Slightly North

If anyone would have told me even a month ago that the Ducks would go 6-0 in their first six games of the playoffs, I would have laughed at them. Yet, here we are. The Ducks swept the Red Wings and if Dallas isn't careful (or better) they might go 8-0 into the confrence finals. The next two games, the Ducks have home ice too.

It is no surprise that the Devils are 2-0 in their series against Tampa Bay. I wouldn't be surprised if they win 4-0. Tampa Bay is no match against the Devils' defence. When you only have one line producing, you have a hard time coming up with wins against the best defence team in the league this year.

I have updated the Playoff Tree (link above) to reflect standings as of this morning.

Finally, after four overtime periods, at 55 seconds into the 5th OT, the Ducks win the first game of the series 4-3. Petr Sykora made it official at 19:55 with a slap shot from the slot to beat Turco top side. Adam Oates and Mike Leclerc get the assists. Game two will be on Saturday.

The other game today was Tampa Bay at New Jersey. Brodeur got his 16th career shutout as the Devils won 3-0. Game two will be on Saturday back in Jersey.

Eight teams are left after 2 huge upsets in the west. The Wild came back after being down in the series 3-1 to off the Avalance in OT of game seven. The media in Denver is having a field day with it. One paper (I think it was the Rocky Mountain News) was calling for the retirement of Roy.

Vancouver also made a good effort after being down in their series 3-1 to come back and beat St Louis 4-1 in game seven. The Wild will now face Vancouver in the next round.

Toronto failed to get a win in game seven against the Flyers. To say the defence in front of Belfour was a bit lacking would be an understatement. Losing 6-1, Toronto can now try and figure out who is going to stay and who will be traded in the off season. Also, it is said Pat Quinn will no longer be allowed to be both GM and head coach by the new management of the Leafs. Personally I expect he will either take the GM position or retire. Which will leave Toronto on the market for a new head coach.

The next round will begin tonight with Tampa Bay visiting New Jersey and Anaheim in Dallas.

Even though the teams I was following are out of the playoffs, I will continue to follow the NHL on its way to the cup and into the off-season.

Four teams played today. For one, it was their last game of the season.

Tampa Bay beat Washington 2-1 in order to advance to the next round and face the Devils. This is the first time in the 11 year history of the Tampa Bay franchise that they have won a playoff series

The other game today was in St Louis. Vancouver is still alive after winning a critical game. The series is now tied at 3. So far it is the only one that has gone to the seventh game.

Only 2 other series are still going. Of course it happens to be the two teams I really care about. And they both play tomorrow. Colorado look to wrap up the Wild in game six. Where Toronto looks to stave off elimination and force a game seven against the Flyers.

Three games were played today. First, the Wild forced a game 6 on home ice when they beat the Avalance 3-2. Minnesota played its defensive scheme to near perfection, limiting Colorado's scoring chances and frustrating the Avalanche with physical play. The Wild led 3-0 after two periods, but Steven Reinprecht scored just 2:01 into the third after spinning around off a rebound to beat Fernandez with a wrist shot from the right circle. Rob Blake made it 3-2 with 27 seconds left, beating Fernandez with a backhander through traffic after goalie Patrick Roy skated off for an extra attacker. Colorado hopes to advance after their next game on Monday when they visit the Wild.

Toronto is now facing elimination after a 4-1 loss against the Flyers. Game 6 will be on Monday in Toronto. Toronto will need to win the remaining games in order to advance to the next round.

Lastly, Dallas won tonight with a score of 3-2. This win advanced the Stars to the next round where they will face the white hot Ducks. It would be a playoff year to remember if a 7th seeded team could sweep the 2nd and 1st seeded teams in the west. Dallas will now get a break until the next round starts. They will need it to get ready for the Ducks.

Pretty exciting games last night. Lets recap:

VAN at DET: The eighth seeded Vancouver upset the number one team in the NHL in overtime of their opening quarterfinal game in the west. Not only is this a huge win for the Canucks but it sets the tone for the series in Vancouver's favor. Detroit is going to have to really step up their game if they want to avoid being eliminated in the first round. Henrik Sedin scored the unassisted goal at 13:59 of overtime to give the Vancouver Canucks their 4-3 win. The fans at Joe Louis Arena were virtually silent.

PHX at SJ: Sean Burke's only big mistake was enough to doom the Phoenix Coyotes. Teemu Selanne passed to Patrick Marleau for the empty net goal after Burke fumbled the puck behind his net and got caught out of position, giving the San Jose Sharks a 2-1 victory over the Coyotes. Vincent Damphousse also scored for the third-seeded Sharks. Daniel Briere scored for the Coyotes, who surprised many by storming into the playoffs with outstanding play from their young roster after the Olympic break. But the franchise hasn't won a playoff series since the Winnipeg Jets made the conference semifinals in 1987 - and Burke, their biggest star and the main reason for their success, didn't shake his reputation as a playoff underachiever. San Jose got the key goal in the second period when Burke skated behind his net to play the puck. He bobbled it twice against the boards, giving Selanne time to swoop in, steal the puck and pass it in one motion to Marleau, who slid it home for his sixth career playoff goal.

OTT at PHI: It took more then 3 periods for the Flyers to claim the first game of this series. At the end of regulation the score was still tied at zero. But just under eight minutes into overtime, Ruslan Fedotenko slipped one past the Senator's net-minder. "We dominated for three periods so it wasn't a lack of effort or work ethic," Senators coach Jacques Martin said. "We just have to be better next game." After getting a few solid scoring chances early in overtime, the Flyers capitalized on a freak play. Marty Murray, while falling to the ice, dumped the puck toward the net from the wing, it hit defenseman Shane Hnidy's skate and ricocheted into the slot to Fedotenko, who backhanded it past Senators goaltender Patrick Lalime's glove.

