Kudos to Versus for putting together some great playoff spots. Hopefully they'll have them all online soon. My personal favorite is the voiceover from the perspective of the net. Alex Ovechkin makes his playoff debut tonight at 7 on Versus. I know i'll be watching. Click here for the full schedule.

Congratulations to the Anaheim Ducks on winning their first Stanley Cup. Now that some of the newer teams in the East have won it I'm okay with California getting a turn with the greatest trophy on the planet. Hockey is stronger in California than most people think it is, and the Ducks' championship will only help the sport grow even more.

Even though I had been pulling for the Senators I'm excited for the Ducks. How can you not be happy for guys like Rob Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne as they lift the Stanley Cup for the first time? And how nice was that moment when Rob took the Cup from his MVP brother.

Speaking of which, I head a feeling Scott Niedermayer was going to win the Hart Trophy. He wasn't the front-runner, but there really wasn't a strong favorite, and in cases like that it ends up going to either the seasoned veteran/captain or the goalie of the winning team. Giguere was solid but the team was so good overall that he didn't really have to steal games for the Ducks. If it was up to me goalies and pitchers wouldn't win playoff MVP awards unless they single-handedly won championships games for their squads. It's a given that they're the most valuable players on their team just by virtue of the positions they play and I think they should have to be absolutely outstanding to win the award. That's why I like Scott Niedermayer's selection as Hart winner. The captain gets credit for leading a balanced squad and keeping the defense together when Pronger was out.

So congratulations to the Ducks and kudos to the Senators for making it this far.

Some other quick thoughts from the post-game celebrations:

• Teemu's tears with his wife were touching. He's a class act and if this is the end of the road for him he has plenty to be proud of.
• Did you notice the plastic wrap on the cameras, all set for the champagne showers in the locker room?
• How idiotic was it of Pierre McGuire to ask Chris Pronger about Edmonton with his wife beside him and his kids in his arms? It was widely speculated that Pronger left Edmonton for family reasons and it was remarkably rude of McGuire to bring those "tribulations" up in front of Pronger's family. Never mind that it was a stupid question to ask as a guy is celebrating a championship.
• The Niedermayers look like twins with their beards, being interviewed side by side. "Just get the puck to Niedermayer. Which one? It doesn't matter!"
• Props to NBC for sticking with the post-game celebrations long enough to see the Cup get passed around and to do some post-game interviews. It should be a no-brainer, but in past years the broadcaster has cut away as soon as the Cup was awarded.

Anyway- Ottawa is without a doubt one of my favorite cities, and one of the reasons is because it's so well-suited to large gatherings. Pretty much everything of interest is in a 30 square block area around Parliament Hill, and the hill ends up being the focal point for everything. When something big is going on in Ottawa you feel it.

I remember watching the 2004 World Cup of Hockey gold medal game on Elgin Street and afterwards I followed the mob that wandered from a sports bar up the street to Parliament Hill and then through the market are. It was a few hundred people, loudly but peacefully celebrating Canada's victory. No violence. No vandalism. At one point someone tipped over a newspaper stand and they actually got yelled at by half a dozen other people in the crowd as someone set it upright.

All of this leads up to the following video. I know plenty of Thrashers fans aren't so fond of the Senators, but having lived in Ottawa I'm happy for the fans in the city. The enthusiasm they showed on Saturday when they eliminated the Sabres was incredible, and I only expect to see more of it during the Cup Finals. Congratulations Ottawa. Even the team was impressed with the outpouring of support.

Here's a question for you- if the Thrashers were to advance to the Cup Finals with a road win like Ottawa did and fans decided to celebrate in the streets, where in Atlanta would that celebration be held?

The NHL Conference Finals are set, and were in for some great action.

Personally, I would have preferred to see San Jose and Anaheim go at it in the Western Conference, but Anaheim and Detroit should be a great series. You have two premier forwards in Datsyuk and Zetterberg going up against Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer, the most imposing blueline duo the league has seen in a while. Nicklas Lidstrom is no slouch patrolling Detroit's defensive zone and the Red Wings have stepped up their game defensively to help compensate for the loss of Mathieu Schneider who is out for the rest of the playoffs with a wrist injury. Both teams have been scoring by committee, and while Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Selanne are the obvious big names up front there are plenty of supporting characters who could be difference makers in this series- guys like Tomas Holstrom and Mikael Samuelsson for Detroit and Ryan Getzlaf, Andy MacDonald and Dustin Penner for the Ducks.

