Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings hope to recreate this picture.

Dallas Stars: The Count of Monte Cristo: The Stars are seeking revenge after they failed to qualify for the playoffs last year. Like Edmund Dantes the Stars were punished last season for their naivety by believing that the most expensive free agents would be the best fit for the team. Most of those free agents were traded off and a whole new batch of free agents were brought in. The difference being, free agents like Boucher and Guerin were exactly what the team needed. The big question entering the year for the Stars concerned Marty Turco and whether or not he could handle the pressure of being a No.1 goalie. Turco has responded brilliantly and would be a lock for the Vezina trophy had he not missed over a month of time due to a bad ankle. The Stars have a deep enough talent of secondary scorers in Scott Young, Jason Arnott, Jere Lehtinen and Brendan Morrow to compliment the big scorers, Modano and Guerin. The latter is set to return for Game 3 of the Stars 1st round series against the Oilers. Dallas has found their treasure of Monte Cristo in Turco. He should help lead this team to a deep playoff run.

Detroit Red Wings: The Godfather: The movie is an epic and a timeless capturing of cinematic beauty. The Detroit Red Wings epitomize the beauty and brilliance of that movie on the ice. The Wings are the team to beat and the task to dethrone them will be a difficult one for the other 15 playoff contestants. The Red Wings started the season slowly; Yzerman was rehabbing from major reconstructive surgery on his knee and the team was struggling defensively with an early injury to Jiri Fischer and the big free agent acquisition Curtis Joseph was struggling to adjust to his new surroundings. A few months later the Wings are the hottest team entering the playoffs, getting scoring from a variety of players and most importantly are getting everyone back from injury. The Wings have two legitimate lines that can score: Yzerman-Federov-Shanahan and Datsyuk-Hull-Zetterberg. Add the checking line of Draper-McCarty-Maltby into the mix along with playoff veterans Larionov-Holmstrom-Robitaille and you're looking at a team with no obvious flaws up front. The defense has been bolstered by the deadline acquisition of Mathieu Schneider who has fit nicely with a defensive core that includes all-world defensman Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios and Jiri Fischer. Curtis Joseph is motivated to win the Stanley Cup and always plays his best hockey in the postseason. All the ingredients are in place for the Red Wings to repeat and like the Godfather they are considered the standard, which everyone else measures themselves against.

Colorado Avalanche: Ocean's Eleven: The Avs want to pull off the greatest heist; steal the Stanley Cup away from the Red Wings. The Avs have assembled a team that has the ability to pull of such a task. They don't have any Brad Pitt's, George Clooney's or Bernie Mac's but they do have a cast of eleven that will need to play staring roles in order to unseat the Wings. The eleven needed to perform are: Forsberg, Sakic, Roy, Hedjuk, Tanguay, Blake, Foote, Morris, Marchment, Battaglia and head coach Tony Granato. Battaglia helps give the team some much needed grit and strength around the net that they haven't had since the trade of Adam Deadmarsh. I have two big questions about the team: 1. Will rookie coach Granato be able to match coaching skills throughout the playoffs in terms of line combinations and defensive pairings? 2. Will the Avs get scoring from other lines besides the top unit of Forsberg-Hedjuk-Tanguay? The Avs should get past the Wild with little trouble setting up a potential matchup with the Wings in the 2nd round. It could be winner takes all if that series comes to fruition.

