2007–08 NHL season
2007–08 NHL season | |
---|---|
League | National Hockey League |
Sport | Ice hockey |
Duration | September 29, 2007 – June 4, 2008 |
Regular season | |
Season MVP | Alexander Ovechkin (Washington) |
Top scorer | Alexander Ovechkin (Washington) |
Playoffs | |
Eastern champions | Pittsburgh Penguins |
Eastern runners-up | Philadelphia Flyers |
Western champions | Detroit Red Wings |
Western runners-up | Dallas Stars |
Playoffs MVP | Henrik Zetterberg |
Finals | |
Champions | Detroit Red Wings |
Runners-up | Pittsburgh Penguins |
The 2007–08 NHL season was the 90th season of the National Hockey League. It began on September 29, 2007, with the regular season ending April 6, 2008. The Stanley Cup Playoffs ended on June 4, with the Detroit Red Wings taking the championship .The 56th NHL All-Star Game was held in Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Thrashers hosted the event at Philips Arena on January 27, 2008. The hosting by Atlanta was rescheduled from 2005, when a lockout canceled the entire 2004–05 season.
League business
The season featured the debut of Reebok's new Rbk EDGE hockey jerseys. This was the first league-wide uniform innovation in the history of any major North American professional sports league.[1] Six teams (Tampa Bay, Vancouver, Washington, Ottawa, San Jose and Columbus) unveiled new logos prior to the season's beginning.
On March 1, 2007, the NHL announced the regular season would open on September 29, 2007, with the first of back-to-back games in London at The O2. They were the first NHL regular season games ever played in Europe. Both games featured the defending Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks, and the Los Angeles Kings (who are owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group, the same company that owns The O2).[2]
On September 17, 2007, the NHL announced the first outdoor game in over four years would be played between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres at Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills football team, on January 1, 2008. The event—known as the AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic—was the first time an NHL regular-season game had been played outdoors in the United States, and it set an NHL attendance record of 71,217 people. The only previous outdoor NHL game was the Heritage Classic played between the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers at Commonwealth Stadium on November 22, 2003.[3]
During board of governors meetings held on September 18, 2007 in Chicago, cities including Las Vegas, Kansas City, Houston, Milwaukee, Quebec City, Seattle, and Winnipeg were discussed as possible expansion destinations. The NHL also discussed the current "unbalanced" schedule and voted on a new schedule format at a board meeting in November, so that all teams will play each other at least once and reduce intradivisional play in the 2008–09 season, in essence returning to the scheduling structure that existed in 2003–04, and would have existed in 2004–05. The sale of the Lightning and Predators teams were not completed for board approval.[4]
Regular season
The New Jersey Devils began playing in their new arena, the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. However, since the arena was not ready by the beginning of the season, they began their season with a nine-game road trip.
Inter-conference division play had the Northeast visit the Pacific, the Pacific visit the Atlantic, the Atlantic visit the Northwest, the Northwest visit the Southeast, the Southeast visit the Central, and the Central visit the Northeast.
Mike Cammalleri of the Los Angeles Kings scored the first goal of the season against the Anaheim Ducks on September 29 in the opening game played in London, England.
Richard Zednik of the Florida Panthers was severely injured after having his external carotid artery in his neck accidentally cut by the skate of teammate Olli Jokinen in a game against the Buffalo Sabres on February 10. Zednik is expected to fully recover from the injury.
The Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators matched up for the first time since the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals on March 3, 2008 at Anaheim.
The Washington Capitals improved from 14th place in the previous season to 3rd place in 2007-08 and winners of the Southeast Division.
The Detroit Red Wings won the Presidents' Trophy for finishing the regular season with the most points (115).
Final standings
GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime/Shootout Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points.
