At least at the beginning, the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs will be a journey back in time. A journey back to the days when the Boston Bruins used to meet the Montreal Canadiens every spring -- and usually lost. A journey back to the days when the New York Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks were playoff perennials. This spring, five of the Original Six are in the postseason, with only the New York Rangers an absentee from nostalgia's roster, and four Canadian teams -- Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver -- have qualified for the marathon.

The most nostalgic match will be the Bruins and Canadiens, who are meeting for the first time since 1993-94. In other words, they have not met since the Bruins moved from the Boston Garden (1995) and the Canadiens moved from the hallowed Forum (1996).

Despite the new digs, the rivalry will be just as intense, with the Bruins having finished top in the conference, and the Canadiens fueled by the great goaltending of Jose Theodore took the final spot, but have some raw emotion from the return of Saku Koivu.

Out west, the Chicago Blackhawks are making their first playoff appearance since 1997. Since moving out of the storied Chicago Stadium, where they didn't miss the playoffs from 1969-70 until they moved out of the building, the Hawks have won just one playoff series in the United Center. The Hawks are also trying to win their first playoff series since trading away Jeremy Roenick in the summer of 1996, parting ways with Ed Belfour in 1997 and bidding adieu to Chris Chelios in 1999.

The hope in Chicago is parade of recognizable stars out of town doesn't continue this summer. But unless there is a real turn of opinion on the part of management in these playoffs, it appears that Tony Amonte will be allowed to escape as a free agent -- and who knows how long Chicago fans will suffer in the future if that does happen.

The Islanders are back for the first time since 1994. It has been an amazing streak of horrible ownership sequences on Long Island, but this most recent group has put up some money, and first-year coach Peter Laviolette has gotten some results.

All the questions are back where they belong -- on the ice. And on the ice Alexei Yashin has to prove he is a stout-hearted playoff performer, goalie Chris Osgood has to prove that he can win in the playoffs without the talent that surrounded him in Detroit, and Michael Peca has to provide the leadership to get the Isles past a tough first-round opponent in Toronto.

This spring's playoffs also provide a "welcome back" to some familiar issues: