The Offical Logo for the 2007 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs of the National Hockey League began on April 11, 2007. The sixteen teams that have qualified, eight from each conference, will play best-of-7 series for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and then the conference champions will play a best-of-7 series for the Stanley Cup. June 11 is the last possible date for the series to end. For the first time in NHL history, neither of the two teams that played in the previous year's Stanley Cup Finals qualified for the playoffs.
Playoff seeds
After the 2006-07 NHL season, a total of 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. The Buffalo Sabres were the Eastern Conference regular season champions and were also the Presidents' Trophy winners with the best record at 113 points (53 wins, 22 regulation losses, 7 overtime/shootout losses), while the Detroit Red Wings earned the Western Conference regular season crown with 113 points (50 wins, 19 regulation loses, 13 overtime/shootout losses).
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. 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.
Statistical leaders
Points
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes
Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; SA = Shots Against; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average
Neither the Eastern Conference champions (the Carolina Hurricanes) nor the Western Conference champions (the Edmonton Oilers) from the prior Stanley Cup Playoffs made it to the 2007 Playoffs. This is the first-ever NHL Playoffs featuring neither of the previous season's finalists. Interestingly, the Hurricanes and Oilers had already become the first two teams to contest a Finals after both missing the previous playoffs (assuming one omits the canceled 2005 Stanley Cup Playoffs and season). Prior to the 2007 Playoffs, only the 1938Chicago Black Hawks had won the Stanley Cup a season after missing the playoffs the previous season and then missed the playoffs again after that. The 2003Mighty Ducks of Anaheim followed a similar path, but lost in their Stanley Cup Final appearance.
Both the Oilers and the Hurricanes (Hartford Whalers) were former members of the World Hockey Association, along with the Phoenix Coyotes (Winnipeg Jets) and Colorado Avalanche (Quebec Nordiques), who also failed to qualify for post-season play. This marked only the second time since the NHL-WHA merger that the four former World Hockey Association franchises all missed the playoffs. In addition, the Avalanche missed the playoffs for the first time since moving to Colorado.
The San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators returned to the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs in a rematch of the 2006 Playoffs. In the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs the fifth-seeded Sharks beat the fourth-seeded Predators in five games in the Conference Quarterfinals. An identical result was derived in the 2007 Playoffs, with the Sharks again knocking out the Predators in five games.
In comparison with the prior year's Stanley Cup Playoffs, each Western Conference division maintained the same number of teams as the prior year and the same seedings. In both series, the Pacific Division teams held the second, fifth and sixth seeds, the Northwest Division held the third, seventh and eighth seeds, and the Central Division held the first and the fourth seeds. The Detroit Red Wings, Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks all came into the playoffs with the same seeding as the prior year.
San Jose Sharks and the Nashville Predators set the record for the first round matchup with the most combined wins in the regular season (102).
Even though this is the first playoff series between New York Rangers and the Atlanta Thrashers, this is not the first time that the Rangers have played an Atlanta team in the playoffs; the Atlanta Flames last playoff opponent before their move to Calgary was the New York Rangers.
The New York Rangers' 7-0 shutout win over the Atlanta Thrashers on April 17 was the largest margin of victory in a playoff shutout in franchise history. The Rangers had previously shut out opponents 6-0 on several playoff occasions, the most recent during the team's 1994 Stanley Cup Championship run when they defeated the New York Islanders by that score in both Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The Rangers' four-game sweep is the the team's first since sweeping the Islanders in the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
With their series against the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference Semi-Finals, the Anaheim Ducks have faced all five Northwest Division teams in five consecutive playoff series, in alphabetical order.
With the overtime loss in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals against the Vancouver Canucks, Jean-Sebastien Giguere's record playoff overtime shutout streak was snapped at 197 minutes 51 seconds. It was his first ever playoff overtime loss.