Eastern Conference
GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 47 | 27 | 8 | 247 | 216 | 102 |
2 | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 206 | 197 | 99 |
3 | New York Rangers | 82 | 42 | 27 | 13 | 213 | 199 | 97 |
4 | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 42 | 29 | 11 | 248 | 233 | 95 |
5 | New York Islanders | 82 | 35 | 38 | 9 | 194 | 243 | 79 |
GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 47 | 25 | 10 | 262 | 222 | 104 |
2 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 43 | 31 | 8 | 261 | 247 | 94 |
3 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 41 | 29 | 12 | 212 | 222 | 94 |
4 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 39 | 31 | 12 | 255 | 242 | 90 |
5 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 36 | 35 | 11 | 231 | 260 | 83 |
GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | y – Washington Capitals | 82 | 43 | 31 | 8 | 242 | 231 | 94 |
2 | Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 252 | 249 | 92 |
3 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 38 | 35 | 9 | 216 | 226 | 85 |
4 | Atlanta Thrashers | 82 | 34 | 40 | 8 | 216 | 272 | 76 |
5 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 31 | 42 | 9 | 223 | 267 | 71 |
Western Conference
GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | p – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 54 | 21 | 7 | 257 | 184 | 115 |
2 | Nashville Predators | 82 | 41 | 32 | 9 | 230 | 229 | 91 |
3 | Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 40 | 34 | 8 | 239 | 235 | 88 |
4 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 34 | 36 | 12 | 193 | 218 | 80 |
5 | St. Louis Blues | 82 | 33 | 36 | 13 | 205 | 237 | 79 |
GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | y – Minnesota Wild | 82 | 44 | 28 | 10 | 223 | 218 | 98 |
2 | Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 44 | 31 | 7 | 231 | 219 | 95 |
3 | Calgary Flames | 82 | 42 | 30 | 10 | 229 | 227 | 94 |
4 | Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 41 | 35 | 6 | 235 | 251 | 88 |
5 | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 39 | 33 | 10 | 213 | 215 | 88 |
GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | y – San Jose Sharks | 82 | 49 | 23 | 10 | 222 | 193 | 108 |
2 | Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 47 | 27 | 8 | 205 | 191 | 102 |
3 | Dallas Stars | 82 | 45 | 30 | 7 | 242 | 207 | 97 |
4 | Phoenix Coyotes | 82 | 38 | 37 | 7 | 214 | 231 | 83 |
5 | Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 32 | 43 | 7 | 231 | 266 | 71 |
Conference standings
*-Denotes Division Leader
R | Div | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | z – Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 47 | 25 | 10 | 262 | 222 | 104 |
2 | y – Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 47 | 27 | 8 | 247 | 216 | 102 |
3 | y – Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 43 | 31 | 8 | 242 | 231 | 94 |
4 | New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 206 | 197 | 99 |
5 | New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 42 | 27 | 13 | 213 | 199 | 97 |
6 | Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 42 | 29 | 11 | 248 | 233 | 95 |
7 | Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 43 | 31 | 8 | 261 | 247 | 94 |
8 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 41 | 29 | 12 | 212 | 222 | 94 |
8.5 | |||||||||
9 | Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 252 | 249 | 92 |
10 | Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 39 | 31 | 12 | 255 | 242 | 90 |
11 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 38 | 35 | 9 | 216 | 226 | 85 |
12 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 36 | 35 | 11 | 231 | 260 | 83 |
13 | New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 35 | 38 | 9 | 194 | 243 | 79 |
14 | Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 34 | 40 | 8 | 216 | 272 | 76 |
15 | Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 31 | 42 | 9 | 223 | 267 | 71 |
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast
bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, z – placed first in conference (and division)
R | Div | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | p – Detroit Red Wings | CE | 82 | 54 | 21 | 7 | 257 | 184 | 115 |
2 | y – San Jose Sharks | PA | 82 | 49 | 23 | 10 | 222 | 193 | 108 |
3 | y – Minnesota Wild | NW | 82 | 44 | 28 | 10 | 223 | 218 | 98 |
4 | Anaheim Ducks | PA | 82 | 47 | 27 | 8 | 205 | 191 | 102 |
5 | Dallas Stars | PA | 82 | 45 | 30 | 7 | 242 | 207 | 97 |
6 | Colorado Avalanche | NW | 82 | 44 | 31 | 7 | 231 | 219 | 95 |
7 | Calgary Flames | NW | 82 | 42 | 30 | 10 | 229 | 227 | 94 |
8 | Nashville Predators | CE | 82 | 41 | 32 | 9 | 230 | 229 | 91 |
8.5 | |||||||||
9 | Edmonton Oilers | NW | 82 | 41 | 35 | 6 | 235 | 251 | 88 |
10 | Chicago Blackhawks | CE | 82 | 40 | 34 | 8 | 239 | 235 | 88 |
11 | Vancouver Canucks | NW | 82 | 39 | 33 | 10 | 213 | 215 | 88 |
12 | Phoenix Coyotes | PA | 82 | 38 | 37 | 7 | 214 | 231 | 83 |
13 | Columbus Blue Jackets | CE | 82 | 34 | 36 | 12 | 193 | 218 | 80 |
14 | St. Louis Blues | CE | 82 | 33 | 36 | 13 | 205 | 237 | 79 |
15 | Los Angeles Kings | PA | 82 | 32 | 43 | 7 | 231 | 266 | 71 |
Divisions: PA – Pacific, CE – Central, NW – Northwest
bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, p – Presidents' Trophy winner
Tiebreaking procedures
Where two or more clubs are tied in points at the end of the regular season, the standing of the clubs is determined in the following order:
- The greater number of games won.
