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: John Anderson, Head Coach; Zach Bogosian, D (Draft-2008); Ron Hainsey, D (FA-CBJ); Marty Reasoner, C (FA-EDM); Jason Williams, RW (FA-CHI)

Who's Out: Darren Haydar, F (FA-DET); Bobby Holik, C (FA-NJ); Jason Krog, C/W (FA-EuropeVAN); Joel Kwiatkowski, D (FA-Europe); Steve McCarthy, D (FA-Europe); Mark Popovic, D (FA-Europe); Mark Recchi, RW (FA-TB); Alexei Zhitnik, D (FA-Europe)

What's Changed: Not enough.

Atlanta is a team that finished the 2007-08 season 22nd in the League in goals scored (and that was with sixty games of Marian Hossa)... and added Jason Williams and Marty Reasoner up front. The Thrashers gave up the most goals in the League... and added Ron Hainsey (he of the eighth-worst plus-minus among all NHL defensemen over the past two seasons) to the blueline.

But hey, it's not all bad -- the Thrash can feel pretty confident that they're near the front of the line when it comes to picking up other teams' trash. Time to plan the parade, eh?

Know what's great about being both terrible and cheap? You've got the inside track on other teams' garbage.

This, apparently, is the state of media spin in Atlanta, where hockey fans have seen Dany Heatley turn into Marian Hossa turn into a couple of role players and a pair of mediocre prospects, all in the span of less than three years, and await the perhaps likely depature of Ilya Kovalchuk in 676 days or sooner (but who's counting?). As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Bill Tiller wrote last week:

According to nhlnumbers.com, there are a few teams that are currently at or above the salary cap. So, teams like Philadelphia, Washington, Calgary, Anaheim, Chicago, San Jose...and even Dallas, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Boston, the Rangers and New Jersey could be looking to shed some payroll. In doing so, they are more than likely going to be seeking prospects and/or draft picks along with lower-priced NHL players in return.

I would think that the GMs of those teams are going to be far more willing to make such deals with teams that they...perceive...will finish very low in the standing. That would give them a higher pick, possibly even the first pick, in next summer's entry draft. Thus, they would be getting more in return for the player they were willing to part ways with.

The New York Islanders have quietly and methodically going about their business of choosing a coaching replacement for Ted Nolan. Given how Puppet GM Garth Snow and Charles Wang Dang Doodle have managed the team in the past, I'm rather surprised that the Isles have been so patient in their process.

According to Greg Logan of Newsday, the Isles are down to three candidates, and should make their decision some time in the next week. Given the nature of the Isles organizational woes, I'm rather surprised that coaches would be so eager to go to a team that could kill their career.

After a painstaking interview process in which he spoke with eight known candidates and contacted a few others, an NHL source indicated Snow has narrowed his list to three finalists. Former Atlanta coach Bob Hartley (pictured), former Toronto coach Paul Maurice and current AHL Providence coach Scott Gordon still are in the running, and Snow is expected to name one as the Isles' next coach early this week.

So, we have two retreads and an unknown (to most of us) coaching prospect. How do the candidates stack up?

I'm sure that a vast majority of NHL players value their privacy a grand deal. Just witness what happens when a duo of idiot fans decide to hit up Sidney Crosby's old dwelling in Nova Scotia. *facepalm*

I always figured that any player moving or living in Florida had it made in terms of seclusion. Most any professional hockey player can go to a shopping mall in Miami and be more anonymous than the guy/girl who played Pat on Saturday Night Live.

BUT, what happens when your address gets published publicly, as is the case with Slava Kozlov and the purchase of his new house in Boca Raton, Florida. Check out this posting on Blockshopper.com:

NHL veteran Viacheslav "Slava" Kozlov and his wife, Tatyana Kardivar, bought a four-bedroom, 3.5 bath at 3051 NW 30th Way in Boca Raton for $1.25 million from Craig Monaghan and his wife, Mary Louise, on July 9.

Not only do you know how much Kozlov paid for the house, but the address, his wife's full name, and biographical information on the guy he bought it from.

Sheesh! Why not give out the guy's phone number, favorite ice cream flavor, and Social Security Number, as well?

If I were Kozlov, I'd be just a little pissed that my private real estate transaction is being published for the whole world to see. Does he need a crazed fan or two knocking on his door, or pipe bombs mailed to his house?

On another note, why the hell is Kozlov paying a premium on the house? With the housing market in a huge tumble, Kozlov ought to be able to do a bit better than that. Then again, he's not exactly hurting for cash.

Mark down another former NHL player as trying to make a go of it back home in Russia. According to Sovetsky Sport, defenseman Alexei Zhitnik, who was bought out of the last year of his contract by the Atlanta Thrashers just a few weeks ago, has joined Dynamo Moscow on a tryout contract. Details of the deal were confirmed for FanHouse by Dmitry Chesnokov, Sovetsky's Washington correspondent.

According to Chesnokov, the contract expires at the end of Dynamo's training camp. If at that time Zhitnik opts to stay in Russia, Dynamo will have the right of first refusal on any contract that he's offered.

To say that stock in the veteran defenseman has dropped over the past two seasons would be an understatement. Back at the beginning of the 2006-07 season, Zhitnik started the year as a seemingly important cog on an Islanders team full of veterans.

Despite this, he was traded to Philadelphia in a salary dump for Freddy Meyer IV. Then, at the trade deadline, Philadelphia GM Paul Holmgren somehow convinced Atlanta GM Don Waddell to part with Braydon Coburn in exchange for Zhitnik. The deal has since become known as one of the most lopsided in recent NHL history. After a more or less anonymous season in Atlanta where he missed some time due to injury, Waddell was happy to buy out Zhitnik and erase the physical evidence of the biggest mistake in his career as a GM.

It's hard to add anything more than what Dan Steinberg has already said about this video clip featuring Alex Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexei Morozov presenting some sort of Russian pop music award to former Bee Gee Robin Gibb. I guess all I'll say at this point is it's good to see Ovechkin and his buddies enjoying the offseason.

The biggest name in this year's free agent class might not be headed back to Pittsburgh after all.

In Ottawa for the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Penguins GM Ray Shero announced to the press that the 29-year old Slovak winger that the Penguins had acquired at the deadline and very nearly helped them win a Stanley Cup had broken off talks with the team and would become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Shero also hastened to add that this break in the talks didn't mean that the Penguins would give up trying to bring Hossa back to Pittsburgh.

This announcement brings up two immediate questions: Just which team other than Pittsburgh has the will and wallet to offer Hossa a new home? Let me nominate the New York Rangers, a team that will have somewhere North of $12 million in cap space to play with if they let go of unrestricted free agents Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Sean Avery.

The second question for Pens fans is this: In light of what may be his eventual departure, was the price the Pens paid to obtain Hossa from Atlanta worth it? I know looking back it's easy to second guess Shero, but don't count me among those who do. If a bounce or two goes another way, a six-game series like the Finals can shift in an instant, and I'm happy to make the argument that the Pens wouldn't have been anywhere near the Finals without Hossa in the lineup.

Are you a fan of a crappy hockey team? Were they eliminated from post-season contention in January? Did injuries decimate your roster? Did all those moves last summer not pay off at all?

Then I've got a day for you. It's all about you, your team, your hopes, dreams and aspirations. It's the NHL Draft and it's being held on Friday in Ottawa, Ontario. You may have heard of it. For you, the fans of downtrodden and out-of-luck franchises, this day is all about you and your teams. For one day, the worst teams will shine in the spotlight and have their hopes renewed for yet another season (unless Mike Milbury trades Roberto Luongo and Ollie Jokinen away for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha, but I digress).

The NHL Draft is Friday and here are some of the best ways to experience it if your team had a forgettable year.

For Tampa Bay Lightning enthusiasts (you've got the first pick!):

The Lightning will host three parties starting at 6 p.m. to make it easy for fans throughout the Tampa Bay area to come out and cheer on the team as it lays the groundwork for an exciting 2008-09 season. Boston's in Tampa, Barnacles in Brandon and Courtside Grille in Clearwater/St. Petersburg will be the party sites as the first round is televised live on VERSUS starting at 7 p.m. The Lightning Girls, the Lightning Energy Team and ThunderBug will make appearances at the parties, with t-shirts and autographed merchandise available for fans.

Come for the first pick, stay for the Lightning Girls! Then stay some more cause you've thrown back too many to drive legally.

Robert "Bobby" Holik is known for two things: (1) Being a hard-nosed defensive center in the mold of Joel Otto, and (2) being one of the most overpaid players in NHL history.

It speaks to the stupidity and desperation for SIZE that certain NHL GM's were convinced to part with mega millions for a 2nd-3rd line center just because he was 6'4" 230lbs. Never mind the fact that the guy had only three seasons where he put up more than 60 points, and never put up a 30-goal season, Holik somehow managed to earn more money than most small countries, as we can see in his salary history.

2001-02 $3,500,000
2002-03 $9,600,000
2003-04 $8,850,000
2004-05 Lockout :(
2005-06 $4,250,000
2006-07 $4,250,000
2007-08 $4,250,000


Oh, but it gets even better! Per TSN.ca, we learn that the Rangers will have to pay Holik another $3.5mil for not playing during the lockout. Hrm?

Sources tell TSN that the New York Rangers will have to pay former Ranger and current Atlanta Thrashers forward Bobby Holik $3.5 million over a contract dispute in 2004-2005.

Because of the lockout that wiped out the 2004-2005 season, the Rangers argued that Holik needed to play to earn his signing bonus.

An arbitrator disagreed and made the ruling in favor of Holik.

Let's not forget that the Rangers bought out the last two years of his contract, so he was getting even more money not to play for the Ranger$.

Nice work, if you can get it.

I know I've made a few public bets about 'eating my socks' if a certain team or player did or did not do something stupid. Of course, I could always count on the fact that said player/team would never call me out on my stupid bets, and I'd get away scot-free.

Russian bloggers, however, don't appear to get away that easily.

Thanks to my online buddy, Ben Wright of the Thrashers' Blueland Blog, we get the scoop on Ilya Kovalchuk's mother calling out a certain blogger for the bold proclamation he made during Russia's 5-4 win over Canada at the World Hockey Championships.

A Russian blogger who was live-blogging during the game posted a rather bold statement when Russia was down 4-3. He said he'd eat Ilya's skates if Kovy scored two goals. Well, Kovy scored twice, Russia won gold, and Ilya's mom heard about the blogger.

Over at Life.ru, they have a videoclip of Ilya's mama offering up a pair of his skates to the offending blogger, followed by the Russian play-by-play call of Ilya Kovalchuk's game-winning goal. They certainly aren't biased or anything :)

That's not a mother to mess with! We can see where Ilya gets his assertiveness from. Yoikes!