End of the Regular Season

It's official the 2011-2012 NHL regular season has come to an end, and for teams like the Leafs, Sabres, Oilers, and Flames it's going to be a long offseason. But for 16 teams it's a chance to compete for hockey's holy grail the Stanley Cup!

Saturday marked game 82 for many teams, despite being the last day of the regular season some records were made, playoff battles were confirmed and fans had a chance to see some of their teams for the last time till October. Time to wrap the events from this weekend, and preview the playoff match ups.

Steven Stamkos reaches 60

For the Lightning's Steven Stamkos, it's a bitter-sweet ending to the season. He reached the 60 goal plateau for the first time in his career, becoming the first player to reach 60 since Alexander Ovechkin back in 2007-2008 and just the 20th player in NHL history to accomplish the feat. Stamkos will also be bringing home his second Maurice Richard trophy, awarded to the player who scored the most goals. He also set a career high with 60 goals and 97 points. But his Tampa Bay Lightning will not be making the journey back to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Stamkos said in his interview "He'd trade all those goals for an opportunity at the postseason" as the postseason is still what makes the players work as hard as they do.
But to reach 60 goals in the NHL is a special milestone, especially doing it in the new "era" where fewer goals are being scored; it takes a special hockey player to crack 60! Stamkos is a phenomenal, classy hockey player who plays the game the right way and is a great ambassador for the sport.

Evgeni Malkin reaches 50
Malkin made his dream a reality on Saturday night notching his 50th goal of the season. He also became the only player to score 50 goals while adding 50 assists and reaching over 100 points in a single season. For Malkin it's a triple victory; reaching 50, Art Ross trophy, and a trip to the postseason with one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the league. He will likely also bring home the MVP trophy for everything he did for the Penguins without their star Crosby.

Canucks win 2nd straight President's Trophy
The league's most despised team has captured their 2nd straight President's Trophy capturing the honor by beating out the Rangers and Blues for most points on the year! The Vancouver Canucks went 51-22-9 to finish on top of the league with 111 points. As a result the Canucks finish 1st in the West and will play the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the playoffs!

Why I hate the 3 point system in the NHL

The Buffalo Sabres finished the regular season in 9th place in the East, with 39 wins and 89 points. The Florida Panthers finished 3rd in the east with 38 wins and 94 points. Yes you read that correctly the Sabres won more games than the Panther yet missed the playoffs all because of the points earned for losing in overtime games. In any other sport, the losing team gets 0 points, doesn't matter how many innings or quarters the game goes the losing team doesn't get a point. But in the NHL the losing team gets 1 point, those extra points for (losing games) end up putting you in the playoffs instead of a team that actually won more games. Only in the NHL can a team play to a tie.

Phoenix Coyotes clinch the Pacific division
The division title is the Coyotes first ever division title dating back to when they were the Winnipeg Jets way back in 1979.

Playoff matches:

East
New York Rangers (1) vs. Ottawa Senators (8) Rangers in 5
Boston Bruins (2) vs. Washington Capitals (7) Bruins in 6
Florida Panthers (3) vs. New Jersey Devils (6) Devils in 6
Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs Philadelphia Flyers (5) Flyers in 7
My pic is for Boston to come out of the East again!

Round 2:
Rangers vs Penguins Rangers in 6
Bruins vs Devils Bruins in 5

Conference finals
Rangers vs Bruins Bruins in 7


West
Vancouver Canucks (1) vs. Las Angeles Kings (8) Canucks (barely, 4-3)
St. Louis Blues (2) vs. San Jose Sharks (7) St Louis Blues
Phoenix Coyotes (3) vs. Chicago Blackhawkes (6) Blackhawkes
Nashville Predators (4) vs Detroit Red Wings (5) Red Wings

Round 2:
Vancouver vs Detroit Detroit in 7
St. Louis vs Chicago St. Louis in 5

Conference finals:
St. Louis vs Detroit St. Louis in 6

Stanley Cup Final:

Boston Bruins vs. St. Louis Blues --- Well now, that's a blog by itself.. stay tuned and enjoy the playoffs!

Leave your picks below!