- The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs.
- The greater differential between goals for and against.
Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes
Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alexander Ovechkin | Washington Capitals | 82 | 65 | 47 | 112 | +28 | 40 |
Evgeni Malkin | Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 47 | 59 | 106 | +16 | 78 |
Jarome Iginla | Calgary Flames | 82 | 50 | 48 | 98 | +27 | 83 |
Pavel Datsyuk | Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 31 | 66 | 97 | +41 | 20 |
Joe Thornton | San Jose Sharks | 82 | 29 | 67 | 96 | +18 | 59 |
Henrik Zetterberg | Detroit Red Wings | 75 | 43 | 49 | 92 | +30 | 34 |
Vincent Lecavalier | Tampa Bay Lightning | 81 | 40 | 52 | 92 | -17 | 89 |
Jason Spezza | Ottawa Senators | 76 | 34 | 58 | 92 | +26 | 66 |
Daniel Alfredsson | Ottawa Senators | 70 | 40 | 49 | 89 | +15 | 34 |
Ilya Kovalchuk | Atlanta Thrashers | 79 | 52 | 35 | 87 | -12 | 52 |
Leading goaltenders
GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/Shootout Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average
Player | Team | GP | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chris Osgood | Detroit Red Wings | 43 | 2,408 | 27 | 9 | 4 | 84 | 4 | .914 | 2.09 |
Dominik Hasek | Detroit Red Wings | 41 | 2,350 | 27 | 10 | 3 | 84 | 5 | .902 | 2.14 |
Jean-Sebastien Giguere | Anaheim Ducks | 58 | 3,310 | 35 | 17 | 6 | 117 | 4 | .922 | 2.12 |
Martin Brodeur | New Jersey Devils | 77 | 4,635 | 44 | 27 | 6 | 168 | 4 | .920 | 2.17 |
Evgeni Nabokov | San Jose Sharks | 77 | 4,560 | 46 | 21 | 8 | 163 | 6 | .910 | 2.14 |
Stanley Cup Playoffs
Playoff seeds
After the 2007–08 NHL regular season, the standard of 16 teams qualified for the playoffs.
Eastern Conference
- Montreal Canadiens - Northeast Division and Eastern Conference regular season champion; 104 points
- Pittsburgh Penguins - Atlantic Division champion, 102 points
- Washington Capitals - Southeast Division champion, 94 points
- New Jersey Devils - 99 points
- New York Rangers - 97 points
- Philadelphia Flyers - 95 points
- Ottawa Senators - 94 points (43 wins)
- Boston Bruins - 94 points (41 wins)
Western Conference
- Detroit Red Wings - Central Division and Western Conference regular season champion; Presidents' Trophy winner, 115 points
- San Jose Sharks - Pacific Division champion, 108 points
- Minnesota Wild - Northwest Division champion, 98 points
- Anaheim Ducks - 102 points
- Dallas Stars - 97 points
- Colorado Avalanche - 95 points
- Calgary Flames - 94 points
- Nashville Predators - 91 points
Playoff bracket
Stanley Cup 2007–08 Winners |
---|
Detroit Red Wings Eleventh Title |
In each round, the highest remaining seed in each conference is matched against the lowest remaining seed. The higher-seeded team is awarded home ice advantage, which gives them a maximum possible four games on their home ice, with the other team getting a maximum possible three. In the Stanley Cup Finals, home ice is determined based on regular season points; thus, the Detroit Red Wings will have home ice advantage. Each best-of-seven series follows a 2–2–1–1–1 format. This means that the higher-seeded team will have Games 1 and 2, plus 5 and 7 if necessary, played on their home ice, while the lower-seeded team will be at home for the other games. The format ensures that the team with home ice advantage will always have home ice for the "extra" game if there are an odd number of games in a series.
