STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS 2003 semifinalists now are sitting out

The West has four different surviving participants.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
As soon as Toronto forward Joe Nieuwendyk slipped two long shots past Ottawa's Patrick Lalime, the transformation of the Stanley Cup playoffs was complete.
With the Senators gone, none of last year's semifinalists made it to the second round in 2004.
Ottawa was eliminated Tuesday night by the Maple Leafs, joining the defending champion New Jersey Devils for summer break. The Devils outlasted the Senators in seven games last year in the Eastern Conference finals.
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.
Flyers and Lightning
Of the eight remaining clubs this year, only the Tampa Bay Lightning and Philadelphia Flyers got this far a year ago. And both have a good chance to get to the next round because they will be well rested by the time they hit the ice again.
Philadelphia knocked out the Devils in five games, and the top-seeded Lightning did the same to the New York Islanders. Now they'll each face teams that were stretched to the seven-game limit.
The Flyers will get the Maple Leafs, the team 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."
The Lightning will face sixth-seeded Montreal. The Canadiens were down 3-1 in their series with No. 2 Boston, but rallied to overcome that deficit for the first time in their storied history, which includes 23 Stanley Cup championships.
"Teams that win the Stanley Cup, they get those rests in between each series. It's very important," Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said.
Out west
Colorado and San Jose advanced to a second-round matchup in the Western Conference with five-game wins over Dallas and St. Louis. The Avalanche won the two previous series, including a second-round matchup two years ago.
Detroit beat Nashville in six games and will take on the Calgary Flames, which outlasted Vancouver in seven.
The Red Wings know all about upstart opponents. They were Anaheim's first victim last year. The Mighty Ducks swept the defending champions out of the playoffs in four games.
Detroit took a step up this season, clinching home ice throughout the playoffs by posting an NHL-best 109 points. The Red Wings let Nashville get even after four games before turning goaltending duties over to Curtis Joseph for victories in Games 5 and 6.
The Lightning are still newcomers to the playoff party, but they are anything but underdogs. Postseason pedigrees aside, Tampa Bay is expected to reach the conference finals for the first time.