2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs
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| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | April 11–June 6, 2007 |
| Teams | 16 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Anaheim Ducks |
| Runner-up | Ottawa Senators |
| Semifinalists | |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Scoring leader(s) |
Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, and Dany Heatley (Ottawa) (22 points) |
| MVP | Scott Niedermayer (Anaheim) |
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← 2006
2008 →
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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).
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 Final, home ice is determined based on regular season points.
The Buffalo Sabres entered the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners (winning the tie-breaker with Detroit in total wins), the Eastern Conference regular season and Northeast Division champions with 113 points. The Islanders qualified as the eighth seed earning 92 points during the regular season. This was the fourth and most recent playoff meeting between these two teams, with New York winning all three of the previous series. They last met in the 1980 Stanley Cup Semifinals where New York won in six games. Buffalo won three of the four games during this year's regular season series.
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