Each Friday throughout the season, I'll provide you with my predictions on whose stock is on the rise and whose is failing miserably like an American bank. It's a neat little segment entitled Buys and Sells. There are a few teams/players/issues to buy and a few to sell.

Ah, yes. The smell of a brand spankin' new season is permeating throughout North American and isn't it b-e-a-u-tiful? And with a new season comes all the usual rites of fall; the return of Hockey Night in Canada, the constant questioning of Gary Bettman's sanity and Chris Chelios yet again featured on an NHL roster. But I'm leaving something out... Something really important... Oh, yes! The return of the NHL season also signals the return of Buys and Sells! What? Buys and Sells isn't synonymous with opening night? You cannot be serious. And neither is this column. Ba-dum-bum. Thanks, I'll be here all season. Hey! DO NOT roll your eyes at me!

Strong Buy: Citizens of Detroit Report Sightings of Airborne Swine
Pigs must be flying in Detroit these days. That's really the only explanation I can come up with for the score of this game. How the Maple Leafs -- a team that has been picked by many to be the East's bottom feeder -- pulled off a win against the Red Wings -- a team picked by many to win the Cup again -- in Detroit, on opening night, after the 2008 Stanley Cup banner was raised to the rafters during the pre-game is simply absurd.

Either the general population is completely wrong in their evaluations of both teams, or this was a serious fluke. And someone go check on Ted Starkey, his head might have exploded since the #30 team in his power rankings just beat the #1 team. Did I mention that it was on opening night? In front of the #1 team's home crowd? After they had raised their Stanley Cup banner? That stuff is not supposed to happen. Jeez, I think my head is going to explode!

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: Marian Hossa, F (UFA, Pit), Ty Conklin, G (UFA, Pit)

Who's Out: Dominik Hasek (retirement), Dallas Drake (retirement)

What's Changed: Much to the chagrin of fans across the League, the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings only got better during the off-season as they landed arguably the biggest name on the free agent market, Marian Hossa.

Formerly a member of Detroit's adversary in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, Hossa left millions on the table with teams around the League in order to don the Winged Wheel and contribute to the repeat effort. Hossa is slated to start the season on the top line with Tomas Holmstrom and Pavel Datsyuk. Hossa and Datsyuk have been unable to gain too much familiarity, however, as Datsyuk has been sidelined for much of the pre-season with a groin injury.

The Hossa acquisition may make the annual split up of Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg stick for the first time. Head coach Mike Babcock has Zetterberg centering a line with Johan Franzen and Jiri Hudler, and there is little reason to believe that group won't pan out. Zetterberg and Franzen are in contract years, while Hudler will look to maintain his spot outside the fourth line doghouse. On paper, Detroit may have the best top two lines in the League. They'll certainly have the two most defensively responsible scoring lines.

All the right people showed up yesterday in Oakland, Michigan for the Illitch Celebrity Golf Classic. Among the attendees: Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman, Bill Laimbeer and Al Kaline.

But it's important to remember that whenever Red Wing Defenseman Chris Chelios is involved, it usually means that a boatload of his buddies from Malibu are going to show up too.

In this case, that meant John Cusack, Tim Allen, Dave Coulier, Thorsten Kaye, John McGinley and D.B. Sweeney were all on hand. One other familiar face who showed up, but didn't play, was Chelios buddy and Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding, Jr., who spoke with Ken Bradley of Sporting News Today:

"I play hockey, all kinds of other stuff, but no golfing," Gooding joked. "We have this great pickup (game) every Monday night in Los Angeles that is sponsored by CAA and Pat Brisson specifically -- he handles Sidney Crosby. I skated with Wayne Gretzky ... even skating with Chris Chelios I got a proper elbow to the head. It was awesome, just awesome to be out there."

Yes, I know it's August.

And yes, I know we're still about a month out before training camp.

Still, if The Hockey News can put most of its hockey yearbook to bed complete with predictions in August, what's the harm in checking in with people who actually have some skin in the game if they get things wrong? In particular, I'm talking about the folks at Bodog who have just published odds for winning the conference championships and the Stanley Cup Finals for the 2008-09 NHL season.

Up top, there's not much of a surprise, as Bodog has installed the Red Wings (10-3) and the Penguins (5-2 6-1), as co-favorites in their respective conferences -- see those odds after the jump. Rounding out the top 10 are San Jose (9-1), Montreal (10-1), Anaheim and the Rangers (12-1), Washington (15-1), New Jersey (16-1), Ottawa (16-1), Chicago, Dallas and Philadelphia (18-1).

For those of you looking to lay your money on a long shot, Atlanta and Los Angeles are at the bottom of the board at 100-1, followed by Toronto (75-1) and Columbus (65-1). For a complete list of odds on the Stanley Cup as well as the winners of both the Eastern and Western Conference, look after the jump.

While the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup this past June, it certainly hasn't been the best few months for re-retired goalie Dominik Hasek. Not only was the old crank demoted to being Chris Osgood's towel boy for the Cup Finals, but now his "Dominator" clothing line, which he started up in 1998, is losing money in a big way.

In an interview with The Prague Post, the former goalkeeper noted "The company was losing about 30,000 Kč [$1,955] per day, and I've already put in some 90 million Kč [over $5.8 million] over its 10-year presence on the market."

Mr Hasek's operation was far larger than those of his fellow Czech [Sporting Stars], operating both in Europe and the United States. Now, he has decided to close down the European wing, while keeping the US business afloat.

To understand why Hasek's business failed so badly in his homeland, one must remember that the purchasing power of the Czech Crown [Koruny] is far below the US dollar. The average Czech sports fan cannot easily afford to plunk down the equivalent of US$40 for a fancy "Dominator" t-shirt, or as much as $60 for a golf shirt. My Czech friends confirm that even the most basic "Dominator" shirts are twice as expensive as ye olde regular clothing.

This all makes me wonder if Hasek's comeback was purely financially motivated. Obviously, he needed to do something to boost sales, and what is better PR than playing with the Red Wings? If Hasek was losing money, then earning some sweet NHL bucks would be the best way to soften the pain, wouldn't it?

While most of the rest of the sports world is preoccupied with the trade of Brett Favre from Green Bay to New York and the possibilities that deal presents going forward, the hockey world has been spending most of this week looking backward at a trade that 20 years ago shook the foundations of the game -- the deal that sent the greatest player in the history of the game, Wayne Gretzky, from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings.

I'm having a tough time gathering up many thoughts that haven't been said and written here and elsewhere before. As it turns out, FanHouse had our own little spasm of Gretzky-mania in and around the 19th anniversary of the deal. I looked at the trade from the 50,000 foot-level; our old buddy Greg Wyshynski recounted the reaction of the media from August 9, 1988; and J.P. and Dr. Mirtle put Gretzky's greatness into perspective on the stat sheet. Earlier this week, Kevin Schultz shared the perspective of a hockey fan who got to watch the trade from his highchair.

Over at the NHL Network this week, it's been all Gretzky, all the time, beginning with Wednesday night when it premiered A Day That Changed The Game: August 9, 1988, an hour-long documentary about the deal. The rest of the week has been peppered with plenty of other Gretzky-centric programming, including replays of some of the most significant games from his time in a Kings uniform.

Even when I turned off the television, I couldn't get away from Gretzky. It was on Tuesday evening that I arrived home to find an express mail package on my doorstep from an old college buddy who lives outside New Orleans. Inside were a pair of Todd McFarlane figurines, both Gretzkys, one in an Oilers uniform and the other in his LA duds. Apparently, they still don't know who he is in rural Louisiana, so you can snag them for a buck a piece at the local dollar discount store.

What They're Not Saying is a collection of made-up quotations attributed to real people.

As noted earlier today, Scotty Bowman has left his cozy perch atop Mt. Red Wing to become rival Chicago's new Senior Advisor, Hockey Operations. Here's a sampling of reactions to the move from around the League:

"Did it just get hot in here or is it me?" - Denis Savard, Blackhawks Head Coach

"That's a good decision for him if it makes him happy, but just a month and change after it was first reported... why the rush, Scotty?" - Mats Sundin, Unrestricted Free Agent

"I'll miss watching Matlock and catching the early bird special with him, but the kid's gotta do what he's gotta do." - Chris Chelios, Detroit Red Wings

"We didn't want him anyway. Everything here's cool." - Baghdad Bob Cliff Fletcher, Toronto Maple Leafs GM

I'm sure you've heard or seen some responses that I've missed -- share 'em in the comments.

Scotty Bowman has declined and spurned many advances from the likes of the Toronto Maple Leafs and other NHL clubs to be a coach, adviser or mentor for their organizations. Why should Bowman, who already has plenty of Stanley Cup Rings, the most wins by an NHL coach, and lots of money in the bank, need to come out of semi-retirement and leave a perfectly cozy job with the Red Wings?

As rumored last month, the Chicago Blackhawks were the latest team to offer a position to Bowman. Whatever straw the Hawks threw in front of Bowman finally broke the camel's back, because the legendary coach is now joining the Chicago Blackhawks front offices in an advisory role: Senior Adviser, Hockey Operations.


I wonder what the Hawks offered that made Bowman finally change his mind. Was Bowman bored of winning all the time with the Wings? Was his role so small (think Gordie Howe's days as a pencil pusher) that he felt unappreciated?

One obvious factor is that Scotty wants to join his son, Stan, who is an Assistant GM within the hockey operations department of the Hawks. Reverse Nepotism, eh?

The Hawks are already a team on a rapid rise to success, and adding Bowman to the club will only help them make the transition from pretender to contender.

Score another one for Rocky Wirtz!

The Detroit Red Wings avoided a potentially ugly trip to arbitration and continued the off-season phase of their bid to repeat today when they signed restricted free agent forward Valtteri Filppula to a five-year, $15 million contract.

The 24-year-old Finn filed for arbitration on July 5th, taking himself off the Kevin Lowe-syle RFA poaching market in the process. The intervening weeks have been agonizingly quiet for Wings fans hoping to see #51 sign a contract so this outcome is a welcome one, though the $3 million-a-year reality of the deal puts a damper on the news. That's about $500,000 more than the Wings were hoping to spend, but the length of the deal should make it a bargain by the end.

Filppula is something of a poor man's Henrik Zetterberg at this stage in his career. He's got great offensive skills and a keen sense for the defensive side of the game. He's frustrating to Wings fans for his penchant for falling down at inopportune times, but he brings enormous value to the team overall. His play in the Stanley Cup Finals was at least one of the non-flu-related reasons for Evgeni Malkin's disappearance and he was a major contributor to his linemate Johan Franzen's incredible post-season. The kid is clearly a major part of the Wings' future and has made himself a key part of the current squad ever since forcing his way into the lineup with a strong training camp in 2006.

The NHL, not the Chicago Blackhawks or Wrigley Field, will be responsible for doling out tickets to the Winter Classic II next January. So, if you want good tickets to this massive ice party, set to go on at "holy shrine" Wrigley Field, you better be either ...

a. Rich
b. A season ticket holder of the Chicago Blackhawks
c. A season ticket holder of the Detroit Red Wings
d. A season ticket holder of the Chicago Cubs


As "Cranky Blogger" George James Malik of MLive.com opines, this event is more about the Hawks and Wings than promoting the entire NHL, as we are generally told it is.

I think that "this spectacular thing" is all about Bettman partnering with a former president of the Chicago Cubs to raise the national profile of the Chicago Blackhawks. If it was about "the fans," it would have taken place in a much larger venue, and if it was about both teams, it would probably take place in Ann Arbor, where a 100,000-seat stadium would allow the average fan to actually attend the game.

Cranky blogger or not, Malik's feelings are shared, or going to be shared, by a majority of the ticket-hungry public who will find it nigh-impossible to get a good seat, or a seat at all, to this big event.