NJD at CAR: The last time the Carolina Hurricanes' franchise won the first game of a playoff series, the only thing on ice in Raleigh was tea. Rod Brind'Amour and rookie Erik Cole scored 82 seconds apart in the first period and Arturs Irbe made it stand up as the Hurricanes held on for a 2-1 victory over the undermanned New Jersey Devils in the opener of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. Which wasn't surprising if you consider how many point scorers New Jersey is missing right now due to injuries.

Well, that's my wrap up for today. Most of the series I am really interested in start tonight. Colorado is hosting LA, Toronto is hosting the Islanders, and Boston is hosting Montreal.

Vancouver avoided elimination tonight in game 5 against St Louis. Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison scored their first goals of the playoffs in a 5-3 win. After being outscored 14-4 in the first four games, the Canucks scored three goals against Chris Osgood during a second period when they outshot the Blues 17-6. Vancouver will continue to avoid elimination again on Sunday in St Louis.

The only other game game today was Washington at Tampa Bay. The Lightning took game 5 with a score of 2-1. Washington now faces elimination in game 6 on Sunday when the two teams meet again in Washington.

Two more series were wrapped up today. Ottawa finished the Islander's season with a 4th win. After the first game, where the Islanders got the first shut out of the post season, Ottawa came back to win 4 in a row. Out scoring New York 13 to 4 in the final 4 games. Ottawa continues to on to the Semi-final round with home ice advantage. I'm sure they are watching the other 2 series still alive in the East to see who they will be playing.

There are only 2 series left because New Jersey has also secured a spot in the next round after beating Boston in five games. Brodeur finished off the Bruins with his second shutout of the series. New Jersey also still has home ice advantage for the next round.

The only other game today was Edmonton visiting Dallas in game 5. Dallas won the game with a score of 5-2. Edmonton now faces elimination in the next game on Saturday.

Colorado and Toronto both got a 3 day break before game 5, which will be played on Saturday. Colorado looks to end the Wild's season and most likely go on to face the winner of the St Louis/Vancouver series. That of course is assuming Dallas will move on. Should Edmonton win the series, they will face Colorado. Colorado will have home ice advantage for the next round.

Meanwhile in Toronto, news is starting to flow again. Mogilny is said to be slated to play the next game after getting a stick in the face in game 3. Mogilny missed game 4 with concussion-like symptons after a flailing Roenick's stick hit him under the jaw. Mogilny had to be half carried off the ice with blood gushing out of his chin. Also, Gilmour has started skating with the team again. Should Toronto advance to the next round, he should be ready to play in game 1. Now all Toronto needs to do is exploit the Flyers' weakest point: Roman Cechmanek.

The quarter finals are past the halfway point now. Most series are getting to the elimination game. However, the first sweep of the year has been completed tonight. Anaheim has swept the Red Wings in their best playoff appearance in franchise history. I don't think I read about even one analyst on any national sports site who was picking Anaheim over Detroit. Regardless, Colorado will not have the face Anaheim in the next round. Should Dallas win their series, they will have to face Anaheim. If Edmonton wins, Anaheim will face the winner of the St Louis/Vancouver series. Which, in my opinion is going to go to St Louis. Even after the amazing season Vancouver had this year.

Speaking of Colorado, at the beginning of the series against the Wild, it was not looking good for them. Colorado lost a really tough first game, but then came back to win the second, splitting home ice advantage. However, Colorado has taken the Minnesota fans out of this series by denying the Wild a win on home ice. Colorado leads that series 3-1.

The Maple Leafs/Flyers series has turned out the be the most exciting of the quarter finals so far though. With the last 2 games going into multiple overtimes, these two teams have played over a whole game's worth of extra hockey so far. Tonight's game featured Ed Belfour facing 72 shots on goal before the last one got past him in the 3rd overtime. The series is tied 2-2 now with each home ice advantage being split. It is now a best of 3 series. I think this one is going to go to game 7, and I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them go into 2+ overtime periods.

The 2002-2003 regular season is over. Colorado pulled off their record setting 9th straight division title overcoming Vancouver by just 1 point. This puts Colorado into the 3rd seed and they will be facing the Wild as their first round opponent. It should be a good one.

Toronto also got a place in the post season again this year. They clinched the 5th seed in the east and will face the tough Flyers in the first round.

You can follow the standings on the Playoff Tree.

Tie Domi is getting sued!!!

Domi was notified about the suit on April 1st. At first he through it was a joke, but it turns out a fan who fell into the penelty box that Domi was in 2 years ago is actually trying to get money from Domi now.

The suit was filed 1 day before the statute of limitations was up.

You can read more about it on TSN.ca.

Ed Belfour reached another milestone in a career that will go down as one of the greatest for a goaltender.

Belfour became only the seventh NHL goaltender to win 400 regular-season games when the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on a goal by Tomas Kaberle in overtime.

"Quiet frankly, 400 is a ton,'' said Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn. "Eddie is a top guy in that category.

"He's had a marvelous career. I'm sure it's a wonderful milestone for him. Hopefully there are lots more for him.''

Belfour joins Patrick Roy, Terry Sawchuk, Jacques Plante, Tony Esposito, Glenn Hall and Grant Fuhr in the 400-club.

"This is definitely up there,'' Belfour said. "It's something I feel honored about and I'm thankful that I'm on the Toronto Maple Leafs with a great group of guys who play well in front of me. I owe it all to them.''