For most NHL fans, recalling the career of retired goalie Clint Malarchuk conjures some of the most horrifying images in the history of the game. Thanks to an errant skate blade, Malarchuk was slashed across the neck during a 1989 game between his Buffalo Sabres and the Boston Bruins. If not for the quick reaction of the team's medical staff, Malarchuk surely would have died on the ice.

Calling the incident horrifying isn't an understatement. According to reports, nine fans feinted after watching the accident, while another two suffered heart attacks at the Aud in Buffalo.

Now, 19 years later, Malarchuk has cheated death again, this time at his own hand. Here's the AFP account:

Ex-National Hockey League goalie Clint Malarchuk was recovering in hospital from his second nightmarish accident in 19 years after accidently shooting himself in the face with a hunting rifle on Tuesday.

The 47-year-old Malarchuk was rushed to hospital here after he shot himself with a .22-calibre rifle at his residence, The Record-Courier newspaper reported Wednesday.

[...]

Malarchuk's wife, Christy, told police her husband had been out hunting rabbits at the time of the shooting. She said the gun accidently discharged while he placed it on the ground between his legs.

Malarchuk currently serves as the goalie coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets. For a look at that incident again from 19 years ago, see the video after the jump.

From tonight's pre-season bout between the Leafs and Blue Jackets comes, potentially, the best hit of the pre-season. Ole-Kristian Tollefsen of the Blue Jackets absolutely levels Jason Blake who needs to keep his head up a bit. The Leafs naturally take exception to it and Tollefsen proceeds to beat up Alexei Ponikarovsky. Thankfully, Blake got back to his feet after only a couple moments. Enjoy...

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: Nikita Filatov, LW (draft pick), RJ Umberger, C (trade, Phi), Kristian Huselius, LW (UFA, Cal), Raffi Torres, LW (trade, Edm), Fedor Tyutin, D (trade, NYR), Christian Backman, D (trade, NYR), Mike Commodore, D (UFA, Ott)

Who's Out: Nikolai Zherdev, RW (trade, NYR), Dan Fritsche, C (trade, NYR), Gilbert Brule, C (trade, Edm), Ron Hainsey, D (UFA, Atl), Dick Tarnstrom, D (UFA, SEL), and Duvie Westcott, D (buy-out, KHL), Joakim Lindstrom (trade, Ana)

What's Changed: The most obvious different between this year's Blue Jackets and last year's is personnel. As you can see above, there have been a number of changes to the Columbus roster. The question, of course, is what effect those changes will have on their place in the standings.

Of the acquistions, RJ Umberger and Kristian Huselius are the highest-profile. The Jackets are evidently counting on Umberger to take the #1 center spot for them between Huselius and Rick Nash. Umberger has not carried that kind of load as an NHL player, but it's possible a linemate like Nash could put him over the hump on that one. Huselius has good offensive skills, but how he will fit in with Ken Hitchcock's system remains to be seen. With the trade to New York of Nikolai Zherdev, the Jackets got rid of their resident petulent European, but in Huselius, they may have acquired another.

Stefan Legein, a 2007 second round draft pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets who is just 19 has retired. Or has he?

The kid -- a promising prospect on a lot of levels -- is coming off a season where he helped Canada win a World Junior championship. But as surprising as this news might be, the way that news made it online might be just as interesting.

The first online report of Legein's retirement came from Aaron Portzline at Puck-Rakers, the Blue Jackets blog at the Columbus Dispatch. But when it came to nailing down the story, Portzline had an assist from a local blogger:

This story is shocking on so many different levels. Earlier today, I got an email from a Puck-Rakers reader, Bethany, of Bethany's Hockey Rants. Actually, it was a "forward" of an email she got from an anonymous person in Ontario saying Legein had retired.

After a slew of phone calls to sources throughout the NHL, I finally got somebody to tell be [sic] off the record that's it true. Just a few minutes ago, Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson confirmed it.

Of course, the next question has to be: Why? Why would a kid who had a pretty good shot at eventually making his way to the NHL decide to walk away from it all? From all indications, Legein didn't do much of anything to telegraph his punch.

There's a meme that has been circulating among hockey blogs and message boards for probably as long as those forums have existed that basically asserts that Martin Brodeur isn't a particularly talented netminder and that his frequently gaudy numbers are merely the result of playing in a painfully boring, but effective, defensive system. At least that's the meme in its current form, as the causal clause has had to be tweaked a few times (from "playing for Jacques Lemaire" to "playing behind Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer" to the more generic way it's repeated now) in order to isolate the true reason behind Marty's perennially minuscule goals against average (which is most certainly not the result of, you know, talent).

But whether or not Martin Brodeur is a fraud is a discussion for another day. Today we're taking a look at a guy -- Pascal Leclaire -- who just might be the heir apparent to Brodeur's throne. No, not in terms of all those wins, Cups, wives and Vezinas (though who knows?), but in terms of being called out as merely the beneficiary of a painfully boring, but effective, defensive system.

