In the Western Conference, it literally went down to the final game of the regular season to determine all 8 teams that were entering the playoffs.
A Dallas win in regulation would have vaulted them past the Chicago Black Hawks into the 8th position...Chicago lost earlier in the day...but Dallas didn't have enough steam and Chicago is in, maybe to defend last year's Stanley Cup championship. They have it tough in the first round against first place Vancouver, winner of this year's President Cup for the team with the most regular season standing points.
In the Eastern Conference, Boston and Montreal are one of the matchups in Round 1. The rivalry between these two teams is much more storied than the traditional Toronto/Montreal matchups. This season brings in an added edge as it was during a game against Boston last month that Boston's Zdeno Chara laid down a brutal hit on the Canadiens Max Pacioretty, ending his season and possibly his career.
Hockey is such a religion in Montreal that the Federal Party Leaders political debate in French was moved back a day so it wouldn't conflict with Game 1 of the Montreal/Boston series.
Hockey fans will get there information about the rest of the series in Round 1 from various other sources. We may talk more about these NHL playoffs over the next few weeks!
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