Vancouver Canucks: Swingers: The top line of Naslund, Bertuzzi and Morrison is so money! The line has absolutely everything you would want; a gifted playmaker (Morrison), a talented sniper (Naslund) and a power forward/wrecking ball (Bertuzzi). The biggest question with this team is between the pipes. Does Dan Cloutier have the ability to backstop the team to the finals? Injuries have plagued the 2nd half of Cloutier's season and as a result his health is now in question. It seems like the Canucks are taking a cautious route with Cloutier as he has only played sporadically in the past few weeks. Confidence is a big thing with this team and will determine how far they advance. They need to think of themselves as this big bear with these big claws and fangs and the rest of their opponents are like these little bunnies. With those big claws the bear should be able to take care of the rabbits. The Canucks need to enter the playoffs like they're the guy in the Rated R movie who you're not sure if you like yet. They can't be that guy in the PG-13 movie that everyone's really pulling for. With all that being said, I think the Canucks will lose a tough opening round series against the Blues. That result may change depending on Cloutier's play. Cloutier's play and the ability of secondary scorers to play big roles will decide if the Canucks will find themselves in the conference final or ousted in the first round.

St. Louis Blues: Gangs of New York: Martin Scorsese and the St. Louis Blues have a lot in common. They both produce great results year after year. The Blues have made the playoffs 24 consecutive times and Scorsese has directed films like Goodfellas, Raging Bull and Casino. The other common bond the two share is their lack of trophies. When the hardware is presented both are left empty-handed and left wondering what happened. The Blues have a great collection of talent, led offensively by former Senators miscast Pavol Demitra. The team has plenty of role players and a good balance of talent on each line. The defense has been given a boost by the late season return of Chris Pronger. He will star alongside veteran Al MacInnis and rookie star Barrett Jackman in attempt to handle the Western Conference's top stars, most notably their first round opponents, Vancouver. The offensive depth that St. Louis possesses is too intriguing to look past. Unfortunately like Scorsese, this team will not be competing when Lord Stanley's Cup is being handed out.

Minnesota Wild: Apocalypse Now: The reaction of fans and other teams after watching the Wild play their stifling and boring defensive trapping system is: "The Horror. The Horror." The Wild have reached the playoffs in only their third year of existence behind the coaching of Col. Kurtz ...errr....Jacques Lemaire. Lemaire has brought his famed neutral zone trap system to a team with a thin level of skilled players. Other than Slovak phenom Marion Gaborik, it's hard to name a player from Minnesota that stands out. Although the defensive style of play caters to playoff hockey the Wild will be pressed to score enough goals in a series to compete. Expect a short playoff appearance by Col. Kurtz and his men. So rather than Apocalypse Now maybe it's more fitting to say Apocalypse Future.

Anaheim Mighty Ducks: The Mighty Ducks: Too obvious of a movie reference to pass up. New coach Mike Babcock has given his best Emilio Estevez impersonation and has done wonders for this team, although the additions of Sykora, Oates and Ozolinsh have made his job a lot easier. Kariya has great chemistry with Sykora and Oates, which finally provides the team with a bonafide number one line. Ozolinsh provides offensive flair on defense, although he can't touch that kid from the movie in terms of a slap shot. Fulton could plain shoot. The problem with Ozolinsh is that he plays more of rover role and he is a defensive disaster. Goalie J.S. Giguere has been the team MVP and his development is a major reason for the team making the playoffs. His play compares to the importance Montreal has on Theodore. It's nice to see the Ducks back in the playoffs, but it will be a short stay. No worry though, there will be a sequel and the flying V will be back next year.

Edmonton Oilers: Karate Kid: The Oilers are the Ralph Macchio of the NHL. The odds are always stacked against them but in the end they display great courage and heart and always end up making the playoffs and creating first round scares for the Western conference heavies. This year the Oilers had their share of injury trouble with major injuries to Mike Comrie, Ryan Smyth, Jason Smith and Mike York. Fortunately the Oilers training staff have studied the ancient healing power of Mr. Miyagi and the Oilers are healthy heading into the playoffs. The economics of the NHL forced them to trade away one of their best defenseman in Janne Niinimma and their top scorer at the time, Anson Carter. The lack of depth on defense is a great concern especially with a first round matchup against the Stars. Tommy Salo is always one Belarusian shot of the head from a major implosion. As hard as it is to go against this team, I don't see them getting past the first round but like the Karate Kid series of movies they'll be back next year to do it all over again.