Out west, the Oilers figure to suffer the same post-Stanley Cup letdown as the Hurricanes. Everything fell into place for Edmonton this spring. That won’t happen two seasons in a row.

Just ask Calgary, the 2004 Western Cup finalist, or Anaheim, the 2003 Western rep.

Besides, no losing Cup finalist has made a return trip the following year since the 1983-84 Oilers.

At the top of the West next season, they will be California dreaming. The San Jose Sharks have been on the cusp of greatness for two seasons now and one of these years, they’ll take that next step.

Next year could finally be San Jose’s year, especially if the Sharks upgrade their defense in the summer. After a terrible start last season, the Sharks were one of the NHL’s best teams following the late-November trade that brought league scoring leader Joe Thornton to northern California from Boston.

“Personally, I like being a Shark,” Thornton said. “We're just really, really aggressive. We play an up-tempo game. We're very, very fast.”

Thornton’s presence gave the Sharks a potent 1-2 punch at center along with captain Patrick Marleau that opponents found difficult to deal with. “Other teams, they have to pick their poison to see basically who they want to match their lines up against,” Marleau said. “It gives me and my line an opportunity to play against some different players. Even our third and fourth line, they get a little help that way, too.”

MARK SPECTOR ON THE NHL Plenty to celebrate 'Canes vets end Cup drought — and do it in amazing finals

With six rookies in the lineup and more talented youth on the way up, a rebuilt Anaheim team appears poised to move among the NHL elite. Like San Jose, Anaheim was among the NHL’s better second-half clubs. The Ducks will no longer be mighty next season — new ownership is dropping the connection to the schmaltzy Disney film — but soon, they will be mighty difficult to beat.

“I don't think we have to change anything,” Ducks veteran captain Scott Niedermayer said of his young club. “They've done a great job so far. I think that basically the message is the same for everybody on our team, that we just have to realize what we did to get here and continue doing that.”

Ducks coach Randy Caryle believes that by allowing his team to grow together, it’s put them on the road toward something spectacular.

“Well, they're older by about six or eight months than when we first started together,” Carlyle said. “I think in the terms of hockey experience, the things that they've experienced in the last six or eight months bode well for their futures.

“Their growth is still going to be expected to continue because we feel that they're very talented players and they haven't reached their full potential as of yet, but they're experiencing a lot of the things that are going to help them get there along the way.”

Anaheim’s time may not be now, but it is coming soon.

As for the rest of the West, Presidents' Trophy champion Detroit has a huge hole in goal and won’t be able to fill the void left by the loss of hulking defenseman Jiri Fischer to a heart ailment. Colorado is fading fast and Dallas can’t be taken seriously until Marty Turco proves he’s a playoff goalie. Vancouver went from a team on the edge of greatness to a team in turmoil. In Calgary, the Flames can’t score a goal to save their lives.

So there you have it. It’s Buffalo and San Jose — or maybe Anaheim — a year from now.

And if you think the parties in Tampa Bay and Carolina the past two seasons were something, wait until Buffalo’s day in the sun finally arrives.

That’s going to be some celebration.

They might even invite Scott Norwood.