Western Conference Playoff Preview

DETROIT RED WINGS (1) vs. CALGARY FLAMES (8)

Flames-Red Wings Connection 1: The Flames' Darren McCarty played with the Red Wings from 1993-94 through 2003-04, winning three Stanley Cups with the club (1997, 1998 and 2002) reflected to reporters on his time in Detroit while on the Flames’ first visit to Motown this season: "It brings back a lot of memories . . . I know the first time I came back, it was like a dream, almost. It was so weird. The second time, it was a little bit easier. It's more nostalgia now . . . A couple of (Flames teammates) asked me where it was on the ice the first time I got to hold the Cup and who I got it from. That's the cool stuff to be able to talk about."

Flames-Red Wings Connection 2: Flames defenseman Robyn Regehr says his earliest Stanley Cup memory came as a six-year-old, watching (current Red Wings defenseman) Chris Chelios and the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup in 1986.

Flames-Red Wings Connection 3: Calgary’s Jeff Friesen says when he was growing up in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, his Stanley Cup hero was former Red Wings great Steve Yzerman.

Flames-Red Wings Connection 4: Calgary’s Tony Amonte and Detroit’s Chris Chelios were teammates in Chicago from 1993-94 through 1997-98 and were coached on the Blackhawks by current Flames' GM Darryl Sutter through the1994-95 season. They also played together on the 1998 and 2002 U.S. Olympic Teams.

Flames-Red Wings Connection 5: International Teammates turned International Rivals: Detroit’s Chris Chelios and Calgary’s Craig Conroy were teammates on the U.S. teams that competed at the 2004 World Cup and the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino. Both players also list the 1980 U.S. Olympic Gold "Miracle on Ice" as the most memorable game they have watched.

Flames-Red Wings Connection 6: The Flames' Jarome Iginla and the Red Wings' Kris Draper were teammates on the 2006 Canadian Olympic team.

Flames-Red Wings Connection 7: Calgary’s Alex Tanguay will be looking to erase the bitterness of his last playoff appearance at Joe Louis Arena -- a 7-0 loss to the Red Wings in Game #7 of the 2002 Conference Final while a member of the Colorado Avalanche.

Hasek l: The last Stanley Cup playoff game that Detroit netminder Dominik Hasek played in was almost five years ago -- for the Red Wings when they clinched the Stanley Cup on June 13, 2002 with a 3-1 win over Carolina.

Hasek ll: If Hasek starts in Game #1 of the series, he would become the fifth-oldest goaltender in League history to compete in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

AGE AT LAST GAME LAST PLAYOFF YEAR
Johnny Bower 44 years, 149 days 1969
Lester Patrick 44 years, 99 days 1928
Jacques Plante 44 years, 78 days 1973
Gump Worsley 42 years, 335 days 1972
Dominik Hasek 42 years, 72 days
Eddie Johnston 41 years, 143 days 1977
George Hainsworth 40 years, 290 days 1936
Terry Sawchuk 40 years, 107 days 1970
Tony Esposito 40 years, 8 days 1983
Glenn Hall 39 years, 192 days 1971
Gerry Cheevers 39 years, 137 days 1980

Lester Patrick (NYR) was the oldest man to play goal in the playoffs for a Stanley Cup-winning team. The 44-year-old Rangers’ coach and early era star player took over between the pipes midway through game two, after the team lost their starting goalkeeper to an injury.

The Ageless Wonder: Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios will compete in the Stanley Cup playoffs for an NHL record 22nd season. He had been tied with Ray Bourque, who played in the playoffs 21 years. Only once in his 23-year NHL career has Chelios' club not made the playoffs (Chicago, 1997-98). Chelios, 45, is the oldest defenseman in NHL history and will become the second-oldest player to appear in the Stanley Cup playoffs, after Gordie Howe (52).

Chelios ll: Chelios made his Stanley Cup playoff debut on April 4, 1984, scoring a goal for Montreal in a 2-1 win over Pete Peeters and the Boston Bruins. The date was more than one year before the birth of Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf, who was born April 10, 1985.

The Ageless Wonders ll: The Toronto Maple Leafs team that won the Stanley Cup in 1967 with an average age of 31 was the oldest team to do so. The average age on this year’s Red Wings team is 31.2.

The "new look" Flames: Only six current Flames participated in seven-game loss to Tampa Bay in 2004 Cup Final: Forwards Jarome Iginla, Craig Conroy and Stephane Yelle,defensemen Robyn Regehr and Rhett Warrener andgoalie Miikka Kiprusoff.



