[Loki309]

Hey there hows it going? Ready for some action on the Ice? I sure as heck am!

This year marks the 91st season on the NHL. And it should be a good one. Lets take a moment to see how the season is scheduled out.

2008-2009 NHL Calendar:
Oct. 4-5—Ottawa Senators vs. Pittsburgh Penguins at Stockholm, Sweden; New York Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning at Prague, Czech Republic.
Oct. 9—2008-09 NHL regular season begins in North America.
Nov. 8—Hockey Hall of Fame Game, Montreal Canadiens at Toronto Maple Leafs.
Nov. 10.—Hockey Hall of Fame induction, Toronto.
Dec. 1—Signing deadline for Group 2 free agents.
Dec. 19-27—Holiday roster freeze in effect. No waivers, trades and loans permitted.
Dec. 26-Jan. 5—IIHF World Under 20 Championship, Ottawa.

Jan. 1—NHL Winter Classic 2009. Detroit Red Wings vs. Chicago Blackhawks, Wrigley Field, Chicago.
Jan 22-26—All-Star break.
Jan. 24—NHL SuperSkills Competition, Montreal.
Jan. 25—NHL All-Star Game, Montreal.
March 3—Trade deadline, 3 p.m. EST.
April 9-19—IIHF Under 18 World Championship, Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn.
April 12—Last day of 2008-09 regular season.
April 15—Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.
April 24-May 10—IIHF World Championship, Switzerland.
May 25-30—NHL Combine, Toronto.
June 15—Last possible day for Stanley Cup finals.
June 26-27—NHL draft, Montreal.
July 1—Free agency signing period begins.
July 5—Deadline for player-elected salary arbitration.
July 6—Deadline for club-elected salary arbitration.
July 10—Deadline for eligible players to elect Group 5 free agency.
July 20-Aug. 4—Salary arbitration hearings held.
Aug. 6—Deadline for salary arbitration decisions to be rendered.
(Information from Yahoo sports found here: NHL Calendar - NHL - Yahoo! Sports)
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So while the 4th isn't the official opening day for the NHL, there will be some great action on that night, and on the 5th, with the Ottawa Senators vs. Pittsburgh Penguins at Stockholm, Sweden; and New York Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning at Prague, Czech Republic. Now if your not lucky enough to get CBC-TV then your going to miss out on this Hockey Double header, and the Sunday game with the Senators and Penguins. If your lucky enough to get CBC-TV, then send me a plane ticket!!!

Other Dates to note:
Nov. 8—Hockey Hall of Fame Game, Montreal Canadiens at Toronto Maple Leafs.
Jan. 1—NHL Winter Classic 2009. Detroit Red Wings vs. Chicago Blackhawks, Wrigley Field, Chicago.
Jan 22-26—All-Star break.
March 3—Trade deadline, 3 p.m. EST.

April 12—Last day of 2008-09 regular season.
April 15—Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.
April 24-May 10—IIHF World Championship, Switzerland.


Season Opener is scheduled for the 9th. Lets check how your team is doing so far in preseason play.


NHL - Standings - Yahoo! Sports


Remember this is preseason play, teams and coaches are attempting things that you may never see in regular season play. Offensive and Defensive pairings are being tested, and strategies are being worked on. Once the 9th rolls around you will know exactly whats up.


Lets look at the injured list:


NHL - Injuries - Yahoo! Sports


Here's who I think you may have to worry about.


Chicago Blackhawks James Wisniewski D: (Torn ACL) A strong defensive person, in a club that seems to always flounder due to not enough Defense! I haven't heard anything new on him yet.



Pittsburgh Penguins Sergei Gonchar D: (Dislocated Shoulder, Shoulder Surgery) Ouch! This guy was big for Pits in the playoffs last season. Just heard from ABC Sports hes having surgery, out for 4-6 months. Not good!


St. Louis Blues Erik Johnson D: (Torn ACL and MCL) Uh oh! Again, Defensive players going down for a team whos defense has been less than spectacular in past years (and thats putting it lightly). I haven't gotten any new word on him.



Tampa Bay Lightning Jeff Halpern C: (Ruptured Right ACL, Right Knee Surgery) Now, this isn't that big of a loss for TB. This guy put up low numbers in Dal in 06 and 07 and 08 before he was traded. But he was a spectacular player for Washington when he started. If we were in 10 weeks into the season and this guy went down, thats when TB would be feeling the pain. This guy is out indefinitly so far.


Other than that teams are't giving much data on their players. They aren't required to give much out in preseason. Check the news files on the 9th though, you will be blown away with player updates, team news, and all sorts of statistics.


Another thing I am gonna cover, that is not a weekly feature in "Whats What in Hockey" is the broadcast schedule.


You can find it here, NHL.com - The National Hockey League Web Site


Notice that a lot of games will be covered this year by local stations. And that the national stations aren't as big of a player this year as they have been in the past year. NBC will Pick up some games in Jan, but the real NBC Sunday hockey coverage will not be there til late Feb. Thats normal. They will be on board for Feb March April, and then for most of the play off games. WHEN WILL WE GET A NATIONAL HOCKEY CHANNEL?!


Loki's Picks:


This section wouldn't be used normaly durring the preseason, but I wanted to the Europe games should be fun so I will talk about those and only those.


In the Ottawa Senators vs. Pittsburgh Penguins at Stockholm, Sweden games. Look for the young Penguins team to be a little rattled the first night but pulling off a close 2-1 game. Day 2, will be a little better for the Penguins, 3-0. So I think Penguins will ultimatly performe without the help of Gonchar and take this Euro series 2-0 over the Senators (Sorry Senators)


As for the New York Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning at Prague, Czech Republic, this one should be closer. I think we are going to see an overtime win going to the Rangers on night win, I will say 4-3 Rangers that night in Overtime. However TB is going to bounce back and go 4-2 on the Rangers in the second game. So each time will walk away with a 1-1 weekend in Prague.


Thus ends the first edition of "Whats What In Hockey!" The first official week will be next week. Be warned, these things take time to write and post, and I will try to have it up between Sunday - Tuesday. But most likely it should be up Monday afternoon/evening. Check back for the next look at Whats What in Hockey, where I will break down the Divisions, and Confrences, and we will get you the opening seasons match ups, and picks. If you would like to submit picks or NHL insight, you may PM it to me on the forums. Who know's it might just make it into Whats What in Hockey!


Thanks for reading!

[Seahawker 562]

Im pumped for the season and the winter classic at wrigley

[Oli Jokinen!]

Let's go Sabres!!!
May not win the Stanley, but they definetly are in the playoffs!!!

[Loki309]

So what do you think about the NHL Premier in Stockholm and Prauge?

And the Montreal Toronto game marking the NHL hall of fame inductions?

I think both are great moves. This season is going to have plenty of action.

[Oli Jokinen!]

A lot of traveling for the NHL teams. Vactions I think to them!

[Loki309]

Some of them are going to feel right at home in Stockholm/Prauge, I am wondering how hockey fans in that area are going to view the NHL games especially since the NHL and KHL are kinda fighting it out still over contracts.