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
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 cancelled the entire 2004–05 season.

1 League business 1.1 Rule changes 2 Regular season 2.1 Final standings 2.1.1 Eastern Conference 2.1.2 Western Conference 2.1.3 Conference standings 2.1.4 Tiebreaking procedures 2.2 Scoring leaders 2.2.1 Leading goaltenders 3 Playoffs 3.1 Playoff seeds 3.1.1 Eastern Conference 3.1.2 Western Conference 3.2 Playoff bracket 4 Milestones 5 NHL awards 5.1 NHL All Star Team 6 Debuts 7 Last games 8 See also 9 Notes 10 External links

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]

The official average attendance per game was 17,625 per game. However, if the two games played at the O2 Arena are counted, the number is 17,309 per game.

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]

A number of minor rule changes were introduced for the start of the 2007-08 season. Penalty shots can now be awarded when a player with the puck is hauled down from the centre line on in rather than from the opposition's blue-line as previously was the case. Also, the interference rule was altered to allow for a major penalty and a game misconduct when an injury results. Another change affected faceoff placement: All faceoffs must be conducted at one of the nine dots painted on the rink.

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 third place in 2007-08 and winners of the Southeast Division.

The San Jose Sharks went the entire month of March without a regulation loss and were the media's favorite to win the cup going into the play-offs.

The Detroit Red Wings won the Presidents' Trophy for finishing the regular season with the most points (115).

GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime/Shootout Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points.

[edit] Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
y-Pittsburgh Penguins	82	47	27	8	247	216	102
x-New Jersey Devils	82	46	29	7	206	197	99
x-New York Rangers	82	42	27	13	213	199	97
x-Philadelphia Flyers	82	42	29	11	248	233	95
e-New York Islanders	82	35	38	9	194	243	79

Northeast Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
z-Montreal Canadiens	82	47	25	10	262	222	104
x-Ottawa Senators	82	43	31	8	261	247	94
x-Boston Bruins	82	41	29	12	212	222	94
e-Buffalo Sabres	82	39	31	12	255	242	90
e-Toronto Maple Leafs	82	36	35	11	231	260	83

Southeast Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
y-Washington Capitals	82	43	31	8	242	231	94
e-Carolina Hurricanes	82	43	33	6	252	249	92
e-Florida Panthers	82	38	35	9	216	226	85
e-Atlanta Thrashers	82	34	40	8	216	272	76
e-Tampa Bay Lightning	82	31	42	9	223	267	71

[edit] Western Conference

Central Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
p-Detroit Red Wings	82	54	21	7	257	184	115
x-Nashville Predators	82	41	32	9	230	229	91
e-Chicago Blackhawks	82	40	34	8	239	235	88
e-Columbus Blue Jackets	82	34	36	12	193	218	80
e-St. Louis Blues	82	33	36	13	205	237	79

Northwest Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
y-Minnesota Wild	82	44	28	10	223	218	98
x-Colorado Avalanche	82	44	31	7	231	219	95
x-Calgary Flames	82	42	30	10	229	227	94
e-Edmonton Oilers	82	41	35	6	235	251	88
e-Vancouver Canucks	82	39	33	10	213	215	88

Pacific Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
y-San Jose Sharks	82	49	23	10	222	193	108
x-Anaheim Ducks	82	47	27	8	205	191	102
x-Dallas Stars	82	45	30	7	242	207	97
e-Phoenix Coyotes	82	38	37	7	214	231	83
e-Los Angeles Kings	82	32	43	7	231	266	71

[edit] Conference standings

*-Denotes Division Leader

Eastern Conference	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
z-Montreal Canadiens *	82	47	25	10	262	222	104
y-Pittsburgh Penguins *	82	47	27	8	247	216	102
y-Washington Capitals *	82	43	31	8	242	231	94
x-New Jersey Devils	82	46	29	7	206	197	99
x-New York Rangers	82	42	27	13	213	199	97
x-Philadelphia Flyers	82	42	29	11	248	233	95
x-Ottawa Senators	82	43	31	8	261	247	94
x-Boston Bruins	82	41	29	12	212	222	94
e-Carolina Hurricanes	82	43	33	6	252	249	92
e-Buffalo Sabres	82	39	31	12	255	242	90
e-Florida Panthers	82	38	35	9	216	226	85
e-Toronto Maple Leafs	82	36	35	11	231	260	83
e-New York Islanders	82	35	38	9	194	243	79
e-Atlanta Thrashers	82	34	40	8	216	272	76
e-Tampa Bay Lightning	82	31	42	9	223	267	71

x - clinched playoff spot, y - clinched division title, z - clinched best conference record, e - eliminated from playoff contention, * - division leader

Western Conference	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
p-Detroit Red Wings *	82	54	21	7	257	184	115
y-San Jose Sharks *	82	49	23	10	222	193	108
y-Minnesota Wild *	82	44	28	10	223	218	98
x-Anaheim Ducks	82	47	27	8	205	191	102
x-Dallas Stars	82	45	30	7	242	207	97
x-Colorado Avalanche	82	44	31	7	231	219	95
x-Calgary Flames	82	42	30	10	229	227	94
x-Nashville Predators	82	41	32	9	230	229	91
e-Edmonton Oilers	82	41	35	6	235	251	88
e-Chicago Blackhawks	82	40	34	8	239	235	88
e-Vancouver Canucks	82	39	33	10	213	215	88
e-Phoenix Coyotes	82	38	37	7	214	231	83
e-Columbus Blue Jackets	82	34	36	12	193	218	80
e-St. Louis Blues	82	33	36	13	205	237	79
e-Los Angeles Kings	82	32	43	7	231	266	71

x - clinched playoff spot, y - clinched division title, p - clinched Presidents' Trophy and best record in conference, e - eliminated from playoff contention, * - division leader

[edit] 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:

1. The greater number of games won.
2. The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs.
3. The greater differential between goals for and against.

