The teams who will compete in the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs have been decided and I’m extremely excited!  There are a few surprises (Montreal just squeaking in) and things that I’m truly happy about (Chicago, Columbus and St. Louis making the cut) but aside from that, it’s pretty much what most of us could have predicted a couple months ago.  I am disappointed, though, that Dallas wasn’t able to pull it together this season to push past their problems and get to the postseason.  Maybe next year…
Here are a list of the teams that made it:

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

1
Z
Boston
114
1
Z
San Jose
117

2
Y
Washington
108
2
Y
Detroit
112

3
Y
New …read more

Francois Beauchemin scored in overtime against the Detroit Red Wings, yesterday, handing his team a 5-4 home victory.
Teemu Selanne earned his 21st hat trick, scoring once in each period. The Wings made 38 shots on net and the ducks followed close behind with 34 shots.
The three stars of the night were none other than the usual suspects. Ryan Getzlaf was named third star of the night after getting five assists! Incredible! Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk stole second star by scoring two goals last night, and of course, Selanne was crowned number one star by getting a hat trick.
Here’s the …read more

Tobias Stephan made 19 saves and earned his first NHL win after leading the Dallas Stars to a 4-2 victory last night, giving the Minnesota Wild their first loss of the season.
Stephan redeemed himself last night, trying to forget the loss of his last NHL game. In 2007, he was put in net against Chicago and appeared to be leading the team to a shutout win. The Wild were ahead by one point but with 1.5 seconds left, the Blackhawks scored leading the game to overtime. Unfortunately, the Stars lost the game.
It’s great that he was given a …read more

Erik Johnson, St. Louis Blues defenseman, reportedly injured his knee – on a golf cart. Johnson slammed his foot between the accelerator and brake petal while trying to stop the cart, and started feeling pain in his right knee. Regardless of the pain, he continued with his golf game, only to notice the swollen knee later that night. It was worse the next day, so the D-man got an MRI exam, which proved to be inconclusive. We can expect a follow up MRI exam on either Saturday or Sunday.
He’s going to miss the first three days of training camp. …read more

 
It’s being reported that after 16 seasons of playing in the NHL, Detroit Red Wings goaltender, Dominik Hasek is retiring at the age of 43.  Being a six time Vezina Trophy winner, the first to earn consecutive MVP honors and most recently, helping his team win the 2008 Stanley Cup, Hasek finds it necessary to begin his retirement.
“Sixteen years is a long time that unfortunately has gone by too fast,” Hasek said. “Many wonderful things have happened to me during my career. We all won as a team, and I want to thank them all for helping me get my …read more

In case you may have missed it, here is a video of the Detroit Red Wings holding the Stanley Cup over their heads in celebration after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins in game 6 with a 3-2 victory in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals. 

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I’m not surprised that the Detroit Red Wings have made it this far.  I’m not a huge fan of theirs but I can respect the experience and sheer determination this team almost always brings to a game.  This season, they were even better than usual.  Here’s a look at their journey to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals.
Quarterfinals vs. Nashville Predators (early games missed due to illness):

Red Wings @ Predators April 14, 2008
Red Wings @ Predators – April 16, 2008

Semifinals vs. Colorado Avalanche:

Avalanche @ Red Wings Game 1
Avalanche @ Red Wings Game 2
Red Wings @ Avalanche Game 3
Red Wings @ Avalanche …read more

The 2008 Western Conference Finals was a far more exciting series than the one in the east.  Just when I thought the Dallas Stars were going to be eliminated, they came back and surprised the Detroit Red Wings.  I wondered if it was just a last ditch effort to avoid being swept but they ended up winning another game and forced the Wings to go to Game 6.  Unfortunately, that is where the journey ended for the Stars.  Too bad they didn’t play like that for the entire series…

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I missed putting up the videos of the 2008 Western Conference Finals between the Detroit Red Wings and the Dallas Stars and decided to put these up since I’m going to be recapping the playoffs later this week.
Game 1 – Detroit Wins 4-1 at home.  Scoring summary:
DAL: Morrow, B. (18:53 in 2nd)

DET: Rafalski, B. (PPG, 04:28 in 1st), Franzen, J. (PPG, 15:34 in 1st), Holmstrom, T. (PPG, 06:40 in 2nd), Filppula, V. (15:37 in 2nd)

More after the jump!

Despite a valiant effort on the part of the Dallas Stars, they were eliminated from the 2008 Western Conference Final.  The title went to the Detroit Red Wings.  I am extremely impressed that the Stars even made it to Game 6 when it looked like the Wings were going to sweep them. 
Last night’s game was a bit of a heartbreaker in the sense that the Stars did fight against elimination – it just came two periods too late.  Throughout the first two periods, the Stars were given ample opportunities to get on the scoreboard – the Wings had …read more