Top Ten Stories of the 2007-08 Hockey Season

10. Golden Boys

Team Canada defeats Sweden in the gold medal game to take gold at the World Junior Hockey Championships for the fourth straight year. Brad Marchand and Shawn Matthias lead the way on offense with defenceman Drew Doughty taking tournament MVP honours.

9. Gaining an Edge

The newly designed RBK Edge jerseys make their debut with mixed reaction from the fans. For many teams, (Nashville, Tampa, Ottawa) the changes were generally welcomed, while other teams (Edmonton, Pittsburgh, Toronto) not so much.

8. Comeback Kids

The Washington Capitals appeared to be well out of the playoffs at the beginning of the year until about the trade deadline. The Caps picked up goaltender Cristobal Huet and Sergei Fedorov and went on a surge that got them in the playoffs and ended in overtime in game 7 against the Philadelphia Flyers.

7. Falling Apart

The Ottawa Senators started off the season at the top of the league at the beginning of the year until about the trade deadline.Then goaltender Ray Emery decided to go his own way and the Sens went into a slump that almost put them out of the playoffs until the Pittsburgh Penguins put them out of their misery in 5 games

6. Rising to the Occasion

With Sidney Crosby out for a month during a critical point in the season, Evgeni Malkin picked a perfect time to step up. Finishing the season with 47 goals and 106 points, Malkin makes an interesting argument, who is the Pen's Franchise player, Crosby or Malkin?

5. Hawks Soar Again

As a diehard Chicago Blackhawks fan since, well, the Jeff Hackett and Chris Chelios days, maybe I'm a little biased on this one, but any hockey fan has to admit that it's exciting to see an original 6 team climb back to respectability. With two of the most exciting young players in the game in Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, the Hawks are finally on their way to being contenders once again.

4. Passing on the Torch

Most of the fans who attended the Rangers/Devils series this year likely came to see future hall of famer Marty Broduer preform. in the end however, they had their eye on the goaltender at the other end, Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers. Lundqvist turned out a great preformance against the Devils, helping the Rangers take the "Seinfeld series" in 5 games.

3. The Price is Right

Many experts picked the Montreal Canadiens to finish well out of the playoffs at the beginning of the year. However, they didn't count on a 20-year-old kid carrying the team on his back all the way to a first place finish in the eastern conference. This budding Patrick Roy/Marty Brodeur/ Terry Sawchuk/ etc. blew everyone away with his preformance late in the season. He played so well that GM Bob Gainey decided to trade Cristobal Huet at the trade deadline. this was no simple flash of brilliance though, this is a kid with Stanley Cups in his future.

2. From Least to Beast

The Philadelphia Flyers entered the 2007-08 season coming off a nightmare 2006-07 campaign. Many people thought thing would be better this season, but not many believed that the Flyers would make it to the eastern conference finals. Marty Biron, having never played an NHL playoff game, played the best hockey of his career in the spring of '08 against Montreal and Washington. Summer acquisition Daniel Briere had a very good season, and players like Mike Richards and Scotty Upshall finally arrived as NHL stars, putting the Flyers back into cup contention from close to last place in only one year.

1. Penguins learn to Fly

This one started back in the summer of 2005. The Pittsburgh Penguins were the joke of the league, the only time they were ever talked about was speculation about what city would get them. When they won the draft lottery and the right to draft Sidney Crosby, that started a buzz in the city that eventually lead to the team getting a new building and remaining in Pittsburgh. Just as importantly, it lead to the Pens coming within two games of bringing home the cup for the first time since 1992. In the end the Detroit Red Wings were just to big and experienced for the team that many were comparing to the young Oilers team of the early 80s. The concern is that in a salary cap world a team normally can't support more than one world-class player on the roster (just ask the Tampa Bay Lightning). This again raises the question: do the Pens keep Crosby or Malkin?

That concludes the top Stories of an exciting year. Lets hope 2008-09 is even more exciting! Next up is a quick look at some of the prospects in the upcoming draft.