With the anticipation of hockey overseas, a tweak in the schedule, another riveting Winter Classic and a centennial sure to please, the 2008-09 National Hockey League season will be coming at you faster than a Zdeno Chara slap shot.

It all starts Oct. 4 in Prague, Czech Republic, when Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers battle Vincent Lecavalier and the revamped Tampa Bay Lightning as part of NHL Premiere-Prague. