ride with a police officer from the airport to the Pengrowth Saddledome, he made his way on to the bench with 6:26 left in the first period and went on to play 29 shifts (18:30 of ice time) in the Avs 3-2 win.

Feb. 26/08 – Another trade deadline deal saw D Ruslan Salei acquired from Florida (for Karlis Skrastins and a third-round draft choice in the 2008 Entry Draft).

Feb. 27/08 – D Brett Clark underwent season-ending shoulder surgery.

Mar. 1/08 – RW Marek Svatos suffered a torn ACL vs. Los Angeles and is out for the remainder of the season. He was leading the team with 26 goals at the time of his injury.

AVALANCHE STORYLINES

Sakic & Forsberg among playoff leaders: Sakic and Forsberg both rank in the top-10 in playoff career points-per-game average (among players with 100 points). Wayne Gretzky leads at 1.84, followed by Mario Lemieux (1.61), Mark Messier (1.25), Mike Bossy (1.24), Jari Kurri (1.16), Forsberg (1.15), Gilbert Perreault (1.14), Peter Stastny (1.13), Bernie Federko (1.11) and Sakic (1.09).

Sakic also on goal list: Sakic also sits 10th in average goals-per-game in the playoffs. Mario Lemieux ranks first (.710), followed by Mike Bossy (.659), Maurice Richard (.617), Cam Neely (.613), Wayne Gretzky (.587), Jari Kurri (.530), Bobby Hull (.521), Dino Ciccarelli (.518), Brett Hull (.516) and Sakic (.506).

Mr. Playoffs: Joe Sakic enters the 2008 playoffs in 11th place all-time in points with 178 (82-96-178) – two behind Raymond Bourque (180) and six behind Bryan Trottier (184). He is tied for 7th all-time in playoff goals with Maurice Richard (82) and is within three of catching 6th place Mike Bossy (85). He is also tied with Maurice Richard for 4th all-time in game- winning goals in the playoffs (18) and is one shy of 3rd place Claude Lemieux (19). Finally, Sakic looks to extend his career playoff overtime goals record (7).

Playoff time for Stastny again in Denver: As Paul Stastny prepares for his first Stanley Cup playoff game, exactly three years ago (April 9, 2005) he notched a pair of goals for the University of Denver to lead them to their second consecutive NCAA with a 4-1 victory over North Dakota. Stastny is the first Avalanche player to score 20 goals in each of his first two NHL seasons since Chris Drury in 1998-99 and 1999-2000, despite missing 15 games after having his appendix removed on Jan. 17.

Theodore’s bounce back season: After a 13-15-1 record in 2006-07, including only three starts in the final six weeks of the season, G Jose Theodore rebounded to post a 28-21-3 record in 2007-08. He has allowed two goals or less in 22 of his last 36 appearances, including one goal or less on 11 occasions and three shutouts; his 2.23 average since Jan. 1st is tied for third among NHL goaltenders. Arthroscopic knee surgery on Aug. 29, followed a brief stint in the minors made Theodore eager to regain his Vezina and Hart Trophy form of 2001-02: "If I play the best I can and I'm happy with the way I'm playing, then everything will fall into place," he said early this season. "I think every year you approach it the same way, but obviously when it's the last year of the contract, I think as a player everybody puts that extra pressure on yourself, which is a fun and good pressure."

The three amigos: Foote, Forsberg and Sakic remain from the Avalanche teams that won Stanley Cups in both 1996 and 2001 (Milan Hejduk and Scott Parker remain from 2001- winning team). Their reunion on Mar. 4 vs. Vancouver marked the first time they had played together since a playoff game vs. San Jose on May 4/04 and the threesome combined to log more than 63 minutes of ice time. Sakic on the reunion: "It's just great to have Adam back. You start almost the same time in your career, you're together so long. He left and he came back, and now it's like you have your buddy back from when you started, and it's almost like you're going back to the start with him. Same with Peter. It's one of those things that on the ice, off the ice, everything's kind of back where it should be." Forsberg on his return to Colorado: "It feels like it was yesterday when I left here. Just being back here ... and these guys are still flying around, and they're a couple of years older than I am, but they look great out there. It seems like they haven't missed a beat. It's great to be back with these guys. We had such a good long run."

Avs consistency: The Avalanche have reached 40 wins for the ninth consecutive season and 11th time in 12 seasons since moving to Denver (only failed to reach the 40-win mark in 1997-98, when they won the Pacific Division title with 39 wins). They are one of only three teams to produce 11 different 40-win campaigns since 1995-96 (Detroit and New Jersey).

The Comeback kids: The Avalanche rallied to win seven games this season when trailing after two periods. Only the New Jersey Devils (8) had more comeback wins when trailing after two periods this season.

The ironman: LW Andrew Brunette has played in 452 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the league. He is one of only two Avalanche players to skate in all 82 games this season (Scott Hannan).



DETROIT RED WINGS (1) vs. NASHVILLE PREDATORS (8)

SERIES STORYLINES

Oh Eight: #8 team has beaten the #1 team seven times since 1994. The last #8 seed to defeat a #1 was in 2006 when the Edmonton Oilers defeated Detroit Red Wings 4-2. Other #8 upsets include, Montreal over Boston (2002), San Jose over St. Louis (2000), Pittsburgh over New Jersey (1999), Ottawa over New Jersey (1998), NY Rangers over Quebec (1995) and San Jose over Detroit (1994).

Who's left from '04?: Only seven players remain from the Predators' team that was defeated by the Red Wings in six games in their inaugural playoff appearance in 2004 -- G Chris Mason, D Marek Zidlicky and Dan Hamhuis and F Martin Erat, David Legwand, Vernon Fiddler and Jordin Tootoo. Hamhuis, Fiddler and Tootoo were rookies on that team. (Steve Sullivan also played on the '94 team but has missed all of 2007-08 with injury.) 10 Red Wings remain from that 2004 team that played Nashville -- G Dominik Hasek, D Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronvall, Chris Chelios and F Pavel Datysuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby and Darren McCarty.

Goaltending Depth: Predators' coach Barry Trotz and Red Wings' coach Mike Babcock will have the rare benefit of depth in goal in their opening round matchup. Of the 271 playoff series over the past 20 years, only five have featured matchups in which each team had two goaltenders who played in at least 45% of the team's regular-season games. This will be the
sixth, as Trotz can use Chris Mason or Dan Ellis and Babcock can go with his Jennings trophy winning duo of Chris Osgood or Dominik Hasek. The only other such series: in 2006-07, the Predators (Tomas Vokoun/Chris Mason) played the San Jose Sharks (Evgeni Nabokov/Vesa Toskala); in 1995-96, the Pittsburgh Penguins (Tom Barrasso/Ken Wregget) played the New York Rangers (Glenn Healy/Mike Richter); in 1995-96 the Colorado Avalanche (Stephane Fiset/Patrick Roy) played the Vancouver Canucks (Corey Hirsch/Kirk McLean); in 1988-89 the Boston Bruins (Reggie Lemelin/Andy Moog) faced the Buffalo
Sabres (Jacques Cloutier/Daren Puppa) and, also in 1988-89, Boston (Lemelin/Moog) faced the Montreal Canadiens (Brian Hayward/Patrick Roy).

Quite a debut: The Predators franchise playoff debut came against Detroit in 2004. In Game 1 (Apr. 7), the Predators' Adam Hall scored 16 seconds into the game -- the goal was the quickest ever surrendered by the Red Wings in their distinguished playoff history.

Familiar foe: Nashville D Greg de Vries will face Detroit in the playoffs for the fourth time in his career. While with Colorado (1998-2003), de Vries beat Detroit twice in the Conference Semi-finals (1999, 2000) and lost once in the Conference Final (2002).

Familiar foe 2: The Predators and Red Wings played each other four times in 22 days in the month of March. While the Red Wings won three of four, three of the games were decided by one goal. Detroit F Henrik Zetterberg after their last meeting of the season, a 1-0 overtime victory on March 30: "If it ends up being them in the first round, it's going to be like (today). It's going to be close games, and a lot of games are going to go to overtime because it's that close between the two teams."

Detroit - Nashville connection: Predators' C David Legwand, a Detroit native, played his minor hockey for Detroit Compuware before playing for the Plymouth Whalers in the OHL.

Veteran vs. Youth: The average age of the Red Wings' defense is 31.6, compared to the Predators' defense average age of 26. 4.

DETROIT RED WINGS

NHL Playoff Appearance: 56th (17th consecutive)
Stanley Cups: 10 (last SC: 2002)
Last Playoff Series Win: 2007 (Conference Semifinal vs. San Jose)
All-Time Playoff Series Record: 58-45
All-Time Playoff Game Record: 269-248-1

KEY DATES

Nov. 27/07 -- Nicklas Lidstrom becomes the 72nd player in NHL history to appear in his 1,200th NHL game.

Jan. 8/08 -- Against Colorado, D Chris Chelios becomes the second-oldest player in NHL
history, second only to Gordie Howe.

RED WINGS STORYLINES

Young At Heart I: With his next playoff game appearance, D Chris Chelios will match the record for most Stanley Cup Playoff games, 247, set by G Patrick Roy. Chelios also will extend his own Stanley Cup record by appearing in his 23rd career playoff season.

Young At Heart II: Chelios, who turned 46 on Jan. 25, passed the late Moe Roberts (45
years, 347 days) to become the oldest U.S.-born player in NHL history and the second-oldest NHL player ever, surpassed only by Gordie Howe (52 years, 6 days). Roberts, a goaltender, made last NHL appearance was for Chicago -- against the Red Wings -- Nov. 25, 1951; by then he was assistant trainer for the Blackhawks but was pressed back into service (17 seasons after his previous NHL appearance) when Chicago's starting goaltender, Harry Lumley, was injured.

Young At Heart III: Chris Chelios is older than seven current coaches, including Mike Babcock. He also predates Nashville's Barry Trotz, New Jersey's Brent Sutter, Pittsburgh's Michel Therrien, Carolina's Peter Laviolette, Philadelphia's John Stevens and Toronto's Paul Maurice . . . Chelios also played his first game March 8, 1984, or 12 days before teammate Valtteri Filppula was born.

Truly Presidential: Including this season, the Red Wings have won the Presidents’ Trophy six times since it was presented by the Board of Governors to the National Hockey League in 1985-86 to honor the team that finished the regular season with the League’s best record. No other team has won it more than twice.

In The Long Run: This is Detroit's 17th consecutive season in the playoffs – the longest such streak in pro sports. The New York Yankees are second with 13 in a row. This also is the Red Wings' eighth consecutive season of 100 points-or-more, matching the record the Montreal Canadiens set from 1974-75 to 1981-82.

Offensive Defense: Detroit is the only team in the NHL with three defenseman scoring 30- or-more points -- Nicklas Lidstrom (10-60--70), Brian Rafalski (13-42--55) and Niklas Kronwall (7-28--35). Lidstrom and Rafalski are the top-scoring defense pair in the NHL.

Near-Perfect 10: Over the past 10 seasons, the Red Wings have won a combined 556 regular-season (493) and playoff (63) games, the top combined total in the NHL.

No Repeat After Me: The Red Wings were the last team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, 1997-98.

Last Team To Win The Presidents’ Trophy And The Stanley Cup In The Same Year: The Red Wings, in 2002.

Who? Not Howe?: Johan Franzen scored 14 goals in March -- six of them game winners, surpassing the record Gordie Howe had shared with Henrik Zetterberg.

Motor (City) Coach: Mike Babcock this season became the first coach in League history to win 50-or-more games in his first three seasons with an NHL team. He also garnered the Presidents' Trophy in his first season in Hockeytown, 2005-06.

Flipping Over Lidstrom: Nicklas Lidstrom has won the Norris Trophy five times in the past six seasons. Only Bobby Orr (8) and Doug Harvey (7) have won the Norris more times.

Patience, patience: Three of the most important Red Wings were extremely late draft picks - - LW Tomas Holmstrom was #257 in 1994, C Pavel Datsyuk was #171 in 1998 and LW Henrik Zetterberg was #210 in 1999.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS

NHL Playoff Appearance: 4th (4th consecutive)
All-Time Playoff Series Record: 0-3
All-Time Playoff Game Record: 4-12

KEY DATES

Oct. 25/07 -- The Predators snapped an early-season six-game losing streak with a 3-0 win against Atlanta. Off-season free agent signing G Dan Ellis posted a 20-save shutout in his first start as a Predator and just his second NHL start.

Dec. 1/07 -- The Predators staged a three-goal, third-period comeback and defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 at Bell Centre. C Radek Bonk, who spent the past two seasons with Montreal, scored the game-tying goal with 46.8 seconds remaining in regulation and was successful on his shootout attempt.

Feb. 26/08 -- Nashville acquired LW Jan Hlavac from Tampa Bay for a 7th-round draft pick in 2008 at the trade deadline.

Apr. 1/08 -- Trailing eighth-place Vancouver by one point in the Western Conference playoff race with just three games remaining, the Predators rallied from a 3-0 first-period deficit to defeat the St. Louis Blues 4-3 in overtime. Nashville tallied a pair of third-period goals to tie the score and C Rich Peverley notched the game-winner in overtime.

PREDATORS STORYLINES

Finishing kick: The Predators went 5-0-1 in the six-game stretch from Mar. 22 to Apr. 3, culminating in a 3-2 victory over St. Louis that clinched a playoff spot.

