FanHouse Chris Higgins

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?

Chris Higgins walked into the room Tuesday afternoon at Schneider Children's Hospital in New Hyde Park on Long Island, ready to do his best to put a smile on the faces of some young patients. A young boy started the proceedings with a question more challenging than any reporter would ask.

"So how tough are you"?

Higgins sized up his interrogator, a boy of about 7 who has clearly been through a lot. "Probably not as tough as you," he said.

Give Rangers general manager Glen Sather credit; he found somebody to take on one of the team's ugly contracts when he sent Scott Gomez to the Montreal Canadiens for Chris Higgins, Doug Janik, Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko on Tuesday afternoon. Gomez, 29, signed a seven-year, $51 million deal with the Rangers prior to the 2007-08 season, and the signing proved to be a mistake from the very beginning.

It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We begin our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Northeast Division.

Brian Burke begins his rebuild of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dany Heatley wants out of Ottawa and just what is Boston going to do with Phil Kessel and a limited amount of salary cap space?

What a difference a year makes. This time last year, the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins faced off in the first round of the playoffs and Michael Ryder helped the Habs win the series in seven. This year, Ryder is a Bruin and is doing damage to his former team.

Through three playoff games, Ryder has four points including the decisive goal tonight in Game 3. His goal was the third of four the Bruins used to defeat the Habs 4-2 tonight at the Bell Centre in Montreal. They have now taken a commanding 3-0 series lead, putting the Habs up against the wall for Wednesday's Game 4.

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A quick recap of yesterday's action from around the National Hockey League.

Today's post will be primarily dedicated to that epic Stanley Cup Finals rematch in Motown because, well, that's the type of game the NHL should be dreaming about. The Penguins overcame third period deficits of 5-2 and 6-4 as they won their fourth in a row, 7-6. It won't make up for a Stanley Cup Finals defeat, obviously, but man, it still feels good.

For the first 45 minutes or so, the Red Wings were doing to the Penguins what they did during last season's Finals ... frustrating them and, at times, dominating play with a relentless puck-possession game, refusing to give the Penguins an inch of space. When Henrik Zetterberg floated that shot behind Marc-Andre Fleury to make it 5-2 with just over ten minutes to play, it seemed as if there was no chance for the Penguins to mount any sort of come back.

Then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, something clicked for the Penguins as they out-shot the Red Wings 13-5 over the final ten minutes of regulation, and 4-0 in overtime.

In the game against Buffalo, the Habs played a very solid, spirited 60 minutes of hockey while the Sabres took most of the second period off which cost them the game eventually. They certainly deserved their 2 points. What is noteworthy from this game is the sheer amount of clutching, grabbing, and interference allowed by the guys with the orange armbands, who, frankly I thought had left the ice to grab a brew for most of the game. This is what I call the Guy NHL, named after that great defensive forward and current Head Coach of the Habs, Guy Carbonneau. Watch Gary Bettman's nose grow the next time he says that the standard of what is and what is not a penalty has 'not slipped a bit.,' even though Director of Officiating Stephen Walkom admitted that the standard had changed to Sportsnet's Jim Kelley last week. Playing in Montreal on a Saturday night is like playing the game in quicksand and a time-warp to the late-90's all at the same time. If the Habs are fighting for a playoff spot, one can forget their team getting anything close to a fair game called.

The officiating was so bad and so non-existent in this game that one of the referees missed a blatant high-stick on Ales Kotalik by Francis Bouillon less than 10 feet away from him that dropped Kotalik to the ice for 20 seconds in the 3rd period with the score 4-2. I'm sure the Canadiens fans and the referee in question thought he took a dive, because you know, the Sabres are nothing but a pack of virulent divers. The Canadiens second goal was helped along by Chris Higgins riding Kotalik out of the play without the puck, thereby negating the back-check and leaving the Ty Conklin helpless to face down Radek Bonk. If it wasn't so predictable, it would almost be sad.... well, nearly as sad as the referees refusal to even talk with Lindy Ruff after the goal was scored while Ruff fumed on the bench.

The 'crackdown' on diving in this league has morphed into an opportunity for the referees to turn a blind-eye to the rule changes they never wanted to enforce in the first place. Count me as one of those who wouldn't mind the ticky-tac hooking call go the way of the dodo, but keep the restrictions on hitting guys without the puck on the back/fore/smite-them-hip-and-thighcheck. Defensemen are being run while set to receive a pass without ever receiving said pass. At a minimum that play is interference, at a maximum it's roughing or boarding. There are multiple rules that could be applied which are not.

That game was an object lesson as to why the NHL is ultimately a bush league. It's impossible to know what is and what is not a penalty. Until that changes, until the League realizes that the inconsistent standard of rules enforcement is the biggest obstacle to the casual observer understanding the game, the marginal status of the NHL that so many believe to be a problem will continue. When I have to explain to someone that well, it's hard to get a call in Montreal because it's, well, you know... Mon-Tre-al, and they look at my like I have 4 heads and speak with a lisp it's embarrassing when I don't have an answer for their saying that's insanely stupid and all I can do is shrug and agree with them.

During games like this one I have to wonder why the NHL doesn't just dispense with the 7 game Stanley Cup Finals and play one game of Last Man Standing, like in the Jimmy Caan classic of anti-authoritarian 70's cinema.

Ta,