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.

Who's In: Brian Campbell, D (FA-SJ); Cristobal Huet, G (FA-WSH); Matt Walker, D (FA-StL)

Who's Out: Rene Bourque, F (Trade-CGY); Patrick Lalime, G (FA-BUF); Jason Williams, F (FA-ATL)

What's Changed: For starters, attitude. The Blackhawks were mired in the muck for years. Bad ownership decisions led to low attendance, television blackouts of home games, no significant free-agent signings or trades, and poor public relations. Over the course of a decade, Chicago went from having one of the strongest franchises in the league to one of the worst.

Oh, my, have things changed. Quickly.

For a team that has seen far too many talented players leave for other, warmer, locales, the Buffalo Sabres must be thrilled that goaltender Ryan Miller actually decided to stay in Buffalo ... for five more seasons!

Yes, the Sabres announced this morning that Miller Time signed a 5-year deal worth $31.25 million, avoiding the loss their #1 netminder to unrestricted free agency, and avoid a Brian Campbell-like distraction from happening in the future.

My only beef with Ryan Miller is that he hasn't done enough to justify the incredible amount of hype and attention he gets from the media, and this rather large salary increase he's getting. Last season, Miller put up just a paltry 90.6% save percentage, which put him in the lower half of starting goaltenders. Before that? 91.4% and 91.1%, which is good, but not great. I certainly expect more.

That said, Miller is 28 and in his ultimate prime. The fact that the Sabres were able to lock him up for the rest of his peak period will allow them peace of mind and the freedom to worry about the rest of the roster. Given the Sabres troubles keeping their own players, perhaps they had to pay a "Cold Weather Premium"?

On another note, the Sabres better hope Patrick Lalime can give Miller a break now and then. Playing 76 games last season certainly took a toll on Miller, and it was obvious that he couldn't handle a Martin Brodeur-like workload.

Apparently, Blackhawks' GM Dale Tallon woke up this morning and swore to himself that he wouldn't go to bed tonight without a salary cap situation on his hands. After inking Cristobal Huet to a $5 million cap hit earlier today, he went ahead and picked up the most sought after defenseman on the market today by inking Brian Campbell. Campbell didn't come cheaply though, as it's going to take an eight-year deal worth a whopping $7.1 million per season to get him into black and red next year.

Campbell's a great pickup for the 'Hawks and he's a great offensive player and point man, but $7.1 million a year for a guy that's a bit of a defensive liability is a real indication of just how wild the market is running today. Plus, Campbell's already 29, so he'll be 37 at the end of this deal. The Blackhawks are getting a great player, but they're getting him at a high cost.

The other thing worth noting is that Chicago is now over the cap after the additions of Huet and Campbell. They're going to have to dump someone soon, and best bets are probably Nikolai Khabibulin. I don't know who's going to want a goalie with Khabibulin's price tag that plays like he has recently, but if Tallon can convince people that Havlat is healthy, he might make a nice consolation prize to whoever loses the Marian Hossa derby.

Last week I put a call into Sean Avery's agent asking if I might get a few minutes with the unrestricted free agent to talk about his Summer internship with Men's Vogue. I didn't get a call back, and now I know why: The magazine was sitting on its own feature by Avery, detailing the ins and outs of his first month on the job.

As it turns out, the story is as entertaining as Avery, which is something of a surprise considering I'm not much of a fan of fashion. One of the highlights -- how Avery accidentally dumped his lunch all over one of his co-workers -- a transgression that one would assume would have gotten just about any other intern shown the door on Day One:

[W]hile my stick-handling on the ice keeps getting better and better, my tray-handling leaves a bit to be desired. I still can't find the girl who fled the cafeteria with beef stroganoff spilled all over her, but just in case she's reading this: You can find me on the twelfth floor, and I owe you a new outfit.

Either that, or you can find him idling in a closet half-naked. Along with the feature, the magazine has also posted a slide show of the erstwhile member of the New York Rangers puttering about in a closet someplace at the magazine wearing a Rangers t-shirt and pretending to rack clothes and shoes -- and as for some of those shoes, I could swear I've seen them before at a bowling alley.

