(My Sportsbook) - Steady improvement has finally paid off for the Chicago Blackhawks. They are back in the postseason for the first time since 2002, giving fans in the Windy City something to get excited about in April.

Chicago's 104 points and 46 wins are the most the club has posted since 1992-93, when the club held totals of 106 points and 47 wins. That helped the Blackhawks reach the postseason for just the second time in the past 11 years.

Though they failed to unseat mighty Detroit out of the top spot in the Central Division, the Blackhawks enter this postseason having notched a point in 12 of their final 14 games of the season (9-2-3) and are the only team in the league to improve on their record in each of the last four years.

An early-season coaching change helped right Chicago's ship, as Joel Quenneville took over for Denis Savard on October 16 after a 1-2-1 start. Under Quenneville, the Blackhawks went on to post a franchise-record tying 22 road wins while finishing fourth in the league in goals per game (3.17) and fifth in goals against (2.55).

Though just five members of Chicago's current roster were in the league when the club last made the playoffs, three of those skaters have won Stanley Cup championships, including Nikolai Khabibulin, Sammy Pahlsson and Andrew Ladd.

Khabibulin and his 57 playoff games should prove valuable for the Blackhawks in the postseason. He split time with Cristobal Huet in net, going 25-8-7 while posting the fourth best goals against average in the league at 2.33.

Former Calder Memorial Trophy winner Patrick Kane and 20-year-old captain Jonathan Toews will make their postseason debuts after finishing 2-3 in scoring on the team behind Martin Havlat. Kane was second on the club with 45 assists and 70 points, while Toews' 34 goals led the Blackhawks.

Havlat, meanwhile, added to the scoring depth by setting new career highs with 48 assists and 77 points to go along with 29 goals. He notched 19 points over Chicago's final 14 games.

Ladd was sharp with 15 goals and 34 assists, while rookie Kris Versteeg threw his name into the Calder race with a freshman-best 31 assists to go along with a 57-point total that was second among rookie skaters.

Teams also can't forget about Patrick Sharp (26 goals), who was on pace to again lead the Blackhawks in goals scored, but ended up missing a total of 21 games due to two separate leg injuries. His latest issue, a left leg/knee ailment, caused him to miss the final five games of the regular season but he should be ready for Game 1 of this series.

Chicago struggled on the penalty kill this year, finishing tied for 17th at 80.6 percent, while its 19.3 percent rate on the man advantage -- tied for 11th in the league -- could have been better as well with the likes of Kane, Toews and Sharp.

Still, the power-play unit is dangerous, especially with defenseman Brian Campbell (52 points) and Cam Barker (40 points) in the mix. Campbell ended the season with 20 power-play assists, while Barker had a team-high 24 helpers on the man advantage.

Duncan Keith is Chicago's steady presence on the blueline thanks to a club- high plus-33 rating and 44 points.

CALGARY FLAMES (5th seed, West)

REGULAR SEASON RECORD: 46-30-6

2008 PLAYOFFS: Lost to San Jose 4-3 in conference quarterfinals

(My Sportsbook) - A poor finish to the season has the Calgary Flames lacking some confidence heading into the playoffs. Not good for a club that hasn't made it out of the first round in each of the last three playoffs since an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004.

Losses in six of its last 10 games, as well as a 7-17-0 mark over its final 18 games cost Calgary its first Northwest Division title since 2005-06 and the Western Conference's third seed.

That has the club opening on the road, where it was just 19-20-2 this season as compared to 27-10-4 at Pengrowth Saddledome. Add in a 10-game stretch to end the season that saw the Flames go 0-for-43 on the power play and you won't likely have many picking an upset in this series.

Still, it isn't all bad for the Flames. After all, the start of the postseason wipes out all salary cap restrictions. That will allow Calgary to dress more than the 15 skaters it did for its final two games.