And then you have Giguere versus Hasek between the pipes. In my eyes this is where the difference lies, and my money is on the netminder with a Conn Smyth Trophy on his mantle. With all of the hardware Dominik Hasek has picked up over the years, that's one award that has eluded him. Detroit won't win this series unless Hasek is an all-world goalie. If he can pull it off the Wings will go on to win the Cup.

I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of this though:

Over here in the East we're in for a real treat. Buffalo versus Ottawa. Two teams that have butted heads all season long and who faced each other in the playoffs last season, with Buffalo taking the series 4-1. Ottawa is looking for redemption, and they had a relatively easy time with Pittsburgh and New Jersey. Buffalo is the automatic favorite as the top seed and the team with the best record in the entire league during the regular season, but things seem to be going Ottawa's way. While Buffalo's offense struggled at times against the Rangers, the Senators have had little trouble finding the back of the net, and their stars are producing. Has there been a better line in the this post-season than Spezza, Alfredsson and Heatley? I don't know if Buffalo can stop them, which means the Sabres will have to straight-up outscore them. Good luck. Ray Emery may be wildly inconsistent in the regular season, but from what I've seen he's been better than Ryan Miller so far in these playoffs. Buffalo is coming off a tough series in which they struggles to score. Ottawa has hot offense and, more importantly, a hot goalie. I think the Sabres' fate will be determined by Miller and Captain America- Chris Drury. If those two don't manage to have career games each and every night the Sens are going to take this one.

So that's how I see it. How about you?

The NHL Conference Semi-Finals (also known as round two) begin tonight with one game in each conference. The Sabres host the Rangers in the early game before the Ducks host the Canucks out west.

I'm trying to figure out what my dream and nightmare scenarios would be for the Cup Finals, and I think I've got it figured out.

Nightmare Scenario:

Rangers versus Red Wings for the Stanley Cup

The thought of watching Sean Avery play for another three rounds makes my skin crawl, and I can't imagine how many times he'd be interviewed and featured on TV and online between now and the end of the series. I could even see him getting Conn Smyth consideration for his work against opposing top players. Some where along the line Claude Lemieux comparisons would be made. As much as it would be good for the NHL to have these two marquee teams play for the Cup, I'm already sick of Avery, and who really wants to see Detroit (and Hasek) win again aside from Detroit fans? Detroit used to be a bit of a sentimental favorite because it was tough to cheer against a guy like Steve Yzerman. now? It's remarkably easy to pull for whoever is shooting on Dominik Hasek.

Dream Scenario:

Senators versus Canucks for the Stanley Cup

This is my dream scenario. I'm not saying it has to be yours. I'd be backing the Canucks in this one, just because I like what the Sedins bring to the table, I have a ton of respect for Roberto Luongo, and Vancouver fans have been waiting long enough. I wouldn't mind if the Sens won either. I spent three years living in Canada's capital and it's a fantastic city. It would also drive Leafs fans up the wall, and that's always a plus. As an added bonus the Canadian media would have to stop talking about how the deck is stacked against Canadian teams (it clearly isn't, considering the last two finals included Canadian teams from smallish markets, but they're prone to saying it anyway). On the other hand, the "it's our game" talk from north of the border would probably get pretty obnoxious too.

Most Likely Scenario:

Buffalo versus Anaheim

The Sabres have been the best team in the East for the bulk of the season and should rise to the challenge against the Rangers. I think they got bored against the Islanders and I have a feeling that they'll relish a series that pushes them. If they can get their power play back on track they'll handle New York, who should have trouble containing their speed. Buffalo has a great combination of speed, offense, grit and goaltending but so does New York. I think the difference in this round and the next is that Buffalo still has a chip on their shoulder from last season when they felt like they should have beaten the Hurricanes.

Meanwhile Anaheim has two of the top three defensmen in the game in Niedermeyer and Pronger (Lidstrom is the other) and two stud goalies. There's no question they can shut down Vancouver's anemic offense, but can they get by Luongo? If they can they'll make quick work of the Sharks in round three simply because Joe Thornton has shown over and over again that he can't score goals in the playoffs. In his career he averages .314 goals per game in the regular season and .157 goals per game in the playoffs. Is tat the kind of production you want form your leader for a deep playoff run? I'd love to see him prove me wrong, because Patrick Marleau deserves success and as a reformed Bruins fan I'd like to see Bill Guerin and Kyle McLaren hoist the Cup. It's not going going to happen though. Not unless Thornton finally steps up when it matters most.