After reading the piece, one thing ought to be clear: Avery is happy in New York with the Rangers. Unfortunately for Avery, it looks like GM Glen Sather may very well be willing to part with Avery if it means clearing enough cap space to land a player like free agent defenseman Brian Campbell. As to how Avery might feel about having to find a job someplace else, well, that's a question the Men's Vogue feature just doesn't answer.

POSTSCRIPT: Forgive me for not being up on my Manhattan gossip for missing this item.

After about five months worth of votes, the guys over at Orland Kurtenblog have finally determined a winner in their exhaustive poll to determine the greatest NHL hit of all time. The winner: Scott Stevens' clean and righteous destruction of Slava Kozlov during the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals:



Sitting proudly in the second spot: Brian Campbell's number on R.J. Umberger during the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Click here to check that one out. Thanks to the guys at Kurtenblog for leaving no video evidence unconsidered in what has to be considered the ultimate hit reel.

As for me, well, there's one hit I'll always consider above all others.

I think it's safe to say that Brian Campbell is fitting in just fine as a new member of the San Jose Sharks. For proof, just take a look at this goal he scored last night against Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens:

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

It's not often that the average hockey fan from a small prairie town gets a chance to make millions and shoot pucks on a NHL Ice Surface.

Well, Darwin Head of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan had that very chance during last night's Avs/Canucks tilt. Standing at center ice, with a stadium full of spectators and the legendary Bobby Orr watching, Head buried enough biscuits to win himself a cool seven figures.

Head scored 15 goals – the exact number needed – in 24 seconds into an open net from the far blue line at General Motors Place to win $1 million in a one-time payout.

"This is just unreal. I can't wait to have a huge party and celebrate with my family and friends back home in Prince Albert," said Head. "And it feels so great that my wife and I will be able to look after our kids' futures with this money."

I think Mr. Head could probably buy the entire town of Prince Albert and have enough change left over for a 2-4 of Molson Canadian.

With the San Jose Sharks struggling to score goals, it only makes sense that they go out and acquire ... another defenseman. Yes, the sharp-toothed monsters made a move to solidify their already tight defense.

The Sabres have dealt defensemen Brian Campbell to the San Jose Sharks along with a seventh round pick in 2008.

In return for Campbell, WGR reports that the Sabres will receive Steve Bernier and a first round draft pick in the 2008 NHL Draft.

This is a great move for the Sabres, given that Brian Campbell already expressed his desire not to come back to the Buffaslugs.

For the Sharks, they offload a player that had struggled to meet his potential, and load up with an experienced defenseman.

I'm going to give this trade two Milburys. The Sharks take an awful risk in losing Campbell to free agency, and don't help their sputtering offense. For the Sabres, they get a winger that needed to be free of Ron Wilson's stifling defensive system, and get rid of a malcontent in the process.

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

Sports fans in Buffalo have been kicked in the balls far too many times (No Goal! Wide Right!), so losing is nothing new and unusual to the people in that wintry city.

That said, the Buffalo Sabres' current problems must be enough to give more than a few Buffalonians a monster case of heartburn. With last night's 2-1 loss to the downstate New York Rangers, the Sabres have now lost TEN games in a row, and are falling from playoff contention with each passing day.

The Sabres are 0-5-5 in their last 10 games. They haven't won since Dec. 22 in Philadelphia and, in fact, are the only team in the NHL without a win in the 2008 calendar year.

"We didn't make a lot of good plays," coach Lindy Ruff said. "We didn't make good decisions and Al [Kotalik] pounded the puck right into Betts every time. I can't yell, 'Don't shoot it,' but you have to bury your head and move it around those guys. We didn't and that was a disappointing part of the game."

Perhaps Lindy and assistant James Patrick ought to lace 'em up and give directions from the ice. At this point, the Sabres need some creative ideas if they are to put a W in the win column some time this calendar year.