Milestones
- On October 3, in his first game with Montreal, Roman Hamrlik played in his 1,000th NHL game.
- On October 7, Joe Sakic reached 1,591 points, moving him past Phil Esposito for eighth all-time in scoring.
- On October 8, Chris Chelios played in his 1,550th game, moving him past Alex Delvecchio for eighth place on the career list.
- On October 11, Mats Sundin scored his 390th goal with the Toronto Maple Leafs and reached his 917th point at Toronto, breaking Darryl Sittler's record as the all-time Maple Leafs scoring leader. On November 27, Sundin became the first player to score 400 goals in a Maple Leafs uniform.
- On October 12, Jaromir Jagr scored his 1,533rd career point, passing Paul Coffey for 11th in all-time scoring.
- On October 22, Bryan Smolinski played in his 1,000th NHL game.
- On October 26, Alexei Kovalev played in his 1,000th NHL game, the third Montreal player to reach this milestone in October.
- On November 3, Al Arbour coached his 1,500th game with the New York Islanders and earned his 740th win with the team. Both are NHL records for coaching a single team. At 75 years old, he was the oldest man to coach in an NHL game.
- On November 7, Mike Modano broke Phil Housley's all-time career point record for a U.S.-born player.
- On November 10, Jeremy Roenick scored his 500th career NHL goal, becoming only the 40th player in the history of the league to do so, and only the 3rd American.
- On November 17, Martin Brodeur recorded his 500th career win, becoming only the second goaltender in the history of the league to do so. He trails Patrick Roy who retired with 551 career wins.
- On November 17, Glen Wesley played in his 1,400th NHL game, becoming the 10th defenseman to do so.
- On November 29, Jarome Iginla moved ahead of Al Macinnis as the all-time leader in games played for the Calgary Flames with 804 games played.
- On December 20, Marian Gaborik scored five goals for the Minnesota Wild in a 6–3 win against the New York Rangers. It is the first time a player has scored five goals in a game since Sergei Fedorov did so on December 26, 1996.
- On December 23, New York Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr recorded his 927th assist, passing Stan Mikita for 15th place on the all-time list.
- On December 29, St. Louis Blues Paul Kariya recorded his 900th point (377 goals, 523 assists), in a hat trick, to become the 89th player in NHL history to reach that plateau.
- On December 31, Boston Bruins defenseman Dennis Wideman scored the 18,000th all-time Bruins goal, in a 5-2 home game defeat of the Atlanta Thrashers, as the first Bruins goal of that game.
- On January 17 against the Detroit Red Wings, Markus Naslund played in his 1000th game in the National Hockey League, becoming only the 2nd player to do it in a Canucks uniform (behind Trevor Linden).
- On February 9, San Jose Sharks coach Ron Wilson earned his 500th career win as an NHL head coach, becoming the 11th in league history to do so.
- On February 19, the Montreal Canadiens came back from a 0–5 deficit against the New York Rangers to win the game in a shootout 6–5, this marks the first time in the franchise's 99-year history that they have ever come back to win a game after being down 0–5. This game was compared to some of the greatest games in team history.
- On February 26, the Edmonton Oilers earned their 13th shootout win, the most shootout wins by any team since the inception of the shootout.
- On March 3, Alexander Ovechkin became the first player this season to score 50 goals. He also became the second player in NHL history to score a hat trick in the same game in a 10-2 win over Boston.
- On March 10, Jarome Iginla scored his 365th goal, passing Theoren Fleury for the all-time goal-scoring lead in Calgary Flames history.