By the way, both games tonight are on Versus. If you're looking for some more in-depth previews you could do worse than AOL's NHL Fanhouse which has both a Western and Eastern breakdown.

Here's the final installment of our Thrashers exit day coverage. Don Waddell and Bob Hartley were both very candid and didn't make any excuses for the Thrashers' failure to advance to the second round of the playoffs.

Executive VP  and General Manager Don Waddell

Waddell at the 2006 draft with Bryan Little, who signed a Thrashers contract on Friday.

Other points made by Waddell:

• Many roster decisions will be made over the next four to six weeks
• Some players who are currently Thrashers may receive contract offers sometime in May
• Don will be going to the World Championships in Moscow next week to watch some of the Thrashers' European prospects play (particularly Tobias Enstrom)
• Playoff performances will not be the main criteria for evaluating players

Head Coach Bob Hartley

On what the young players learned in their first playoff appearances: "Playoff hockey is a totally different league. It's not the same intensity, and plus it's basically game by game. There's no tomorrow."

Hartley's take on the playoff performance: "The team that played the best got the breaks. It's as simple as this. There's the one game that was unacceptable where we took a 7-0 beating. But the three other games- this series could be 3-1 for us or 2-2 but today it doesn't matter. It's over and we know it. It's not about what we could have done or should have done. That's too easy. We're proactive people and we have to learn from it. I think that for the young players- they all have playoff experience right now. It's obviously a huge disappointment because we thought we would collect way more playoff experience than we did. Four playoff games- it's not up to our standards. We have a better team than this and we could have done better, but losing three games by one shows you that being close doesn't count in the league. You have to be better than the other team and we were not. Full marks to the Rangers. They deserved it and they beat us fair and square."

On the play of the Rangers: "Their puck control was the best part of their game. I can't remember seeing Jagr motivated like this. And not only during those four games. I've scouted along with my coaches and pro scouts- looking at Jersey, looking at Tampa, looking at the Rangers- and that team came together. You look at the trades, you look at the injuries and at Lundqvist's play. Here's a team that basically searched for an identity all year and six weeks before the end of the year they were out of the playoffs when suddenly they took off and who knows who will stop them. They will not be a team who is easy to stop in the second round, but that has nothing to do with us anymore."

On what went wrong: "On our side we simply had no answers- for their puck control. That Hossa, Jagr and Nylander line- they took away lots of our energy and after that their support players which are great players, they played very well. It seemed that every game they got big goals from everyone."

On when planning begins for next season: "We're already starting to think about next year. This is part of our business. In our business you're 12 months on the job. You may not physically be at the rink but you always have to look at how you can make this team, make these players better and make ourselves better. That's the nature of this business. It's about representing a city, representing an organization. It's a huge disappointment for us right now but we have to move on. It's too late to look back. We can only learn from it and starting form today's meeting we've already left the players with tings to do. Feedback that we gave them, feedback that they gave us- it's a big step. We have to look at our entire season. I think it was a very productive season obviously with a bad ending, but still, I think our players deserve lots of credit and I think they did lots of good things."

On what needs to improve: "We have to get better at everything. I'm going to sit with my coaches and we're going to evaluate player by player. then we're going to evaluate all of our situations- special teams, 5-on-5, goaltending- like every team does. Then Don will sit down with me and we'll recap everything and then we can move on with decisions. We have all summer now to get ready and we're already at work. At the same time I don't think there's any rush to jump at stuff. Right now emotions are still running high and it would be a bad situation for all of us."

On Scott Mellanby: "I had a good meeting with Mell. He was our first meeting. What a great individual and a great captain. My entire playoff drive was for Mell. Here's a guy who deserved it. He's a real good man and he's going to have great days ahead of him. We'll just wait on his decision and go from there."

On the risks of being a head coach: "As a coach you come in and you knew the rules form the first day. When we buy suits for behind the bench we should buy suits with a big target on the back. Let's remember that in any rink you go to there are at least 18 coaches waiting to replace you. It even happens at the minor hockey level. I watch minor hockey and you look at parents in the stands who have never skated a stride in their life and suddenly they have all the answers for their son and their team. That's the beauty of our sport and of any sport. I watch football and I watch baseball and I think that I could be the head coach in those sports too, but I'm a fan. You come in and you say you should have made this move or played this guy and that's the beauty of this game. Every day you show up with good intentions and you make the best out of it. If you're doing a job where you're scared, nobody is holding a gun to your head forcing you to do that job. If you're scared you should do something else. 18 years ago I made the decision to become the head coach of a hockey club- the sport that I have loved since the first time that I put hokey skates on when I believe I was two years old. It's not about fear- it's about performing."