Franchise record shutout streak: G Dan Ellis set a franchise-record shutout streak by not allowing a goal in 233:38 -- from the first period vs. Chicago on March 22 to 3:21 of overtime on March 30 at Detroit. It marked the fifth-longest shutout streak in the NHL since 1944-45. Ellis turned aside 147 consecutive shots during the streak, and his pair of shutouts gave him six this season, setting a franchise record.

Here's to Trotz: Predators head coach Barry Trotz completed his ninth season behind the Nashville bench, the longest tenure by the original coach of an expansion team. Trotz passed Terry Crisp (391 games with Tampa Bay from October, 1992 to October, 1997) in the 2002-03 season. Trotz owns the second-longest current NHL coaching tenure (738 games), trailing Buffalo’s Lindy Ruff (820). He has worked alongside Predators GM David Poile, previously with the Washington Capitals organization, since 1987-88 (20 seasons).

Making Winning A Habit: The Predators have recorded 90 points-or-more in four consecutive seasons and are particularly tough at home, posting an 83-30-10 record at Sommet Center over the past three seasons.

Captain Arnott leads the way: Captain Jason Arnott ranked second on the club in goal- scoring with 28, reaching the 20-goal plateau for the ninth consecutive season and the 11th time in his 14-year NHL career. Arnott has appeared in 96 Stanley Cup playoff games and has been to the Stanley Cup Final twice, capturing the Cup with New Jersey in 2000. During the 2000 playoffs, he tied for third in the NHL in points (8-12--20) and led the Devils with seven points (4-3--7) vs. Dallas in the Stanley Cup Final. He tallied the Stanley Cup-winning goal in double overtime of Game 6 at Dallas.

Looking back at the 2007 playoffs: RW Alexander Radulov scored twice in Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinal series against San Jose, becoming the first NHL player to score two goals in his first playoff game since Anaheim's Paul Kariyadid it on April 16, 1997 against Phoenix. He also was the first rookie to accomplish the feat since Washington D Sergei Gonchar against Pittsburgh on May 6, 1995 ... RW J.P. Dumont scored two goals in both Games 1 and 2 against San Jose, becoming the first player since Pittsburgh C Petr Nedved in 1996 to score four-or-more goals in his first two games with a new team.



SAN JOSE SHARKS (2) vs. CALGARY FLAMES (7)

SERIES STORYLINES

Lucky 7's: A #7 seed knocked off a #2 seed in each Stanley Cup playoff post-season from 1997 through 2006. The streak was snapped last year when #2 Eastern seed New Jersey defeated Tampa Bay 4-2 and #2 Western seed Anaheim beat Minnesota 4-1. The Eastern Conference #7 has knocked off the #2 a total of six times in the last 10 years, while the Western Conference #7 has beaten the #2 five times in the past 10 years.

Leading by example: Former Art Ross trophy winners Jarome Iginla (2002) and Joe Thornton (2006) sit third and fifth in the League with 98 and 96 points, respectively -- Iginla finished third in 2007-08 with 50 goals while Thornton led the League with 67 assists.

Familiar Foe: Calgary and San Jose faced each other in the 2004 Western Conference Finals with Calgary, the number six seed, upsetting the second-ranked Sharks 4-2 en route to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since winning the Cup in 1989.

The lower seed prevails: In just their second year of post-season play, the San Jose Sharks, a number seven seed, defeated the Calgary Flames in game seven of the 1995 Conference Quarter-finals -- the Sharks were defeated 9-2 in Game 3 and blanked 5-0 in Game 5, but went on to eliminate the Flames in double overtime 5-4.

Staying even: San Jose G Evgeni Nabokov ranks first in the Western Conference with 46 wins in 77 games followed closely by Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff with 39 wins in 76 games played. Both netminders sport a 1.07 goals for and against ratio when their teams are five- on-five.

SAN JOSE SHARKS

NHL Playoff Appearance: 11th (fourth consecutive)
Last Playoff Series Win: 2007 (Conference Quarter-Final vs. Nashville)
All-Time Playoff Series Record: 8-10
All-Time Playoff Game Record: 51-55

KEY DATES

Oct. 5/07 -- In his second game with the club, C Jeremy Roenick scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner, in a 3-1 victory at Vancouver. Roenick went on to lead the Sharks with 10 game-winning tallies, his most in a single season since 1999-2000 with Phoenix (12).

Nov. 12/07 -- G Evgeni Nabokov made his 25th consecutive start, setting a franchise record. He went on to make 43 consecutive starts to start the season, the second-longest streak in the League since 1989-90. New Jersey's Martin Brodeur made 44 starts from Jan. 3, 1996 to Apr. 13, 1996. Nabokov posted a 25-12-6 record with a 1.99 goals against average, .918 save percentage and five shutouts in that span.

