1968 Stanley Cup playoffs

The 1968 Stanley Cup playoffs, to decide the 1968 championship of the National Hockey League (NHL) was the first after the expansion from six to twelve teams. The defending champion Toronto Maple Leafs did not qualify and a new champion would be crowned. The Montreal Canadiens would defeat the St. Louis Blues in four straight to win the Stanley Cup.

Format

All of the 'Original Six' teams were placed in the new Eastern Division, and all of the new teams placed in the new Western Division. Each division contributed four playoff teams. Division teams then played off to produce a divisional champion, and the two divisional champions played off in the Final to win the Stanley Cup

The imbalance between the new teams and old was readily apparent in the standings. All four of the East Division teams had a better record than the top team in the West.

Series

The Canadiens drew the third-place Boston Bruins in the first round. The Bruins, making their first appearance in the playoffs since 1959, were swept in four games. In the other East series, the second-place Rangers faced off against the fourth place Chicago Black Hawks. The Black Hawks, led by Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita defeated the Rangers in six to set up a Montreal-Chicago East Division showdown. The Black Hawks could not provide another upset, and lost to the Canadiens in five games, giving Montreal their only defeat of the playoffs.

1963–64 NHL season

The 1963–64 NHL season was the 47th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs won their third consecutive Stanley Cup by defeating the Detroit Red Wings four games to three in the final series.

Offseason

The biggest trade of the offseason took place in June, 1963, with the New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens swapping starting goaltenders. Ranger Gump Worsley went to Montreal, along with Dave Balon, Leon Rochefort and minor-leaguer Len Ronson, for six-time Vezina Trophy winner Jacques Plante – whose relationship with Canadiens' coach Toe Blake had seriously soured – along with Don Marshall and Phil Goyette. Among other noteworthy transactions was the Boston Bruins drafting former Norris Trophy winner Tom Johnson from Montreal.Howie Young of the Red Wings, who'd likewise worn out his welcome in Detroit, was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks for goaltender Roger Crozier, who would make an immediate impact in Detroit.Billy Reay, the former coach of the Maple Leafs who had been coaching the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League, was named coach of the Black Hawks, a position he would hold for a record thirteen seasons.

2015 Stanley Cup playoffs

The 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 15, 2015, and ended on June 15, 2015, with the Chicago Blackhawks defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning four games to two in the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals.

The New York Rangers made the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners with the most points (i.e. best record) during the regular season. They also came back from a 3–1 series deficit for the second consecutive year. The Detroit Red Wings increased their consecutive post-season appearance streak to 24 seasons, the longest current streak and tied for the fourth-longest streak in NHL history. The Winnipeg Jets qualified for the playoffs for the first time since the former Atlanta Thrashers franchise relocated to Winnipeg in 2011; the only time that the Thrashers/Jets franchise made the post-season was in 2007, and the last time that the city of Winnipeg hosted a playoff game was in 1996, the season before the previous Winnipeg Jets team relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, to become the Coyotes. The Ottawa Senators became the first team in the NHL's modern era (since 1943–44) to overcome a 14-point deficit in the standings to clinch a playoff spot. Also, the Calgary Flames returned to the playoffs after a six-year absence. In total, five Canadian NHL teams qualified for the post-season, the most since 2004.

Stanley Cup

The Stanley Cup (French: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff winner. Originally commissioned in 1892 as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, the trophy is named for Lord Stanley of Preston, then–Governor General of Canada, who awarded it to Canada's top-ranking amateur ice hockey club, which the entire Stanley family supported, with the sons and daughters playing and promoting the game. The first Cup was awarded in 1893 to Montreal HC, and subsequent winners from 1893 to 1914 were determined by challenge games and league play. Professional teams then became eligible to challenge for the Stanley Cup in 1906. In 1915, the two professional ice hockey organizations, the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), reached a gentlemen's agreement in which their respective champions would face each other annually for the Stanley Cup. After a series of league mergers and folds, it was established as the de facto championship trophy of the NHL in 1926 and then the de jure NHL championship prize in 1947.

2007 Stanley Cup playoffs

The 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League began on April 11, 2007. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-seven series for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and then the conference champions played a best-of-seven series for the Stanley Cup. The series ended on June 6 with the Anaheim Ducks defeating the Ottawa Senators in five games to win their first ever championship.

For the first time in NHL history, neither of the two teams that played in the previous year's Stanley Cup Finals (the Carolina Hurricanes and the Edmonton Oilers) qualified for the playoffs. For the first time since 1994, all four former WHA teams; Carolina (formerly the Hartford Whalers), Colorado (formerly the Quebec Nordiques), Edmonton, and Phoenix (formerly the Winnipeg Jets) missed the playoffs in the same year, this would not happen again until 2013. This was the only time that the Atlanta Thrashers qualified for the playoffs in their twelve years in Georgia (they became the new Winnipeg Jets in 2011).

2008 Stanley Cup playoffs

The 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 9, 2008, after the 2007–08 regular season. The 16 teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-seven series for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, then the conference champions played a best-of-seven series for the Stanley Cup.

The Finals ended on June 4, 2008, with the Detroit Red Wings defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins four games to two to win their eleventh championship and their fourth in eleven seasons. It was the first championship in the 16-year career of Red Wings winger Dallas Drake, who retired following the season. Red Wings winger Henrik Zetterberg was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' Most Valuable Player. Sidney Crosby and Zetterberg led the tournament with 27 points.

Highlights

The San Jose Sharks were the media's favorite to win the cup going into the playoffs, having gone the entire month of March without a regulation loss and nearly finishing first overall during the regular season.