One head coach said so long, another was forced out and the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks breathed a sigh of relief as this year’s National Hockey League regular season wrapped up on Sunday.
Chicago lost to Detroit 4-3, but managed to clinch the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot after getting some help from the Minnesota Wild.
Despite being out of the playoffs, the Wild played like a team on a mission in beating the Dallas Stars 5-3 in the final game of the NHL season on Sunday, giving Chicago the final playoff berth over the Stars.
Photo: AFP
The Blackhawks will have a chance to defend their title and will face top-seeded Vancouver Canucks in the first round, starting tomorrow.
The Stars were two points behind and could have taken the spot with a win in regulation or overtime.
“I’ve never been more excited after a hockey game in my life that I didn’t participate in,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “I was acting like a two-year-old. It was unbelievable. I was shocked, surprised the way the whole game unfolded. I can’t express my jubilation, enthusiasm and excitement.”
Chicago captain Jonathan Toews wasn’t in a celebratory mood after the loss to Detroit. He wanted the Blackhawks to make the playoffs on their own merit.
“It’s so frustrating it has come down to this. I’m pretty much speechless,” Toews said in the dressing room after the Detroit loss.
New Jersey Devils coach Lemaire said goodbye for the second straight year after the club he took over in mid-season finished out of the post-season.
The 65-year-old Lemaire took over from the fired John Maclean after retiring following last season.
After three seasons at the helm in Florida, Peter DeBoer was handed his walking papers on Sunday when the Panthers missed the playoffs for the 10th consecutive season.
On Saturday, the New York Rangers beat the Devils to stay alive in the East and then got an assist from Carolina, who lost at home to the Tampa Bay Lightning when a victory would have put the Hurricanes in the playoffs.
The Rangers will face Alex Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals in the first round for the second time in three years.
The other Eastern matchups comprise: No. 2 Philadelphia Flyers, who lost in the Stanley Cup finals against Chicago last year, face Buffalo; rough and tough No. 3 Boston will play original six rival Montreal; and the injury-depleted Pittsburgh Penguins, who probably won’t have superstar captain Sidney Crosby in the first round, take on the fifth-seeded Lightning.
Out West, No. 2 San Jose will take on seventh-seeded Los Angeles; No. 3 Detroit will face sixth-seeded Phoenix and fourth-seeded Anaheim will play No. 5 Nashville.
Canucks forward Daniel Sedin earned the Art Ross Trophy (league scoring champ) following in the footsteps of twin brother Henrik who collected the award last season.
Daniel finished with 104 points, five more than Tampa Bay forward Martin St Louis and six ahead of Anaheim’s Corey Perry, who became the league’s goal scoring king with 50 goals.
The Canucks will be busy on NHL Awards night in June as goaltenders Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider will be honored with the William Jennings Trophy as the goalie tandem that allowed the fewest goals this season (185).
Goaltender Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins set an NHL record for save percentage when he finished at .938.
“I had a hard time getting it completely out of my mind the last couple of days,” Thomas said.
The Edmonton Oilers (25-45-12) finished last in the overall NHL standings for the second consecutive season.
Veteran all-star defenseman Adam Foote said goodbye as the Colorado defenseman played his final NHL game.
In other NHL play, it was:
‧ New Jersey 3, Boston 2
‧ Pittsburgh 5, Atlanta 2
‧ Colorado 4, Edmonton 3 (OT)
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