Feb. 26/08 -- The Sharks acquired D Brian Campbell and a 7th-round pick in 2008 from Buffalo for RW Steve Bernier and a 1st-round draft pick in 2008.

Mar. 3/08 -- Less than one week after joining the Sharks at the trade deadline and making his home debut in a San Jose uniform, D Brian Campbell's spectacular spin-o-rama goal against Montreal in a 6-4 victory electrified the sold-out Shark Tank crowd. The goal was one of the most-watched goals by online viewers this season.

Mar. 14/08 -- The Sharks set a franchise record by extending their winning streak to 11 games with a 4-1 victory over St. Louis. It also marked the longest single-season streak in the NHL since New Jersey won 11 consecutive games from March 28-April 18, 2006. The Sharks' streak ended the following game, a 2-1 shootout loss to the Edmonton Oilers Mar.
16.

18-0-2: The Sharks posted a franchise record by recording at least one point in 20 consecutive games (18-0-2) from Feb. 21 at Philadelphia through Apr. 1 against Los Angeles. Among the highlights was a franchise-record 11-game win streak (Feb. 21 - Mar. 14), the longest by an NHL club this season. The Sharks made up an 11-point deficit to the Dallas Stars in the Pacific Division from Feb. 29 until taking first place on Mar. 11. The Sharks went on to clinch the division with their win at Anaheim on Mar. 28.

SHARKS STORYLINES

Record March: The Sharks recorded the best points percentage by an NHL club during the month of March in NHL history. San Jose went 13-0-2, earning 28 of a possible 30 points (.933) to top the 1950-51 Detroit Red Wings (10-1-0, .909) and 1926-27 Montreal Canadiens (9-1-0, .900).

Road Warriors: The Sharks became the first club in NHL history to record multiple road winning streaks of nine games or longer in a single season. They won 10 consecutive road contests from Nov. 14 at Dallas through Dec. 31 at Minnesota, followed by their nine-game streak from Feb. 21 at Philadelphia through Mar. 18 at Los Angeles. The Sharks finished the season with a League-best 27-10-4 road mark.

Big Joe enjoys another big season: C Joe Thornton led the Sharks in scoring with 96 points (29 goals, 67 assists) in 82 games. He finished fifth in the race for the Art Ross Trophy as League scoring leader and led the NHL in assists for the third consecutive season. He earned points on 44.4% of his team's goals (96 of 216), tops in the Western Conference and
second in the NHL to Washington's Alex Ovechkin (47.1%, 112 of 238). The Sharks have posted a 136-64-22 regular-season mark since acquiring Thornton from Boston in a Nov. 30, 2005 trade. Thornton has 302 points (71 goals, 231 assists) in those 222 games.

Making strides with Campbell: The Sharks went 16-2-2 in their final 20 games of the season after the club acquired D Brian Campbell from Buffalo at the trade deadline. Campbell posted 19 points (three goals, 16 assists) and a +9 rating in those games.

Nabokov a fixture in goal: In his first season as the club's consensus number one goaltender following the off-season departure of Vesa Toskala to Toronto, G Evgeni Nabokov responded with his finest NHL campaign in 2007-08. Nabokov posted a 43-game consecutive-start streak to begin the 2007-08 season, one short of the longest such streak since 1989-90 (Martin Brodeur, 44). He led the NHL in victories (46), just two shy of Brodeur's NHL-record 48 set last season, and posted a League-high 25 one-goal victories. He ranked second among NHL goaltenders in minutes played (4,561), third in goals-against average (2.14) and tied for third in shutouts (six).

Wilson is playoff-tested: The Sharks' Ron Wilson ranks fourth among 2008 Stanley Cup Playoff head coaches in postseason games behind the bench with 82 (41-41). The only 2008 playoff coaches with more are Calgary's Mike Keenan (160, 91-69), Ottawa's Bryan Murray (108, 52-56) and Minnesota's Jacques Lemaire(106, 58-48).

CALGARY FLAMES

NHL Playoff Appearance: 25th (4th consecutive)
Stanley Cups: 1 (1989)
Last Playoff Series Win: 2004 (Conference Final vs. San Jose)
All-Time Playoff Series Record: 15-23
All-Time Playoff Game Record: 89-106

KEY DATES

Oct. 29/07 -- G Miikka Kiprusoff signed to a six-year contract.

Dec. 9-18/07 -- The Flames embarked on a six-game road trip tied for 12th in the Western Conference standings. After becoming just the third team in League history to go 6-0 on a road trip (1971-72 Boston Bruins, 1982-83 Philadelphia Flyers), the Flames found themselves tied for 6th in the West by Dec. 19.

