FanHouse Pat Quinn

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?

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 Northwest Division.

It appears we are setting up for an offseason of significant change in the Northwest Division. Only the Vancouver Canucks will have the same coach as last year, and there could be some real upheaval in terms of personnel. Not only that, but two teams (Minnesota and Colorado) have changed general managers.

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The Edmonton Oilers have made a major splash in their efforts to make it back to the playoffs.

Three non-playoff years have followed Edmonton's magical run to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, and that was enough to cost longtime coach Craig MacTavish his job. Tuesday afternoon, the Oilers turned to a couple of familiar names to help them turn around their fortunes.

When the Minnesota Wild fired longtime general manager Doug Risebrough April 16, it was obvious that the team was about to embark on the most significant offseason in its almost decade-long history. Relatively new owner Craig Leipold made it clear that the standard of mediocrity on the ice was not going to be allowed to stand.

In searching for a new person to lead the franchise, Leipold appears to have reached out to a great variance of candidates. The list of finalists reported by Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune is quite intriguing, as is word of a Tuesday interview with one of the candidates.

Named in honor of Rick Tocchet, who admitted he was involved in an illegal gambling operation while working as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Coyotes, The Tocchet Line is an occasional feature on NHL FanHouse in which we even out the odds for the likelihood of various hockey-related happenings. (By the way, when is the NHL going to get around to either punishing or reinstating Mr. Tocchet?)

The good fans of Atlanta have more important things on their minds these days -- like their state being about two months away from descending into a chaotic FutureWorld where water is the greatest commodity -- but the search for the Thrashers' next head coach continues. After a glimmer of hope against the NY Rangers in general manager Don Waddell's first game behind the bench, the Thrash have settled back into being "teh suck" (as the kids call it) with a blow-out loss to the Lightning, 6-2.

Can anyone salvage this season? The Tocchet Line handicaps the field for the Atlanta Thrashers' next head coach:

John Anderson (3:1) - A fantastic choice, as I consider "The Gates of Delirium" to be a progressive rock milestone ... oh, wait: John Anderson, coach of the AHL Chicago Wolves, and not the guy from Yes? Got it. The former Maple Leafs star has a winning record in every season since 1997 with the Thrashers' minor league affiliate, winning two Turner Cups and one Calder Cup. He's on record as wanting the gig, and used to be a player/coach for Waddell in San Diego of the IHL. He's the favorite out of the gate.

Randy Cunneyworth (5:1) - Head coach of the AHL Rochester Americans, he nearly left for an assistant coaching gig in Florida during the off-season according to Swords and Pucks. He's considered to be one of the top developers of talent in the AHL, which should come in handy if he takes over a team currently playing like it has AHL talent.