2008 NHL playoffs set

Welcome to another round of Canadian Corner NHL postseason coverage. We have had 3 straight Stanley Cup finals with a Canadian team. Will this be a 4th?

Well, not likely. But there is a tiny bit of hope. After all, Edmonton got to the finals as the 8th seed. Last year, we had 3 teams. This year, we have 3 teams.

Montreal went from barely missing the playoffs last year to the #1 seed. The Canadiens clinched the top spot with a 3-1 win over Toronto and Pittsburgh's loss on Sunday. Montreal will take on Boston in an Original 6 matchup in the first round.

Ottawa, a dominant team and last year's Eastern Conference rep in the Stanley Cup finals, had a rough year, but finished 7th. The Senators have significant injuries, especially to Daniel Alfredsson on a cheap shot by Toronto's Mark Bell this week. Ottawa has the unenviable task of matching up with Pittsburgh and the NHL glamour boy, Sidney Crosby.

Calgary is the only Western Conference team. The Flames struggled finishing 7th, but barely hung on to make the playoffs. Their "reward": the San Jose Sharks, even at #2, perhaps the most dominant team in the West.

Toronto (once again), Edmonton (much later than expected), and Vancouver (a shocker) were all eliminated late. The Oilers and the Canucks were only eliminated in the last few days. Other than Montreal, no Canadian-based team had a good finish to the season.

Times and dates to be released soon. Hopefully, Versus will step up and show Canadian-based teams in the first round. The CBC and TSN will have FULL coverage in Canada. NBC will show some games later in the playoffs in the United States.