NHL: Carolina's postseason hopes end

The Carolina Hurricanes, the current holders of the Stanley Cup, will not be in the NHL Playoffs to defend their title. With Carolina losing 3-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday night, and the Montreal Canadians defeating the Boston Bruins to hold onto their spot in the postseason, the Hurricanes found themselves on the outside looking in.

The Edmonton Oilers, champions of the Western Conference last season, were elimanated from playoff contention several weeks ago, but only two teams, the 1970 Montreal Canadiens and 1995 New Jersey Devils, have won the Stanley Cup, and miss the playoffs entirely the next season. This marks the first time both teams previously in the Stanley Cup Finals totally miss the playoffs the following year.

Hurricanes center Eric Staal said: "The year went by so fast, it just felt like we were right in the mix and all of a sudden, in a blink of an eye, we're out."

NHL Eastern Conference Playoff Race

Eastern Conference No Team Points Notes1 Buffalo Sabres 109 Clinched Conference2 New Jersey Devils 104 Clinched Playoff Berth3 Atlanta Thrashers 93 Clinched Playoff Berth4 Ottawa Senators 103 Clinched Playoff Berth 5 Pittsburgh Penguins 101 Clinched Playoff Berth6 Tampa Bay Lightning 92 7 New York Rangers 92 8 Montreal Canadiens 90 9 Toronto Maple Leafs 89 10 New York Islanders 86 11 Carolina Hurricanes 86 Elimated From Playoffs12 Florida Panthers 83 Elimated From Playoffs13 Boston Bruins 76 Elimated From Playoffs14 Washington Capitals 70 Elimated From Playoffs15 Philadelphia Flyers 46 Elimated From Playoffs Bold denotes currently in playoff position