If you want a fine example of why NHL teams are staying away from Russian prospects more and more these days, take Columbus' pending fight with the Russian Hockey Federation over the rights to top prospect Nikita Filatov.

Without a transfer agreement between the Russians and the NHL, it was only a matter of time before the Russians starting clucking for more money.

According to a report in the daily Sovietsky Sport, Medvedev said the Blue Jackets owed half-a-million in compensation, even though Filatov's contract with CSKA (the heralded Central Red Army team) had expired.

The matter could end up headed to court, if the Russian team persists in its demands.

NHL teams are more than willing to fork out money for the rights to top Russian prospects, but they certainly won't pay $500,000 for a mid-range prospect. Thus, we've seen the number of Russian players drafted decline from about 30/year before the lockout to just five in this summer's draft. It's just not worth the headache.

Given that CSKA admitted they terminated the contract of Filatov, their position is weaker than Tampa Bay's goaltending. Filatov obviously wants to get to the NHL, and there is nothing, sort of assassinating the young prospect, that CSKA could do to stop Filatov from playing in North America next season.

The NHL Free Agent signing period kicked off a little more than an hour ago, and for the most part, what we've seen so far is teams making deals in order to clear some cap room. Here's a quick rundown of what's been confirmed so far:

The Edmonton Oilers dealt Raffi Torres to Columbus for Gilbert Brule, and also acquired Erik Cole from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for defenseman Joni Pitkanen. Click here for details. Meanwhile, Carolina also signed ex-RSL defenseman Anton Babchuk.

Tampa Bay snagged winger Radim Vrbata away from Phoeinix.

The Anaheim Ducks signed winger Corey Perry to a contract extension.

The Calgary Flames obtained Rene Bourque from the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Red Wings have re-signed defenseman Brad Stuart.

Pat Lackey already wrote about Evgeni Malkin, but the Penguins also re-signed Pascal Dupuis.

The Devils re-signed Jay Pandolfo and Bryce Salvador, but said goodbye to Sergei Brylin.

First thoughts: The Brule deal with not be welcome in Edmonton, but the Cole deal is solid. I'm guessing with Vrbta signed the Lightning are done dealing with Brian Rolston, but you never know. And Chicago may be clearing the decks for a big signing.

Stick with us throughout the afternoon. I'm sure plenty of agents are pondering some big numbers right about now.

Over at Puck Rakers, a Blue Jackets blog at the Columbus Dispatch, Aaron Portzline is reporting that the Pittsburgh Penguins have made a 7-year, $50 million contract offer to keep unrestricted free agent in the fold.

If a Blue Jackets blog seems to be an odd place to serve as a source for Penguins news, think again. Reportedly, if Hossa does sign, the Penguins would immediately deal the negotiating rights to unrestricted free agent Ryan Malone to the Blue Jakcets. As you might expect, with Hossa demanding that much coin, keeping Malone, as tough as he might be, becomes something of a luxury. With Minnesota reportedly considering Malone, the Blue Jackets seem ready to part with a player or a pick in order to have an exclusive negotiating window with Malone before the free agent signing period begins July 1.

Something tells me that Pittsburgh GM has decided that the Penguins have a short window to shoot at a title and he might as well take advantage of it now. Though one has to wonder: If Hossa is worth more than $7 million per season, what will Evgeni Malkin demand at the end of next season, and how in the world can Pittsburgh stay competitive with three players accounting for somewhere around $25 million in cap space per season?

Another interesting rumor from Portzline: The BJs are also reportedly interested in Sharks captain Patrick Marleau, who has been ticketed out of town for salary cap considerations.

Not long after EA Sports released their teaser trailer for NHL 09, featuring Dion Phaneuf, the folks at 2K Sports put forth their new spot featuring cover boy Rick Nash.

High marks for humor as Rick Nash gets caught raising the Stanley Jug (which is as close as Columbus will ever get), but a little worrisome that nary a single second of game footage was shown.

Is there more to come? Are they a little afraid of being compared unfavorably to EA? We shall see.

Everyone knows the Columbus Blue Jackets have been a disappointment since entering the NHL. No playoff appearances, and few measurable signs of progress, despite a slew of high draft picks (because of all their poor finishes).

In the wave of expansion that brought us the franchise in Columbus, we also got the Predators, Thrashers, and Wild. Of that group, only the Jackets have failed to make the playoffs even once.

Since bringing Ken Hitchcock on board during the 2006-2007 season, there has been some life displayed by Columbus. Their star, Rick Nash, had a nice season, tallying 38 goals, and they may have found a goalie in Pascal Leclaire.

Now, if you believe rumors, they are on the prowl for a number-one center to pair with Nash. In doing so, the Blue Jackets may be on the verge of paying a price that is too high for said center.