Feb. 6/08 -- D Dion Phaneuf signed to a six-year contract. Coach Keenan on the signing: "He's got the leadership skills and he's got the passion for improvement. He wants to take charge. He wants to be the best. He has the confidence and the ability to improve his game dramatically and he'll put the time and effort in to try and accomplish that goal."

Feb. 8/08 -- With the Flames on a bit of a low coming out of the All-Star break (2-3-0), GM Darryl Sutter addressed the team at practice. D Anders Eriksson on the meeting: "I think it shows the GM really cares. He obviously wants to win as much as we do. We've got Stanley Cup on our mind. The way we've been playing lately, we're slipping away from the way we can. Sometimes, you need a little kick in the butt. Wake up. We want to win and we've got to get back on the right track. You know that he cares, but it really proves a point when he comes down."

FLAMES STORYLINES

Milestone year for Iginla: RW Jarome Iginla, with his 50th goal of the season in the Flames' final regular-season game (vs. Vancouver), has scored 50-or-more goals for the second time in his career (52 in 2001-02). He enjoyed the best first half of the season of his career this season with 29 goals in his first 41 games and became the Flames all-time goal- scoring leader with his 365th on Mar. 10 vs. St. Louis and the club's all-time leader in games played when he appeared in his 804th career game on Nov. 29/07 vs. Anaheim.

More Iginla: Iginla on the Flames' battle to qualify for the playoffs before their final game vs. Vancouver: "We were fully prepared to play a Game 7 here for everything. We don’t have to now. But the last 10 games have all felt like Game 7s. The tension. The nervousness. The excitement. Honestly, it really feels like we’ve already been through a playoff series."

Keenan's playoff experience: Flames' coach Mike Keenan enters the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs with a career record of 91-69 (.569). His 91 playoff victories position him 5th on the all-time list, behind Scotty Bowman (223), Al Arbour (123), Dick Irvin (100) and Pat Quinn (94). Among the coaches participating in the 2008 playoffs, only Keenan ('94 NY Rangers),
Anaheim's Randy Carlyle (2007) and Minnesota's Jacques Lemaire ('95 New Jersey Devils) have guided teams to Stanley Cup titles.

It's been a while: It will be 4,346 days between stepping behind the bench for a Stanley Cup playoff game for Flames' coach Mike Keenan. Keenan's last coaching appearance was on May 16, 1996 when his St. Louis Blues lost 1-0 in double overtime to the Red Wings in Game #7 of their Western Conference semi-final series. Detroit's Steve Yzerman scored on a 60-foot slap shot against Jon Casey to eliminate the Blues. Current head coaches Wayne Gretzky of Phoenix and Craig MacTavish of Edmonton along with Dallas co-GM Brett Hull and Ducks' defenseman Chris Pronger all played for Keenan on that team.

Sutter-Keenan playoff reunion: Flames' GM Darryl Sutter was associate coach to Keenan in 1990-91 and 1991-92 with Chicago and they went to the Stanley Cup Final in their second season together. Keenan, after being hired by the Flames, on what it takes to win a Stanley Cup: "To win a Stanley Cup is not an easy task. It's a very difficult task that demands abnormal behaviour in terms of excellence. Your dedication and sacrifices are going to have to be more than normal which isn't easy for people to grasp."

Nolan hits milestone: Flames Masterton trophy nominee RW Owen Nolan appeared in his 1000th regular-season NHL game against the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 22/07 vs. San Jose: "I'm still trying to win that Cup," he told Calgary reporters at the time. "I know I don't have many years left and coming to Calgary, I felt they had a great opportunity. And to get to 1,000 games . . . it would be special to get both in the same year. It's taken a long time to get here -- many injuries and many surgeries later, but I'm excited about it."

Phaneuf loves the work & goals: Since playing 31 minutes and 20 seconds in the season opener against the Flyers, D Dion Phaneuf has been among the League leaders in average minutes played per-game. He finished the season with the fifth-highest average (26:25 per- game) in the League (Florida's Jay Bouwmeester led at 27:28 per-game). Only Bouwmeester
(2,252 minutes, 28 seconds) played more minutes this season than Phaneuf (2,166:35). As well, he has scored 54 goals (17 this season) in his three seasons in the NHL, the most over the last three seasons by any defenseman.