On the support he has received form the organization: "It's just to show you it's about enjoying every day and trusting the people around you. I am fortunate in that I was surrounded by a great bunch of guys. A great bunch of players. Fun guys. Even today, on a sad day, it was a productive meeting because we're dealing with good people. As a head coach you're stuck in between. You get feedback from the players and you take that feedback to management. As a head coach you're stuck in between the two sides and I can tell you as the head coach of this organization that I am very fortunate. I was supported by great players and myself and my coaching staff, we were supported by great management."

As promised early this morning, here are some audio clips from after the game.

Scott Mellanby on the series and his future
Johan Hedberg on the series and what can be learned from it
Bob Hartley's post-game press conference

It wasn't the ending that anyone was looking for, especially captain Scott Mellanby. With about two minutes left to play and the Thrashers trailing by a pair of goals Mellanby took to the ice one last time at Madison Square Garden. The Thrashers tried, but they couldn't muster the two goals they needed, and as the veteran captain returned to the bench with half a minute to play he began to soak it all in. The horn sounded, the benches emptied, the teams gathered in their respective ends, and the Thrashers huddled around their leader, congratulating him on an incredible career and consoling him as he came up short in his quest for a Stanley Cup. Many of the Thrashers will get another chance to go after the most storied trophy in all of sports, but as Scott Mellanby skated off the ice and gazed into the stands in New York it was clear that this was the end of the road for him as an NHL player.

When the locker room doors opened the media made a beeline for the grizzled warrior. Was this it? Was the veteran finished, or was their a possibility of one more year?

The more he talked about it, the more obvious it became that Mellanby was prepared to call it a career. At first he was noncommittal, saying he would take a few days to think things through but that this was probably it. Then, when asked by John Kincade if he had just played his last game he paused. "I think it is... it's been a great, fun ride, but I think it's time." Nothing is certain until retirement papers are signed, but after 1567 regular season and playoff games in the NHL (without a day spent in the minors) Scott Mellanby has seemingly come to the end of the road, coming up short in his 21-season quest to hoist the Stanley Cup.

In a league of over 700 players only one roster's worth of them- a scant 23 odd players- end their season the way they want to. For the rest the end is a disappointment, culminating in either a playoff loss or a meaningless regular season game as they stand on the outside looking in. And there lies the irony for the Thrashers. In past years they finished with hollow wins as they missed the post-season, but now, after a franchise-best season, they are forced to finish with a stinging defeat.

As reporters cleared out the locker room on Thursday night several of the team owners and Atlanta Spirit President and CEO Bernie Mullin made the rounds, thanking players for their contributions and reminding them that they had taken this franchise to a new level, and that they may have gone out with a loss, but they were still Southeast Division Champions. "It's a step" said Bobby Holik. A step. It was a bitter pill for the team to swallow, but fans can take some small comfort in knowing that meaningful playoff defeats can only come on the heals of regular season success- success that the Thrashers can build upon next season when a division championship banner is raised to the rafters in Philips Arena.

I just talked to Randy, a Rangers season ticket holder who was in Atlanta for Game One last week. We chatted a bit and then I had to come back to my seat. I told him I'd see him on Sunday when we're back for Game Six, so we better come away from this with a win.

I feel good about this period, and if we win this game we're winning on Friday.

I think the sheer embarrassment of last night's debacle is a huge motivating force for this team.

And now we're waiting.... and waiting.... and waiting... and they're not showing a replay... and we're waiting... and it's a goal. They finally showed it on the big screen once the call was made and it looked in to me. That's a heartbreaker folks.

The Thrashers are trailing for the first time this game. Time for a gut check.

And we have another lead! And boy is this crowd upset. Apparently they have no concept of what constitutes tripping and what constitutes a legitimate defensive play. If you play the puck, it's usually not tripping. We still got a tripping penalty though, so here comes a PK.

For what it's worth, Rangers fans really know how to give it to refs.

MSG is a bit more subdued this evening. Some fans around me are a bit nervous about how the Thrashers are going to come out of the gate. Others think we've totally lost our focus and forgotten how to play. We'll know soon, won't we?

It'll be interesting to see how this crowd reacts if the Thrashers can actually have a lead for the first time in this series. If they an score first and hold off New York for a while they might manage to calm the crowd. Four minutes until faceoff. Instead of VanMassenhoven we've got Hasenfratz reffing the game. That ought to work out well. What's the over/under on when the first misconduct gets handed out?