- On March 11, Andrew Cogliano set an NHL record by scoring an overtime winning goal in the third consecutive game.
- On March 13, the Detroit Red Wings reached the 100-point mark for the 8th straight season, tying an NHL record set by the Montreal Canadiens from 1975–1982.
- On March 21, Alexander Ovechkin became the first player to score 60 goals since the 1995-96 NHL season (Mario Lemieux & Jaromir Jagr).
- On March 22, Joe Sakic recorded his 1000th assist on a goal by teammate Tyler Arnason, becoming just the 11th player to reach this mark.
- On March 30, Dan Ellis had a 233:39 long shutout streak snapped in a 1–0 OTL to the Detroit Red Wings. This was the fifth longest shutout streak in league history.
- On April 3, Alexander Ovechkin scored his 64th and 65th goals of the season, moving him ahead of Luc Robitaille's league record for most goals scored by a left wing in a single season. The previous record, 63, was set while Robitaille was playing for Los Angeles in 1992–93.
- On April 6, Keith Tkachuk scored his 500th career goal, becoming just the fourth American-born player to do so.
- On April 9, Joe Sakic extended his record for playoff overtime goals to eight.
- On April 12, Chris Chelios played his 248th career playoff game, moving past Patrick Roy for career playoff games played.
- On April 27, Brad Richards tied the NHL record for most points in one playoff period, with four points (one goal, three assists) in the third period.
- On May 4, the San Jose Sharks broke their franchise record for the longest playoff game, losing near the midpoint of the fourth overtime to the Dallas Stars and marking the eighth-longest game in NHL history.[5]
- On June 4, the Detroit Red Wings won their 11th Stanley Cup, third most all-time, against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
- With this Stanley Cup victory, three members of the team joined the Triple Gold Club: Niklas Kronwall, Mikael Samuelsson and Henrik Zetterberg. All three players won the other two championships together, Olympic Gold and World Championship, both in 2006 for the Sweden national men's ice hockey team.
- Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom became the first team captain born and raised in Europe to lead his team to a Stanley Cup title.
NHL awards
Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 2007–08:
- Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals
- Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
- Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
- Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 2007–08:
- Luc Bourdon, Vancouver Canucks (died in motorcycle accident)[6]
- Dominik Hasek, Detroit Red Wings[7]
- Sami Kapanen, Philadelphia Flyers[8]
- Trevor Linden, Vancouver Canucks
- Mattias Norstrom, Dallas Stars [9]
- Dick Tarnstrom, Columbus Blue Jackets
- Tim Taylor, Tampa Bay Lightning[10]
- David Vyborny, Columbus Blue Jackets[11]
- Wes Walz, Minnesota Wild[12]
- Glen Wesley, Carolina Hurricanes[13]
See also
- 2007 in ice hockey
- 2007 NHL Entry Draft
- 2007–08 NHL transactions
- 56th National Hockey League All-Star Game
- AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic
- NHL schedule structure
- List of current NHL team rosters
Notes
- ^ "Reebok And NHL To Unveil New Technologically-advanced Uniform System" (Press release). 2007-01-22. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
{{cite press release}}
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(help) - ^ "On your mark, get set ... open datebooks!". NHL.com. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
- ^ "Happy New Year! Pens, Sabres to play outside in Buffalo". NHL.com. Retrieved 2007-09-17.
- ^ ESPN report, retrieved on September 19, 2007
- ^ Hawkins, Stephen (2008-05-05). "Stars beat Sharks in 4 OTs to clinch series". Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ "Vancouver Canucks Statement on the Passing of Luc Bourdon" (Press release). 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
{{cite press release}}
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- ^ "Sami Kapanen Announces His Retirement" (Press release). 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
{{cite press release}}
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(help) - ^ "STARS' DEFENCEMAN NORSTROM ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT" (Press release). 2008-06-10. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
{{cite press release}}
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- ^ "Hockey forward Výborný headed for Sparta" (Press release). 2008-05-01. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
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(help) - ^ "FORMER WILD CAPTAIN WALZ RETIRES" (Press release). 2007-12-01. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
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(help) - ^ "Glen Wesley Announces Retirement from Hockey" (Press release). 2008-06-05. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
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