The seedings for the Stanley Cup playoffs often don’t reflect which teams are at their best when the postseason begins. So, does a team that finishes strong in the regular season likely to succeed in the playoffs.

That seems logical, and it doesn’t surprise that San Jose and Detroit were two of the top three clubs in team points over the last three weeks of the season.

Most Team Points over Final 3 Weeks of Regular Season
(March 9-April 6)

Team. . . . . . Record. . . .Tm Points
SJ. . . . . . . . .10-2-2 . . . . . .22
Was. . . . . . . .11-2-0. . . . . . 22
Det. . . . . . . .10-3-1. . . . . . 21
Ana. . . . . . . . 9-2-1. . . . . . .19
Mon. . . . . . . .9-3-1. . . . . . .19
Pit. . . . . . . . .9-3-1. . . . . . .19
Edm. . . . . . . .9-4-1. . . . . . .19

The Washington Capitals also were among the best teams over the final three weeks, when they secured the Southeast Division title and earned a No. 3 seed. The young Caps weren’t able to sustain their winning ways in the first round, though, and their season ended Tuesday night with an overtime loss in Game 7.

So, is there a link between late-regular season and postseason performance? Maybe not. The Anaheim Ducks, the defending Stanley Cup champions, finished strong and looked poised to defend their title. Only problem is they ran into the Dallas Stars, who closed 4-5-2 and had the weakest finish of the 16 playoff teams.

Fewest Team Points over Final 3 Weeks of Regular Season
(March 9-April 6)

Team. . . . . .Record. . . .Tm Points
NYI. . . . . . . .3-7-2. . . . . . . 8
Atl. . . . . . . . 4-8-0. . . . . . . 8
Clm. . . . . . . .4-8-1. . . . . . . 9
Van. . . . . . . .5-9-0. . . . . . 10
Pho. . . . . . . .4-7-2. . . . . . 10
Dal. . . . . . . . 4-5-2. . . . . . 10

Other than the Stars, no NHL team on this list played postseason hockey. Despite a weak wrap-up to the season, Dallas put away the Ducks in six games on Sunday.

Still, two other slow finishers, Ottawa (11 points) and New Jersey (13), have gone home for the summer. And six of the eight clubs still in the hunt ranked among the top 10 clubs in team points over the final three weeks of the regular season.

Posted by Thom Henninger at 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So many fans of the Detroit Red Wings have been focused on whether their team can avoid another first-round upset. They breathe easier with the Red Wings taking the first two games of their series with the Nashville Predators, enough so they can celebrate the 248th playoff appearance by Chris Chelios in Saturday’s 4-2 win.

That’s a new league record. The 46-year-old defenseman has appeared in the Stanley Cup playoffs in half of the years he’s been alive. His 23 years of playoff action also is a record.

Speaking of his age, the 24-year veteran became the second-oldest player to take the ice in an NHL contest earlier this season. Chelios still has a ways to go to catch Hall of Famer Gordie Howe, who still laced up the skates with the Hartford Whalers after turning 52 in March 1980, during his last NHL campaign. That hasn’t kept teammates from ribbing Chelios about setting the playoff record.

“When you play until you’re 60, what do you expect?” teammate Darren McCarty joked.

On Saturday, Chelios surpassed long-time Montreal and Colorado goalie Patrick Roy in playoff game appearances. Here are the others who have appeared in at least 230 playoff contests.

Most Playoff Games Played, All-Time

Player. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Games
Chris Chelios. . . . . . . . . . . .248
Patrick Roy. . . . . . . . . . . . .247
Mark Messier. . . . . . . . . . . 236
Claude Lemieux. . . . . . . . . 233
Scott Stevens. . . . . . . . . . .233
Guy Carbonneau. . . . . . . . .231

No real surprises here, though Claude Lemieux is noteworthy for finding a way into the postseason with whatever team he played. He made playoff appearances with Montreal, New Jersey, Colorado, Phoenix and Dallas.

Posted by Thom Henninger at 12:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now that the regular season is history, with the playoffs set to begin on Wednesday, it’s a good time to look back at how last summer’s free agents fared with their new teams in 2007-08.

The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers made the most offseason noise in the free-agent market, and one could make a case that they and the St. Louis Blues enjoyed the biggest payoff.