ANAHEIM DUCKS (2) vs. MINNESOTA WILD (7)

Lucky 7's: A #7 seed has knocked off a #2 seed in each of the last nine post-seasons dating to 1997. The Eastern Conference #7 has knocked off the #2 six times in the last nine years, while the Western Conference #7 has beaten the #2 five times in the past nine years.

Norris Trophy experience: What does it mean to have two Norris Trophy winners in your lineup, eating up close to 30 minutes a game each at playoff time? Ducks' coach Randy Carlyle, who won the Norris Trophy himself as the NHL's top defenseman in 1981 (Pittsburgh), will find out. He can call on two Norris winners: Scott Niedermayer was the League's top defenseman in 2004 and Chris Pronger in 2000 … Detroit’s 2002 Stanley Cup champion was anchored by four-time winner Nicklas Lidstrom and three-time winner Chris Chelios … Colorado’s 2001 champion was anchored by Norris winners Raymond Bourque (five times) and Rob Blake (once) … The Montreal Canadiens teams of the 1950's won six Stanley Cups in eight years with Doug Harvey (seven-time winner) and Tom Johnson (once) on defense.

Wild about Defense: The Wild had the League's best defensive record in 2006-07, allowing a total of 191 goals (2.3 goals-per-game). The League's best defensive team has won the Stanley Cup twice in the last 20 years -- New Jersey in 2003 and Dallas in 1999. On two other occasions (1989, Montreal and 1990, Boston) the team with the best defense lost in the Final.

Jacques Lemaire also coached the League's best defensive team twice in New Jersey (1996-97 and 1997-98), while, as a player, his Montreal Canadiens were the top defensive club in the League in six of his 12 seasons.

Can Giguere Do it Again? The Ducks met the Wild in the 2003 in the Western Conference Final. The Ducks swept the series as J.-S. Giguere shut out the Wild in three of the four games.

Down, not out: In 2003, the Wild became the only team in Stanley Cup history to come back from 3-1 deficits twice in the same playoff year, rallying from that deficit against Colorado in the Conference Quarter-Finals and against Vancouver in the Conference Semifinals – winning Game 7 on the road each time.

Anaheim-Minnesota Connection 1: Ducks' defenseman Sean O’Donnell played 63 games for the Wild in their inaugural season (2000-01). The Wild's Keith Carney played 271 games as a Duck from 2001-02 to 2005-06, reaching the 2003 Final with the Anaheim team that lost to New Jersey. Wild defenseman Martin Skoula played 21 games for Anaheim in 2003-04.

Anaheim-Minnesota Connection 2: Anaheim GM Brian Burke grew up in Minnesota. Burke's only previous playoff confrontation with the Wild was in the 2003 when his Vancouver Canucks held a 3-1 series lead on the Wild, only to lose the final three games of the series.

Coaching Duo: Wild coach Jacques Lemaire played in 145 playoff games and won eight Stanley Cups as a player with Montreal from 1967-68 through 1978-79. He also won one as a coach with the Devils in 1994-95 and two others while in the Canadiens’ front office. Ducks' coach Randy Carlyle first crossed paths with Lemaire as a player in his rookie NHL season in 1976-77 with Toronto -- on Nov. 21, 1976, Lemaire's Canadiens beat Carlyle's Leafs, 9-5.
Minnesota makeover: Wild GM Doug Risebrough added 2,448 games of NHL experience to the Wild roster to go along with 1,278 points (505-773—1278) with the addition of defensemen Keith Carney and Kim Johnsson and forwards Pavol Demitra and Mark Parrish to the roster of the team that missed the playoffs a year ago.

Will it come down to special teams? The Ducks ranked third on the power-play and fifth on the penalty kill this season; the Wild ranked sixth on the power-play and second in penalty killing.



VANCOUVER CANUCKS (3) vs. DALLAS STARS (6)

Goaltending, Goaltending, Goaltending: Goaltending is always a focus in the Stanley Cup playoffs but will be particularly under the spotlight in this series. From a Vancouver standpoint, Roberto Luongo, who posted 47 wins this season, will make his playoff debut in this, his seventh NHL season. In the Canucks’ 37-year history, only one Vancouver goaltender has posted a winning record; John Garrett won his only playoff decision with the team. Of the 18 goaltenders to have appeared in goal for Vancouver in the club’s playoff history, seven have never won a game. Dallas netminder Marty Turco has competed in four playoff series; his only series victory came against Edmonton in 2003.

