FanHouse Fedor Tyutin

Newsmakers in the NHL: During the regular season it's our Weekday look at the previous night's action and some of the storylines taking place around the league. Have a tip or something you want linked? Send it in to nhlfanhouse@gmail.com.

Blue Jackets 5, Canucks 3: It's a long season, and when all is said and done I have no doubt that Roberto Luongo will once again be at the top of the pile when it comes to NHL goaltenders. His first three starts of the season, however, have been quite forgettable, and Monday's game against Columbus was certainly the worst. Luongo was lifted after giving up four goals on just 12 shots, including three in a row to start the second period. Through three starts he's stopped just 50 of 61 shots.

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

The Chicago Blackhawks are trying to build off a magical season. Columbus got its first taste of playoff hockey, while St. Louis returned to the playoffs after a far-too-long absence. Meanwhile, Nashville is trying to rebound after just missing the cut for the Western Conference playoffs.

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.

With the NHL playoffs just around the corner, FanHouse takes a look at some of the lesser-known teams that qualified. Thursday's installment: the Columbus Blue Jackets

On Saturday, October 7, 2000, the Columbus Blue Jackets played their first ever regular season game. It was a 5-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, and the team would know nothing but losing for the next eight seasons. No playoffs. No winning seasons. Nothing. They have been, simply, the most anonymous, unknown team in the NHL.

On Wednesday, all of that changed as the Blue Jackets, for the first time in franchise history, qualified for the postseason thanks to a 4-3 shootout win over, coincidentally, the Chicago Blackhawks, their very first regular season opponent. So, who are these guys, and what can we expect from them in the playoffs and beyond? Here are five key players, the head coach, and everything else there is to love about this once unknown franchise.

Newsmakers in the NHL is a weekday morning attempt to clear yesterday's rebounds and look to the day ahead.

Blue Jackets 4, Blackhawks 3: Banner night for the Columbus Blue Jackets, as their 4-3 shootout win over the Chicago Blackhawks clinched the first ever playoff berth in the in the eight-year existence of the franchise. It's been a long time coming, but congratulations Columbus, you're officially on the NHL map.

After helping the Red Wings win the Stanley cup a season ago, Detroit goalie Chris Osgood has been off to a rather slow start this year in net. Despite the Red Wings being the No. 2 team in the Western Conference, Osgood is currently 40th in the NHL in goals against average and 43rd in save percentage. It's probably not helping things when you're giving up goals from center ice.

The video shown above is Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin blasting a slap shot from the red line in last night's 5-3 Red Wings win, beating Osgood to tie the game at three in the third period.

Osgood has had a fine career, but that one isn't showing up on his career highlight reel.

(H/T HF Boards)

Click here for more NHL playoff previews.

This is the series most likely to be referred to as "the closest series in the second round." Both the Pens and Rangers finished the regular season on fire, both of them breezed through the first round, and they've already played each other eight times this year. I think it's fair to say that neither team will find this match-up as easy as their first rounder.

And we've got subplots, too! In addition to being division rivals, we've got Jaromir Jagr playing against Pittsburgh in what might be his last season and thus, last chance to take a team of his own to a cup. The Rangers took 5 of the eight regular season games from the Pens this year, but two of their wins went to overtime. This one really breaks down to the classic offense vs. defense battle.