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.
A crucial offseason, possibly the most significant in franchise history, is underway for the Minnesota Wild. Head coach Jacques Lemaire and general manager Doug Risebrough, the only people to ever hold those positions for the Wild, are both gone.
The process of finding a new general manager took precedent for owner Craig Leipold, and he made sure to take his time and get things right. After a series of interviews, and a list of candidates that included high-profile broadcaster Pierre McGuire, Leipold has settled on a front-office veteran with a track record of helping build winning teams.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are getting ready to play the first home playoff game in franchise history on Tuesday night, and while they find themselves in a 2-0 hole against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings, some good news might be on the horizon. Hopefully, for the Blue Jackets sake, it's not a case of too little, too late.
According to Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch, 21-year-old center Derick Brassard has been cleared for physical contact, and while he's not likely to play on Tuesday, it's possible he could see action in game 4 on Thursday.
Exactly 1,230 regular season games have been played. We're down to the best eight teams in each conference. The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Wednesday night with four series lid-lifters.
The Western Conference is home to the league's best team (San Jose), the defending champion (Detroit), and the two most intriguing Cinderella stories in the league (St. Louis and Columbus). Can Cinderella put off the stroke of midnight, or will an established power advance their way to the Finals?
Newsmakers in the NHL is a weekday morning attempt to clear yesterday's rebounds and look to the day ahead.
Thrashers 5, Rangers 4: When you're fighting for playoff position, blowing 4-1 leads to the Atlanta Thrashers probably isn't the best thing for a team to do. That's exactly what the New York Rangers did on Thursday night, as they watched a 4-1 lead late in the second period turn into a 5-4 shootout loss in Atlanta. The come-from-ahead loss prompted goalie Steve Valiquette to ask the question: "Where is our killer instinct when we're playing someone lower in the standings?"
During Saturday's game in St. Louis, with the score tied 2-2 late in the first period, Backes delivered a crushing cross-check to the head of Huselius.
Backes received a game-misconduct for the hit, his third of the season, which will result in a mandatory one-game suspension to be served during the Blues game in Vancouver on Friday. Is that enough? Huselius suffered a concussion on the hit, and the NHL is, apparently, trying to cut down on hits to the head. Seems like a mandatory one-game suspension is getting off kind of easy, assuming that's all he receives. Earlier this season, in a game in Washington, Backes give this healthy shot to the back of Capitals forward Alexander Semin. Though, I suspect if Backes knew what type of fighter Semin is he probably would have thought better of it. Sorry. Couldn't resist.
Columbus goalie Steve Mason entered Friday's game in Colorado having registered three consecutive shutouts. He managed to keep the Avalanche off the board for 17 minutes, until Darcy Tucker snapped Mason's streak with his fifth goal of the season at the 17:20 mark of the opening frame. The 20-year old rookie posted 199 consecutive minutes of shutout hockey for Columbus, and Tucker's tally in the first period was the only goal he surrendered on the night, as he turned aside 23-of-24 shots in a 6-1 Blue Jackets win.
Mason has been a great story for the Blue Jackets, as he's pretty much carried them this season when you consider they've scored only nine goals in the eight games he's lost, including being shutout three times. He's allowed more than three goals only two times this season, and has yet to surrender more than four in a single game. Should be interesting to see how long he can continue to ride this hot streak.
As for the rest of the Blue Jackets, following Tucker's goal they pretty much took this game over and erupted for six goals over the final two periods. Rick Nash finished with a four-point night (penalty shot goal, three assists) while Kristian Huselius (two goals), Mike Commodore, Jakub Voracek and R.J. Umberger also scored for Columbus.
The win actually puts Columbus one-point ahead of Colorado for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, while the Blue Jackets are 3-0 to open their current six-game road trip, extending their winning streak to four games overall.
The Minnesota Wild are probably the last team you would expect to be involved in a 6-5 game, but, hark, here we are. Paul Stastny scored a pair of goals and picked up an assist for the Avalanche, as they snapped the Wild's modest two-game winning streak on Monday night.
Minnesota goalie Niklas Backstrom had what was, perhaps, his worst night of the season, giving up six goals on 26 shots through the first two periods. He didn't come back out for the third, as Josh Harding took over and stopped all five shots he faced in the defeat.
Bouchard scored his second goal of the game just 22 seconds into the second period, giving Minnesota a brief 3-2 lead. Just three minutes later, Stastny picked up his first, as the Avalanche would fill the net three more times in the period, ultimately chasing Backstrom from the game.
Minnesota head coach Jacques Lemaire called the first 40 minutes the worst two periods he had seen, as Colorado was not only leading 6-4, but also holding a commanding 26-12 edge in shots on goal.
Tuesday night's game against Edmonton is probably one that Columbus goalie Pascal Leclaire would like to permanently erase from his memory, seeing as how it's probably the worst game he's ever played in the NHL. Leclaire gave up seven goals on just 19 shots, as the Oilers rolled to a 7-2 victory, snapping a three-game losing streak.
Columbus finished with a commanding edge in the shots department, firing 39 shots at Dwayne Roloson -- he stopped 37 of them -- and still managed to skate away losing by five goals.
Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.
What's Changed: The backbone of this team hasn't been touched. 50-goal scorer Jarome Iginla is still the rock of the offense. Cammalleri should help bolster the Flames' top line, and Daymond Langkow is expected to remain the center. The signing of Bertuzzi is an interesting one for the Flames. Calgary has plenty of tough guys, and Bertuzzi struggled mightily at times last year in Anaheim. He did stay healthy for 68 games and tallied a not-terrible 40 points, but he still has a penchant for really dumb and irresponsible penalties.
While I know Mike Keenan wants a tough hockey team (hence the decision to let Tanguay and Huselius go elsewhere), I can't imagine he'll be happy watching Bertuzzi take a dumb penalty late in a close game. Unless Bertuzzi starts playing smarter hockey, it's not destined to go well for him.
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 Columbus Blue Jackets are getting ready to play the first home playoff game in franchise history on Tuesday night, and while they find themselves in a 2-0 hole against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings, some good news might be on the horizon. Hopefully, for the Blue Jackets sake, it's not a case of too little, too late. 
Newsmakers in the NHL is a weekday morning attempt to clear yesterday's rebounds and look to the day ahead.
Columbus goalie Steve Mason entered Friday's game in Colorado having registered three consecutive shutouts. He managed to keep the Avalanche off the board for 17 minutes, until Darcy Tucker snapped Mason's streak with his fifth goal of the season at the 17:20 mark of the opening frame. The 20-year old rookie posted 199 consecutive minutes of shutout hockey for Columbus, and Tucker's tally in the first period was the only goal he surrendered on the night, as he turned aside 23-of-24 shots in a 6-1 Blue Jackets win. 
The Minnesota Wild are probably the last team you would expect to be involved in a 6-5 game, but, hark, here we are. Paul Stastny scored a pair of goals and picked up an assist for the Avalanche, as they snapped the Wild's modest two-game winning streak on Monday night. 
Tuesday night's game against Edmonton is probably one that Columbus goalie Pascal Leclaire would like to permanently erase from his memory, seeing as how it's probably the worst game he's ever played in the NHL. Leclaire gave up seven goals on just 19 shots, as the Oilers rolled to a 7-2 victory, snapping a three-game losing streak. 