ANAHEIM DUCKS (4) vs. DALLAS STARS (5)

SERIES STORYLINES

Who's left?: The Ducks and Stars last met in the Stanley Cup playoffs in the 2003 Conference Semifinal (won by Anaheim 4-2). Only F Rob Niedermayer and Samuel Pahlsson as well as G J.F. Giguere remain from that team. Nine current Dallas players
competed in that series -- F Brenden Morrow, Mike Modano, Jere Lehtinen, Stu Barnes and Steve Ott, D Sergei Zubov, Stephane Robidas and Philippe Boucher and G Marty Turco.

Playing from behind: The Ducks-Stars matchup features the two teams that registered the most number of wins this season after giving up the first goal of the game. Anaheim had 21 such wins (21-23-5), while the Stars had 20 come-from-behind wins (20-20-2).

Home ice advantage: Anaheim boasts the second most home-ice points (60) in the Western Conference, holding visiting teams to a League low 88 goals, while the Dallas Stars finished third in the Western Conference with 49 road points and scored the Western Conference's second highest road goal total (118).

Goaltender battle: During the 2007 playoffs, Dallas G Marty Turco posted a 1.30 goals- against average and a .952 save percentage before being eliminated in game seven of the Western Conference Quarter-finals. Anaheim G J.S. Giguere led his team to the Stanley Cup with a 1.97 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.


ANAHEIM DUCKS

NHL Playoff Appearance: 6th (3rd consecutive)
Stanley Cups: 1 (2007)
Last Playoff Series Win: 2007 (Stanley Cup Final vs. Ottawa)
All-Time Playoff Series Record: 10-4
All-Time Playoff Game Record: 44-29

KEY DATES

Nov. 1/07 -- D Mathieu Schneider made his debut with the Ducks after missing the first 13 games with a fractured ankle.

Nov. 20/07 -- Signed C Ryan Getzlaf to a five-year contract extension.

Dec. 14/07 -- C Doug Weight (and LW Michal Birner and a seventh round pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft) acquired from St. Louis for Andy McDonald.

Dec. 16/07 -- D Scott Niedermayer returned to the Ducks lineup (vs. San Jose).

Feb. 5/08 -- RW Teemu Selanne appeared in the lineup for the first time (vs. NY Islanders).

DUCKS STORYLINES

Ducks Travels: The Ducks traveled approximately 11,700 miles to play their first five regular-season games (Anaheim to London, England, to Detroit to Columbus to Pittsburgh) before returning home. Their only travel for their final five regular-season games involved the approximate 60-mile return trip to Staples Center to play the Kings.

Hot down the stretch: The Ducks won 28 of their last 41 games (28-10-3) and earned points in 31 of those 41 (59 points) ... since the return of D Scott Niedermayer and arrival of C Doug Weight on Dec. 16, the Ducks have gone 32-12-4 (68 points)... the club is also 19- 4-1 in the last 24 games at home ... the Ducks have gone 20-5-1 since the return of RW Teemu Selanne on Feb. 5 against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum. The club at in 11th place in the West with 43 points after 41 games.

Ducks turnaround: On Feb. 2, in the midst of an eight-game, 15-day road trip, the Ducks were shutout by the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 -- their sixth loss in a row and the second straight shutout loss (St. Louis, 1-0). At practice in Philadelphia on Feb. 3, coach Randy Carlyle organized a game of pick-up hockey with D Francois Beauchemin and assistant coach Newell Brown playing goal and G J.S. Giguere playing forward. On Feb. 5, with RW Teemu Selanne in the lineup for the first time, the club responded with a 3-0 win against the NY Islanders. A day later, the club was hosted at the White House by President George Bush.

On the shelf: RW Corey Perry suffered a lacerated right quad tendon on Mar. 6 at Colorado and will continue to be sidelined as the playoffs begin.

Ironmen: D Francois Beauchemin and Sean O'Donnell along with LW Chris Kunitz are the only members of the Ducks who have appeared in every game since the regular season opener on September 29 in London.

Giguere loves working overtime: G J.S. Giguere has the best all-time playoff overtime winning percentage among goaltenders with 10-or-more OT appearances (.923 -- former Islanders' great Billy Smith ranks second at .762) ... his 12-1 career OT record includes the NHL's all-time longest overtime shutout sequence -- 197:52 (streak began on Apr. 10/03 vs. Detroit and was snapped on Apr. 27/07 in Game #2 of the Western Conference Semifinal series vs. Vancouver) ... He went 4-1 in OT in the 2007 playoffs ... in 250:47 career post- season OT minutes, Giguere has a 0.24 GAA and a .990 save percentage.

Shutting the door: Giguere has allowed two-or-fewer goals in 30 of his 45 career playoff appearances, including 13 of 18 games in the 2007 playoffs.

In defense of experience: The Ducks defense, led by Scott Niedermayer (183), Chris Pronger (128), Mathieu Schneider (103) and Sean O'Donnell (81), have combined for 608 games of Stanley Cup playoff experience -- to rank second to the Red Wings (646) among the 2008 Stanley Cup playoff teams.

Elite company: Randy Carlyle has 25 playoff wins in his first two years as an NHL head coach, tying him with former Montreal Canadiens' coach Jean Perron for the most in League history. Buffalo's Lindy Ruff ranks third (24), followed by former Bruins' coach Mike Milbury (23) and former Avalanche coach Bob Hartley (22).

Stanley Cup repeat: The Ducks will attempt to become the first team to win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships since the Detroit Red Wings won in 1996-97 and 1997-98.

DALLAS STARS

NHL Playoff Appearance: 29th (5th consecutive)
Stanley Cups: 1 (1999)
Last Playoff Series Win: 2003 (Conference Quarterfinal vs. Edmonton)
All-Time Playoff Series Record: 26-27
All-Time Playoff Game Record: 144-145

KEY DATES

Nov. 7/07 -- C Mike Modano scored a goal vs. San Jose, to become the all-time top U.S.- born scorer (1,233 points)

Nov. 13/07 -- After a 7-7-2 start to the regular-season, the Stars replaced GM Doug Armstrong with co-GM's Brett Hull and Les Jackson

Jan. 7/08 -- C Mike Ribeiro signed a five-year contract extension. Co-GM Brett Hull on Ribeiro: "He reminds me of myself when I first got to St. Louis. I scored 42 goals, and [coach] Brian Sutter grabbed me for individual meetings, and I was expecting a pat on the back. And instead it was, 'That was nothing, you have so much more to give'. That's the way we're going to treat [Ribeiro]. I really believe the strides he's made from last year to now - it's just scratching the surface of what he can be."

Feb. 28/08 -- C Brad Richards (acquired with Johan Holmqvist from Tampa Bay in exchange for Jeff Halpern, Jussi Jokinen, Mike Smith and a fourth round pick in 2009 on Feb. 26) registered five assists in his debut with the Stars (7-4 win Feb. 28 vs. Chicago) to become the first player in NHL history to record five assists in his first game with a team. The win ran their streak at the time to 13 wins in 15 games as they finished the month of February with a franchise-record 12 wins.

STARS STORYLINES

40+ wins, again: The Stars have now registered 40-or-more wins in the regular-season for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons. Only New Jersey (11) has more 40-or-more win seasons since 1996-97.

Morrow's career year: LW Brenden Morrow set career highs in 32 goals and points (74) and equalled his career-best with 42 assists. Morrow on the increased offensive production: "I enjoy doing a lot of other things a lot better than I enjoy sitting in the box nowadays. I have tried to control those things more. You don't want to lose your edge, but at the same time, you can be smart about those things and help your team more."

Improved offense: The Stars have three players who scored 25 goals this season
(Brenden Morrow - 32, Mike Ribeiro - 27, Niklas Hagman - 27). Last season, the Stars top goal-scorer was Jere Lehtinen (26). The Stars enter the 2008 playoffs with the Western Conference's second-best offense (242 goals) after ranking seventh of the eight Western teams in the 2007 playoffs.

Injuries a big factor in '07-'08: The Stars played about half of the regular-season with three key players out of the lineup due to injury -- defensemen Philippe Boucher (missed 44 games) and Sergei Zubov (36 games) along with RW Jere Lehtinen (33 games). Boucher played only nine games since Dec. 5 after suffering a separated shoulder, while Zubov has been sidelined since Jan. 19 due to injury (surgery was Feb. 24). Lehtinen missed 33 games (Nov. 23 - Jan. 29) with an abdominal injury.

A tale of two seasons in second half: The Stars lost just two of 14 games in February and won only four of their final 14 games since March 1.

Coach Tippett: Stars' coach Dave Tippett, who received a one-year contract extension through 2008-09 on Dec. 28, has the best regular-season record among active NHL coaches. (235-127-48). Tippett will look to improve on an 11-18 Stanley Cup playoff record and three consecutive first-round series losses. Co-GM Les Jackson on the last three years: "If you look at them separately, there have been different reasons each season. Those teams each had very different lineups and very different leaders. This year, we're different again. We have different challenges, and I believe we are working toward meeting those challenges."

2007 playoff review: Despite shutouts by Marty Turco in Game #2, #5 and #6 in their opening series against Vancouver, the Stars managed only 12 goals in their seven-game loss to the Canucks last year.