VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Ranked 8th in the West

Record: 42-30-7-3
94 points
254 GF 211 GA

"Never say die" should be the Vancouver Canucks' motto.

A second consecutive playoff appearance for the Canucks seemed far-fetched at Christmas. The squad was seven games below .500 and wasn't showing any signs of life.

But since Boxing Day, Vancouver won 28 of 43 games and finished the regular season on a nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1), giving them the final playoff berth in the West and status as the NHL's best team in the second half.

Behind the leadership of captain Markus Naslund and gritty forward Todd Bertuzzi, the Canucks have become the top offensive squad in the NHL. Vancouver scored 254 goals during the season, three better than scoring rival Detroit, and Naslund and Bertuzzi finished the year second and third, respectively, in NHL scoring.

A pleasant surprise for the franchise has been the play of netminder Dan Cloutier and defenceman Ed Jovanovski, who finished the regular season fifth in team scoring (17G, 31A, 48PTS).

The addition of former captain Trevor Linden from the Washington Capitals in November gave the young Canucks a new element of experience, especially of the playoff kind.

Linden, 31, helped guide the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994 and is the franchise's all-time leading playoff scorer.

Aside from the team's offensive outburst, the biggest change in the 2001-02 Canucks is a healthy roster. Last year, the Canucks hobbled into the playoffs without Naslund (broken leg) and forward Andrew Cassels (ankle sprain), but this year they are injury-free and ready to pull off an upset or two in the West.

KEY STATISTICS

Playoff Record: 2-3
Power play: 4-27
Penalty killing: 18-25

KEY INJURIES

RW Trent Klatt - Abdominal strain

DETROIT RED WINGS

Ranked 1st in the West

Record: 51-17-10-4
116 points
251 GF 187 GA

Normally, a team winless in seven games would be concerned entering the postseason. Not the Detroit Red Wings.

Detroit -- despite its lackadaisical finish to the regular season -- is the best team in the NHL. The group of wily veterans breezed through the regular season with a 51-17-10-4 record for 116 points and secured the President's Trophy on March 28.

Piloted by the NHL's most successful coach, Scotty Bowman, the Red Wings' roster is stacked with players that helped the squad win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1997-98 and 1998-99, including forwards Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Sergei Fedorov and defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom (veteran blueliner Chris Chelios joined the team for its 1999 Cup victory).

Determined to rebound from underachieving the past few playoff seasons, the Red Wings added three key players in the offseason: Dallas winger Brett Hull, Los Angeles forward Luc Robitaille and Buffalo goaltender Dominik Hasek.

Just look down Detroit's roster and it's no wonder they are the league's best team. They don't have any real weakness. Solid from goal, through the blueline and up front, the only knock against the boys from Hockeytown might be their age.

Detroit has the league's second-oldest team behind the Dallas Stars and also sent 10 players to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games, the most of any NHL team.

Age and fatigue aside, the Red Wings should be the team to beat for Lord Stanley's Cup.

KEY STATISTICS

Playoff Record: 3-2
Power play: 7-25
Penalty killing: 23-27

KEY INJURIES