Daniel Briere left Buffalo for Philadelphia and led all of last summer’s free agents in both goals and points. He and teammate Scott Hartnell combined for 55 goals with their new club.

Most Goals & Points by 2007-08 Free Agents

Player. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .G. . . . . . . . . .Player. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pts
Daniel Briere, Phi. . . . . . . .31. . . . . . . . . .Daniel Briere, Phi. . . . . . . 72
Petr Sykora, Pit. . . . . . . . .28. . . . . . . . . .Scott Gomez, NYR. . . . . . .70
Keith Tkachuk, StL. . . . . . .27. . . . . . . . . .Paul Kariya, StL. . . . . . . . .65
Radim Vrbata, Pho. . . . . . .27. . . . . . . . . Petr Sykora, Pit. . . . . . . . . 63
Chris Drury, NYR. . . . . . . . 25. . . . . . . . . Chris Drury, NYR. . . . . . . . 58
Scott Hartnell, Phi. . . . . . .24. . . . . . . . . Keith Tkachuk, StL. . . . . . .58

The Rangers’ two big signings before the season, Chris Drury and Scott Gomez, collected 128 points. Among the 18 free agents with 50+ points in 2006-07 before changing teams, Gomez was one of only four players who tallied more points in 2007-08. After recording 13 goals and 60 points with the New Jersey Devils in 2006-07, he followed up with 16 and 70 in his first year in New York.

The other free agents to improve their point production in 2007-08 were Pittsburgh’s Petr Sykora, Viktor Kozlov of the Islanders and Chicago’s Robert Lang. The 31-year-old Sykora recorded his highest point total in six years with 28 goals and 63 points. Kozlov and Lang both finished with 54 points this season.

Also in this group of 18 players with 50+ points before signing a free-agent contract last summer is Keith Tkachuk, who returned to the St. Louis Blues. He matched both his goal and point total of the year before with 27-31-58 for a second straight season.

Among the 10 players with 25+ goals before becoming free agents, no one surpassed his 2006-07 total. Only Tkachuk matched his with 27. In 2007-08, however, free agents Sykora (28) and Radim Vrbata (27) joined the 25-goal club.

Overall, the production of the 2007-08 free-agent class was down. Although Briere was good for 32 goals and 95 points in his final season with the Buffalo Sabres, you won’t find the Flyers complaining about his 31-41-72 campaign.

Posted by Thom Henninger at 8:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It’s every team’s dream to have a hot goaltender going into the playoffs.

A goalie at the top of his game can be the difference in a close postseason series, as was the case when Anaheim’s Jean-Sebastian Giguere guided the Ducks to the Stanley Cup finals five years. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player in the 2003 playoffs, posting a 1.62 GAA, .945 save percentage and five shutouts for the surprising Ducks.

Giguere wasn’t too shabby in Anaheim’s championship run last season, and he’s certainly playing well with the postseason just a week away. Here are the save percentage leaders among goalies since the beginning of March.

Top Save Percentages, March 1 & Since
(minimum 7 games)

Goaltender. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .W-L-OTL. . . . . . . . . .GAA. . . . . . .SvPct
Marc-Andre Fleury, Pit. . . . . . . . .9-1-1. . . . . . . . . . . . 1.44. . . . . . . .951
Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Ana. . . . .5-1-1. . . . . . . . . . . . 1.55. . . . . . . .944
Dan Ellis, Nsh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4-1. . . . . . . . . . . . .2.00. . . . . . . .943
Tomas Vokoun, Fla. . . . . . . . . . . .5-3-1. . . . . . . . . . . . .1.86. . . . . . . .940
Niklas Backstrom, Min. . . . . . . . . 7-1-4. . . . . . . . . . . . .1.72. . . . . . . .939

The play of Marc-Andre Fleury and his Penguin teammates makes Pittsburgh one of the favorites to reach the Stanley Cup finals. Minnesota’s Nicklas Backstrom has the Wild on the verge of their first Northwest Division title, and he will be key to how far the defensive-minded Wild advance in the playoffs.

Equally noteworthy is the 11-0-1 record of San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov since March 1. Although his .910 save percentage doesn’t rank with the best, he’s posted a 1.99 GAA and provides the Pacific Division-leading Sharks a dependable option in goal for the postseason.

Posted by Thom Henninger at 6:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)