As soon as Toronto forward Joe Nieuwendyk slipped two shots past Ottawa's Patrick Lalime, the transformation of the playoffs was complete.
With the Senators gone, none of last year's conference finalists reached the second round in 2004.
Ottawa joined the defending champion Devils for summer break. Out West, there are four new teams in the conference semifinals. The finalists from a year ago, Minnesota and Anaheim, didn't even qualify for the postseason.
Of the eight remaining clubs this year, only the Lightning and Flyers got this far a year ago.
Starting tonight, the Flyers get the Maple Leafs, whom they eliminated in the first round last year.
"We're ready to go," Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said. "This is nothing new. The rivalry is as heated as it can get."
Colorado and San Jose, who advanced in five games over Dallas and St. Louis, respectively, play Game 1 tonight as do Detroit, which beat Nashville in six, and Calgary, which won Game 7 at Vancouver.
The Flames didn't look out of place in their first appearance in the playoffs since 1996. Calgary hadn't won a series since capturing the Stanley Cup in 1989. Yet the Flames acted like veterans against the Canucks.
Facing a 4-0 deficit in Game 6 with a chance to close out the series at home, Calgary stormed back to tie before losing in triple overtime. No matter, the Flames pulled out their own overtime victory two nights later at Vancouver after allowing the Canucks to get even in the closing seconds of regulation.
Could Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff be this year's Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who led seventh-seeded Anaheim to the final in 2003? He can't be counted on to post those kinds of gaudy numbers, but up front, Jarome Iginla, who tied for the league lead in goals, can.
"Iginla is a powerful and talented forward who may be playing as well as anyone in the world," Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said. "Kiprusoff has been one of the NHL's most outstanding goaltenders all season."
The Sharks are considered the underdog against the Avalanche despite earning 104 points one season after missing the playoffs.
"This was a team that was supposed to run away with the conference, if not the whole league," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said of Colorado. "They might be looking to make up for it now. If you look at talent, man for man, they have to be the favorite."
RANGERS: GM Glen Sather has talked to former Blues coach Joel Quenneville about New York's opening. Other candidates include Tom Renney, who finished the season after Sather stepped down, and Ryan McGill, who coached the team's AHL affiliate.