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

[edit] 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	2,409	43	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

Main article: 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs

After the 2007–08 NHL regular season, the standard of 16 teams qualified for the playoffs.

[edit] Eastern Conference

1. Montreal Canadiens - Northeast Division and Eastern Conference regular season champion; 104 points
2. Pittsburgh Penguins - Atlantic Division champion, 102 points
3. Washington Capitals - Southeast Division champion, 94 points
4. New Jersey Devils - 99 points
5. New York Rangers - 97 points
6. Philadelphia Flyers - 95 points
7. Ottawa Senators - 94 points (43 wins)
8. Boston Bruins - 94 points (41 wins)

[edit] Western Conference

1. Detroit Red Wings - Central Division and Western Conference regular season champion; Presidents' Trophy winner, 115 points
2. San Jose Sharks - Pacific Division champion, 108 points
3. Minnesota Wild - Northwest Division champion, 98 points
4. Anaheim Ducks - 102 points
5. Dallas Stars - 97 points
6. Colorado Avalanche - 95 points
7. Calgary Flames - 94 points
8. Nashville Predators - 91 points

	Conference Quarterfinals					Conference Semifinals (reseeded)					Conference Finals					Stanley Cup Finals
	1	Montreal Canadiens	4			1	Montreal Canadiens	1
	8	Boston Bruins	3			6	Philadelphia Flyers	4
	2	Pittsburgh Penguins	4
	7	Ottawa Senators	0
											6	Philadelphia Flyers	1
						Eastern Conference
										2	Pittsburgh Penguins	4
	3	Washington Capitals	3
	6	Philadelphia Flyers	4
	4	New Jersey Devils	1			2	Pittsburgh Penguins	4
	5	New York Rangers	4			5	New York Rangers	1
																E2	Pittsburgh Penguins	2
																W1	Detroit Red Wings	4
	1	Detroit Red Wings	4			1	Detroit Red Wings	4
	8	Nashville Predators	2			6	Colorado Avalanche	0
	2	San Jose Sharks	4
	7	Calgary Flames	3
											1	Detroit Red Wings	4
						Western Conference
										5	Dallas Stars	2
	3	Minnesota Wild	2
	6	Colorado Avalanche	4
	4	Anaheim Ducks	2			2	San Jose Sharks	2
	5	Dallas Stars	4			5	Dallas Stars	4

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.

• 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 third 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 now 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, Markus Naslund played in his 1000th NHL game.
• 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 eighth 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 (1992–93) league record for most goals scored by a left wing in a single season.
• On April 6, Keith Tkachuk scored his 500th career goal, becoming 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 most 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.

Presidents' Trophy: Detroit Red Wings
Prince of Wales Trophy: Pittsburgh Penguins
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: Detroit Red Wings
Art Ross Trophy: Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Jason Blake, Toronto Maple Leafs
Calder Memorial Trophy: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
Conn Smythe Trophy: Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
Frank J. Selke Trophy: Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Hart Memorial Trophy: Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Jack Adams Award: Bruce Boudreau, Washington Capitals
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Lester B. Pearson Award: Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy: Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
NHL Plus/Minus Award: Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award: Dan Ellis, Nashville Predators
Vezina Trophy: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
William M. Jennings Trophy: Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings
Lester Patrick Trophy:
NHL Lifetime Achievement Award: Gordie Howe

First All-Star Team
Alexander Ovechkin • Evgeni Malkin • Jarome Iginla
Nicklas Lidstrom • Dion Phaneuf
Evgeni Nabokov
Second All-Star Team
Henrik Zetterberg • Joe Thornton • Alexei Kovalev
Brian Campbell • Zdeno Chara
Martin Brodeur

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

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 2007–08:

• Stu Barnes, Dallas Stars^[6]
• Luc Bourdon, Vancouver Canucks (died in motorcycle accident)^[7]
• Dallas Drake, Detroit Red Wings^[8]
• Dominik Hasek, Detroit Red Wings^[9]
• Jaromir Jagr, New York Rangers^[10]
• Sami Kapanen, Philadelphia Flyers^[11]
• Trevor Linden, Vancouver Canucks^[12]
• Mattias Norstrom, Dallas Stars^[13]
• Glen Wesley, Carolina Hurricanes^[14]

• 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

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com

v • d • e 2007–08 NHL season by team Atlantic New Jersey Devils • New York Islanders • New York Rangers • Philadelphia Flyers • Pittsburgh Penguins Northeast Boston Bruins • Buffalo Sabres • Montreal Canadiens • Ottawa Senators • Toronto Maple Leafs Southeast Atlanta Thrashers • Carolina Hurricanes • Florida Panthers • Tampa Bay Lightning • Washington Capitals Central Chicago Blackhawks • Columbus Blue Jackets • Detroit Red Wings • Nashville Predators • St. Louis Blues Northwest Calgary Flames • Colorado Avalanche • Edmonton Oilers • Minnesota Wild • Vancouver Canucks Pacific Anaheim Ducks • Dallas Stars • Los Angeles Kings • Phoenix Coyotes • San Jose Sharks See also 2007 NHL Entry Draft • Winter Classic • All-Star Game •