The 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs started off with four of the eight match ups going to a deciding seventh game. First round blowouts had Pittsburgh walking over the listless Sens in five games, and Jose Theodore putting up a wall against the Wild to knock off Minnesota in four games.

In the second round, the Penguins blew out the Rangers, while Carey Price’s strong play helped the Montreal slide past Philadelphia in the East. In the West, Detroit solved Theodore to edge out Colorado in seven, while the Sharks beat the Stars in six.

The Eastern Conference Finals proved to be one of the most exciting series of the 2008 playoffs as Saku Koivu’s return helped Montreal edge out Pittsburgh, making Crosby wait another year for his chance at the Cup. It was a different story in the West where San Jose cruised past Detroit, who won the Presidents’ Trophy in the regular season, but couldn’t go the distance in the playoffs.

San Jose played spoiler to the Montreal Canadiens storybook ending, with Thornton leading the charge. Montreal staved off a San Jose victory in games 5 and 6 with a good offensive effort from Alex Kovalev, who led the NHL with 24 points throughout of the playoffs. The Sharks came out strong in game 7 with an early 3 goal lead and never looked back to win their first ever Stanley Cup.