Seven former University of Maine hockey players will be involved in the Stanley Cup playoffs, which begin on Wednesday.

General managers Dave Nonis (Vancouver) and Garth Snow (New York Islanders); head coach John Tortorella (Tampa Bay) and players Dustin Penner (Anaheim), Keith Carney (Minnesota), Paul Kariya (Nashville) and Mike Dunham (Islanders) will have their sites set on hoisting the Stanley Cup.

Left winger Penner and defenseman Carney will face off against each other Wednesday as the Western Conference’s seventh-seeded Wild will travel to second seed Anaheim for the first game in their best-of-seven series.

Anaheim won the Pacific Division title.

Also on Wednesday, the third-seeded Canucks, the Northwest Division champs, will entertain No. 6 Dallas and the Predators, the fourth seed, will entertain fifth seed San Jose.

On Thursday, in the Eastern Conference openers, No. 7 Tampa Bay will visit No. 2 New Jersey and the eighth-seeded Islanders will travel to play the top-seeded Sabres.

The Islanders qualified for the playoffs in dramatic fashion, surrendering a tying goal with .9 of a second left in regulation before beating New Jersey 3-2 in the shootout.

The Penner-Carney matchup is intriguing.

The 24-year-old Penner is in just his third pro season and his first full NHL season and was Anahem’s second-leading goal scorer with 29 to go with 16 assists in 82 games. He had nine power-play goals and five game-winners.

The 37-year-old Carney is in his 15th NHL season and led the Wild in plus-minus at plus-22. A player receives a plus-one if he is on the ice when his team scores an even-strength or shorthanded goal and a minus-one if he is on the ice when his opponent scores one.

Carney had four goals and 13 assists in 80 games.

Penner called Carney a “great player.

“Anyone who has played as long and as well as he has deserves to be admired and respected,” said Penner.

Penner said he has been pleased with his season and credited his teammates for making it possible.

“When the team does well, so do the individuals,” said Penner. “I didn’t expect to have that number [29 goals] associated with my name this year. But I feel my best accomplishment has been being able to play 82 games. It’s definitely a grind. It’s mentally taxing.”

He is looking forward to the playoffs and expects a “tough series. They’re a very good team.”

He monitored Maine’s progress this season and said “I would have liked to have been able to say Maine won a national championship. But they had a great year nonetheless and they’ll make another run at it next year. They always do.”

Left winger Kariya, who is 32 and playing in his 12th NHL season, led the Predators in scoring with 24 goals and 52 assists for 76 points in 82 games.

The 34-year-old Dunham, Snow’s former tandem mate at Maine, backed up Rick DiPietro for most of the season and finished with a 4-10-3 record, a 3.74 goals-against average and a .889 save percentage. DiPietro got injured late in the season and Dunham struggled in his starts. Wade Dubielewicz came on to win the last four games and carry the Islanders into the playoffs.

Snow, who made an unusual transition from backup goalie to general manager, guided the Islanders to a 40-30-12 record.

Nonis’ Canucks went 49-26-7 in earning the third seed.

Tortorella, who led the Lightning to the Stanley Cup in 2003-2004, led them to a 44-33-5 record this season.