Luongo-Turco ll: Luongo and Turco played together on the 2007 Western Conference All-Star Team and were both members of the 2006 Canadian Olympic Team (#2 and #2a according to Coach Pat Quinn, behind Martin Brodeur). Upon being named to the Olympic team, Luongo told reporters: "I wouldn't say it's as big as the Stanley Cup, but it comes in second."

Luongo-Turco lll: All four of the games in the season series between the Stars and Canucks were won by the home team and ended in 2-1 scores. "That's how they play. That's how we play," Stars defenseman Philipe Boucher told reporters after their final meeting. "We like to believe we can score goals, but the reality is this year we haven't been scoring too much."

The Stars had the lowest scoring leader among all playoff teams. Mike Ribeiro led the team with 18-41--59 points.

New Look Canucks: Canucks GM Dave Nonis has engineered a dramatic overhaul to his roster from the blue line in from the team that failed to qualify for the 2006 playoffs. In addition to the addition of Luongo, Nonis has shored up the Canucks defense with the additions of Lukas Krajicek, Brent Sopel, Willie Mitchell and Rory Fitzpatrick in the last year, along with the emergence of Kevin Bieksa as a full-time regular. Nonis also has added winger Taylor Pyatt to play with brothers Daniel and Henrik Sedin on the #1 line along with forwards Bryan Smolinski, Jan Bulis and Jeff Cowan.

Sedins breakout year: Daniel (36-48--84) and Henrik (10-71—81) Sedin have both set career highs for points this season.

Sweden-Finland rivalry: Sweden and Finland have been bitter international hockey rivals for more 50 years, battling at European Championships, World Championships and Olympic Games. The rivalry continues in the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs as the Canucks' Swedish contingent of Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Mattias Ohlund and Markus Naslund match up against the Stars' Finnish foursome of Jere Lehtinen, Niklas Hagman, Jussi Jokinen and Antti Miettinen. All but Naslund (injured) and Miettinen last battled for their respective nations on the international stage in the 2006 Olympic Gold Medal Game -- won by Sweden 3-2.

Where have you been?: The Stars and Canucks have not met in a playoff series since 1994. Canucks defenseman Mattias Ohlund was still a couple of months away from being drafted by Vancouver in the first round. Mike Modano is the lone remaining Star from that team, while Trevor Linden is the lone Canuck.


NASHVILLE PREDATORS (4) vs. SAN JOSE SHARKS (5)

Goaltending Depth: Predators' coach Barry Trotz and Sharks' coach Ron Wilson will have the rare benefit of depth in goal. Of the 271 playoff series over the past 20 years, only four 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 fifth, as Trotz can use Tomas Vokoun or Chris Mason and Wilson can go with Vesa Toskala or Evgeni Nabokov. The only other such series: 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).

What a difference a year makes: The Predators enter the 2007 playoff rematch with the Sharks with a very different goaltending situation from a year ago. The Preds' lost All-Star goaltender Tomas Vokoun to a rare blood disorder just prior to the start of the 2006 playoffs and turned to Chris Mason, who had only 44 regular season and no playoff games of experience. Mason has had an outstanding 2006-07 season, appearing in half of the Predators’ games. The Predators were also hampered by injuries to Steve Sullivan and Marek Zidlicky (both played but were not 100%) in the 2006 series against the Sharks.

What a difference a year makes ll: In addition to a healthy Vokoun, Predators' GM David Poile has added significant depth and talent since the team’s loss to the Sharks a year ago: Peter Forsberg, J.P. Dumont, Jason Arnott along with defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski have added 298 games of Stanley Cup playoff experience and three Stanley Cup rings to the lineup,

San Jose Rookies: No 2007 playoff team has as much of a rookie presence as do the Sharks, who have had four rookies in the lineup most games this season: LW Ryan Clowe (drafted 175th overall in 2001); C Joe Pavelski (205th, 2003) and defensemen Matt Carle (47th, 2003) and Marc-Edouard Vlasic (35th, 2005). In 2006, the Sharks had five rookies take a regular shift in post-season play.

The Predators Make Noise in Music City: The Predators have won the clubs’ past seven regular-season meetings since October 24, 2002.

Trade Deadline Catches: The Sharks-Predators match-up features two players who were much sought after around the trade deadline -- the Sharks' Bill Guerin and the Predators' Peter Forsberg. Nashville went 12-6-5 starting with the date of Forsberg’s Predators debut (Feb. 17) while the Sharks went 13-2-4 from Guerin's debut on Feb. 28.

PHOTO by : Stephine Chavez, Michail Boncea and Andris Jansons (HV)