No fewer than six former Hockey East players helped their teams claim professional championships recently, and a handful of others were major contributors to lengthy playoff drives.

Monday's 3-1 loss in Game Seven of the NHL's Stanley Cup finals left the Edmonton Oilers just one win short of winning it all. The Oilers narrowly qualified for the playoffs as the Western Conference's lowest seed, but successfully upset favored rivals Detroit, San Jose and Anaheim en route to the finals. Acquired just before the trading deadline, goaltender Dwayne Roloson (UML 1991-94) was a savior for the Oilers, carrying them down the stretch and in the playoffs before an injury in Game One of the finals ended his season. His 12 wins ranked second only to Conn Smythe trophy winner Cam Ward's 15. He also ranked in the top five in both goals-against-average and save percentage in the playoffs.

But leading the charge for the Oilers was Fernando Pisani (PC 1996-2000), whose 14 goals (five in the finals) was tops in the postseason and nearly matched his 80-game regular season total of 18. Buffalo's Chris Drury (BU 1994-98) tied for third in that category with nine playoff goals, captaining the Sabres all the way to the Game Seven of the Eastern Conference finals.

In the American Hockey League, the Hershey Bears claimed the Calder Cup championship over the Milwaukee Admirals, thwarting the best efforts of Milwaukee's Darren Haydar (UNH 1998-2002), who lit up the scoresheet as usual with 18 goals and 35 points, No. 1 in both categories. Greg Classen (Merrimack 1998-2000) piled up 15 assists in the Admirals' run. For the champion Bears, Chris Bourque (BU 2004-05) and Jeff State (Merrimack 2000-02) both played in limited roles and shared in the title. Portland's Ryan Shannon (BC 2001-05) ranked sixth in AHL playoff scoring with 11 goals and 22 points in just 19 games.

Peter Metcalf (Maine 1998-2002) quarterbacked his second ECHL title run in four seasons by notching 15 points for the Alaska Aces, best among all defensemen. Former teammate Barrett Heisten (Maine 1998- 2002) was another leading scorer among the Aces, while Heisten's brother Chris (Maine 1999-2003) as well as Justin Maiser (BU 2001-03) were members of the championship squad as well.

The next generation of pro hockey superstars will be welcomed at this coming weekend's NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, B.C. Hulking freshman defenseman Simon Danis-Papin of the University of Maine is the highest-rated draft prospect among all current Hockey East players.

The Hockey East Association is a 10-team, Division-I college hockey conference, with offices based in Wakefield, Mass. Founded in 1983, the league has won four NCAA championships in the past 13 years. The league also sponsors an eight-team women's league which began play in 2002-03.