Defenseman Dion Phaneuf (11 goals, 36 assists) should be one of those in uniform after he missed the last couple of games due to an undisclosed injury. The likes of Curtis Glencross (undisclosed), Cory Sarich (foot) and Robyn Regehr (knee) are less certain though. The Flames will also hope to have Andre Roy (upper body) and Rene Bourque (ankle) back at some point in the postseason as well.

While Calgary's power play has been abysmal as of late, the penalty kill was a strength at 83.4 percent on the season, fourth best in the league. Mix in an offense that scored 3.06 goals per game and one shouldn't count out the Flames just yet.

For the first time since Valeri Bure in 1999-2000, someone other than Jarome Iginla led the Flames in goals scored, as Mike Cammalleri notched a career- high 39 tallies. Iginla was no slouch himself, recording 35 goals while leading the Flames in scoring for an eighth consecutive year with 89 points.

Daymond Langkow (21 goals), Bourque (21) and David Moss (20) all hit the 20- goal mark, while the Flames made the biggest splash at the trade deadline with the acquisition of Olli Jokinen. Jokinen was acquired by Phoenix prior to this season to get them over the postseason hump, but once that scenario seemed unlikely he was dealt to Calgary, where he notched eight goals and 15 points in 19 games.

However, neither Jokinen or Cammalleri have ever tasted postseason hockey in the NHL before, putting all the pressure on Iginla. The Flames' captain and all-time scorer has 25 goals and 45 points in 48 career postseason contests.

Jokinen, meanwhile, will bring his league-record run of 799 regular-season games without a playoff appearance to a close on Thursday.

And Calgary will need to score goals. The club ranked 23rd in the NHL after allowing 3.00 goals per game, while Phaneuf and Adrian Aucoin (34 points) combined for a minus-19 rating. The Flames need Phaneuf and Sarich (20 points, plus-12) to be healthy to have a chance.

If not, too much will fall on netminder Miikka Kiprusoff. Though he led the NHL with 45 wins thanks to a career-high tying 76 starts, Kiprusoff's 2.84 goals against average was his highest since he posted a 3.25 GAA in 22 games with the Sharks in 2002-03. The 32-year-old's .903 save percentage was also his worst in his five seasons with the Flames.

Kiprusoff notched a 3.21 GAA in seven playoff games versus the Sharks last year and he has won just seven games in Calgary's last three postseason outings.

Calgary does have an advantage on the bench, as head coach Mike Keenan ranks fourth on the all-time playoffs win list with 94 and won a Stanley Cup with the Rangers in 1994.

MATCHUP

Not only did the Flames lose out on home-ice advantage, but they now have to play a Blackhawks club that bested them in all four meetings this year.

Khabibulin was in net for three of those games wins, posting a 2.00 GAA and .941 save percentage. Havlat and Ladd were the top scorers with six points each, while Kane added a pair of goals and four points.

Versteeg, Sharp and Toews all scored versus the Flames this year, and should combine to give the 'Hawks a balanced attack for this series.

The Flames top two scorers, meanwhile, struggled against Chicago. Cammalleri failed to light the lamp in the season series, while Iginla was held to three assists without a goal. Also alarming, the two were each minus-nine in the four-game series.

Calgary wasn't much better in net, as Kiprusoff posted an 0-3-1 mark versus Chicago this year with a 4.66 GAA and .856 save percentage, surrendering a total of 17 goals.

Kiprusoff and Khabibulin have faced each other once in the playoffs before, as Khabibulin's Tampa Bay Lightning defeated Kiprusoff and the Flames in the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals. Both netminders notched GAAs under 2.00 in that series.

These two clubs will be meeting in the postseason for the first time since Chicago swept its 1996 conference quarterfinals matchup with the Flames, which was also the last time Chicago had home-ice advantage in a postseason series. Calgary, though, won the other two all-time postseason meetings and is 7-5 versus the Blackhawks in the playoffs.

Bottom line, the Blackhawks caught a break when the Flames fell to the fifth seed, though Calgary obviously did not. Defense often wins playoff hockey and the Flames do not have enough of it to run with this up-and-coming Chicago squad.

My Sportsbook predicted outcome: Blackhawks in 5