FanHouse Marian Hossa

SAN JOSE -- As if Wednesday night's matchup against the Western Conference's two top teams didn't have enough appeal, throw Marian Hossa into the mix for one heck of a showdown between star-studded top lines.

Hossa, Chicago's top offseason acquisition, hasn't played this season because of a shoulder injury, but tonight at HP Pavilion, he'll be joining the Blackhawks' great young players Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. San Jose, the NHL's best team to date, counters with the goal-happy line of Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.

Whew. What a way to step onto the ice for the first time with a new team.

Reports began to surface this week regarding some significant moves by the Chicago Blackhawks. Five-year deals are coming for forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, and defenseman Duncan Keith is apparently going to sign a mammoth 13-year deal for less annual money.

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?

FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his top 50 players in the NHL. No. 15 is Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa.

After signing a one-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings prior to the 2008-09 season, Marian Hossa was the focal point of this year's Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hossa was a key component in Pittsburgh's trip to the Final the previous season, where they were knocked off by the Red Wings in six games. He turned down a lucrative contract offer from the Penguins to sign with Detroit because, in his mind, the Wings gave him a better opportunity to win the cup.

It's hard to blame him, seeing as how the Red Wings were an already stacked team, and would be adding one of the game's best two-way players. In the end, Hossa went home without the Cup, again coming up inches short in the final seconds.

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It was only a matter of time until it came to this, but the NHL is reportedly looking into the long-term contracts given to Marian Hossa and Chris Pronger this offseason. Bruce Garrioch originally reported on Friday morning that the league was investigating whether or not the Blackhawks and Hossa had worked out, or discussed, the possibility of an early retirement, which would clear Hossa's salary cap hit off the books in the future. Hossa signed a 12-year, $62.5 million deal with Chicago on the first day of free agency after spending one season with the Detroit Red Wings.

Garrioch quotes an NHL executive as saying that the league is looking to put a damper on these types of deals, and that "they are building a strong case against Chicago to make an example of them. This issue won't just go away. Lots of other GMs are supporting the league here."

One general manager that's probably not supporting the league? Paul Holmgren of the Philadelphia Flyers.

There have been some huge stories during the NHL offseason. Many of them have involved the Chicago Blackhawks.

With that in mind, FanHouse recently caught up with Comcast SportsNet Chicago analyst Ed Olczyk -- perhaps better known for his work as a main analyst for Versus and NBC -- to get his take on all the changes happening in the Windy City. Olczyk was born in Illinois, played part of his career for the Blackhawks, and still has some very strong feelings about the team, not to mention the state of affairs in the NHL.

What has been a bizarre offseason in Chicago, complete with lost mail and unexpected general manager changes, has turned downright disappointing if you're a Blackhawks fan.

Word surfaced earlier this week that newly-acquired forward Marian Hossa was fighting a shoulder injury that could require surgery, and ultimately keep him out of the lineup until December. The team announced on Thursday that Hossa will in fact be going under the knife to repair a small tear in his rotator cuff. Estimated recovery time? Four months.

Hockey fans can start making their plans. The NHL released the 2009-2010 regular season schedule Wednesday afternoon.

You can view each team's schedule here. We'll look at some of the more intriguing matchups after the jump.

The last 36 or so hours have been quite interesting for the Chicago Blackhawks. It started early Tuesday, when word got out that general manager Dale Tallon was fired (he was actually re-assigned) and replaced with assistant GM Stan Bowman.

When former Blackhawk star Martin Havlat got word, he used Twitter to express his frustration with Tallon's removal. He then spoke (thus avoiding that darn 140-character limit) to TSN's Darren Dreger. When he did that, he chucked Blackhawks president John McDonough under the bus. McDonough got his chance to respond Wednesday.