FanHouse Brian Boucher

FanHouse begins its four-part preview of the upcoming NHL season. Check back every Thursday from now until opening night for the rest.

The calendar has flipped past Labor Day in the States, and that means the start of the NHL's regular season is fast approaching. We're going to take one last look back at the summer and discuss the best and worst moves -- in some cases, non-moves -- of the offseason. Who took a step in the right direction and who took a step back?

The real NHL awards will be handed out Thursday night in Las Vegas, so FanHouse decided to hand out its own special awards for the 2008-09 season.

During the 2007-08 season, Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Vesa Toskala made blooper reels across the NHL for allowing a goal against the New York Islanders from 190 feet away. Hey, it happens to the best of them, and just to prove it, we introduce you to the 2008-09 nominees for the Vesa Toskala Award, celebrating the worst goal allowed of the year.

Another night, another win for the San Jose Sharks. What else is new? The Kings jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals by Matt Greene and Ted Purcell, but because they refuse to lose in regulation (or at any point, really) the Sharks managed to tie the game with tallies from Ryane Clowe and Patrick Marleau.

The game remained tied throughout the third period and overtime, leading to a shootout where the Sharks picked up goals from Clowe and Dan Boyle, while Brian Boucher turned aside two of the three Los Angeles shots, giving San Jose a 3-2 win.

The Sharks win, combined with Detroit's loss (more on this in a bit) gives San Jose an eight point lead for the top spot in the Western Conference. The victory also gives San Jose the best record in NHL history through the first 30 games of the season, as the Sharks currently boast a 25-3-2 mark. They haven't lost a game in regulation since November 9, which is a 15-game streak where San Jose has picked up at least a point.

Boucher made 26 saves in the win, while Los Angeles snapped its modest two-game winning streak.

As of right now, the NHL is the San Jose Sharks -- and everybody else. It remains to be seen how long they can keep playing at such a pace, and who knows, it may hurt them in the long-run that they're playing their best hockey in November and December as opposed to, say, May and June. But none of that changes the fact this is quite an incredible stretch of hockey. Kudos, San Jose.

Every week there are minor moves and stories around the National Hockey League that tend to fall through the cracks. Consider this our weekly roundup of those stories from the previous week, all wrapped up in one neat little package.

A quick look at the top goaltenders in the NHL in terms of goals against average and save percentage offers a wide variety of established No. 1's, and, surprisingly, quite a few lesser-known backups. Among the backups currently showing up among the league leaders are Florida's Craig Anderson, San Jose's Brian Boucher, Anaheim's Jonas Hiller, Pittsburgh's Dany Sabourin, and New Jersey's Scott Clemmensen. Not exactly a who's who list of the league's top netminders, yet, here they are.

Boucher, for example, is currently pacing the league with a 1.88 goals against average, and has posted a 7-1-1 record in nine starts with the Sharks, most of which came when he filled in for injured starter Evgeni Nabokov.

Down in Florida, Anderson (who may no longer be a "backup") has been taking starts away from Tomas Vokoun, and has been sensational for the Panthers, posting a 7-2-3 record in net, and a league-best .941 save percentage.

Tonight, in Newark, when the Devils take the ice against Atlantic Division rival Pittsburgh, the goaltending matchup will be Sabourin vs. Clemmensen, thanks to injuries to starters Marc-Andre Fleury and Martin Broduer.

While Vancouver suffered what could be a devastating injury to starting goalie Roberto Luongo, the Canucks did manage to walk out of Pittsburgh with a 3-1 win, so, they at least have that going for them. Still, the sight of Luongo being helped off the ice probably steals some of the thunder from what was a solid defensive performance and road victory.

Things were quite heated just 25 second into the game (see the video shown above) when Penguins forward -- and former Canuck -- Matt Cooke sent Alexander Edler flying through the air, igniting a line-brawl at center ice. When the chaos was finally sorted out, there were 50 minutes in penalties handed out, including two game misconducts -- one to Cooke, and another to Vancouver's Jannik Hansen.

Pavol Demitra scored a pair of goals for the Canucks, including the game's first goal at the 18-minute mark of the first period. He sealed the game with an empty-netter late in the third period. The line of Demitra and the Sedin's (Henrik and Daniel) accounted for all of Vancouver's scoring on the day, as Daniel registered a goal and two assists, while Henrik assisted on all three Canucks goals.

Mike Zigomanis scored the only goal for the Penguins, who were held to just 19 shots on goal for the game.

Still no official word on the severity of Luongo's injury.

The San Jose Sharks continued to distance themselves from the rest of the National Hockey League on Monday night, as they beat Nashville, 4-1, to improve to 16-3-1 on the season. The Sharks have earned at least a point in 11 of their previous 12 games, as they now have an 11 point lead over second-place Anaheim in the Pacific Division.

Brian Boucher started in goal for the sixth consecutive game in place of the injured Evgeni Nabokov, stopping 32 of 33 shots for the win. San Jose received goals from Devin Setoguchi, Jody Shelley, Patrick Marleau, and Thomas Plihal, while David Legwand added a shorthanded goal for Nashville midway through the third period.

Setoguchi has 22 points in the Sharks first 20 games, while he's also filled the net four times in his previous four contests. As a team, the Sharks have a league-high 73 goals, seven more than second-place Detroit. Meanwhile, Boucher continued his solid play in net, as he's now 6-1-1 on the season, including 4-1-1 since taking over for Nabokov.

Perhaps the most newsworthy item from the game, aside from the Sharks continuing to systematically dismantle whatever team lines up across from them, was the fact Nashville's Jason Arnott had to be carried off the ice on a stretcher when he was knocked into Boucher during the first period. According to the AP game report, Arnott was taken to a local hospital and is being held for precautionary reasons.

Through their first 19 games the San Jose Sharks have, quite simply, been men among boys. They continued their early season dominance on Sunday, coming from behind in Chicago to pull out a 6-5 win, improving to 15-3-1 on the season. The Sharks' 31 points are currently leading the NHL, three points ahead of the Rangers who have played one more game.

Entering the third period down a goal, Dan Boyle scored his second goal of the night to tie the score at five, while Devin Setoguchi (are you voting for him yet?) put in the winner with just under five minutes to play in regulation.

The Sharks had to rally in the third after watching Chicago erase a 4-2 deficit in the second period, as they received goals from Kris Versteeg, Cam Barker and Patrick Kane in the final ten minutes of the period. Barker and Kane's goals came just 30 seconds apart.

Naturally, as is the case when 11 goals are scored, it wasn't a night for the goalies, as Chicago's Cristobal Huet turned aside only 25 of 31 shots, while Brian Boucher allowed five pucks to get behind him in the win.

Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell, playing in his first game against his former team, picked up a goal and two assists in the loss. Campbell was acquired by the Sharks, from Buffalo, during last season's trade deadline in exchange for Steve Bernier and a first-round pick.

Chicago has now lost three straight.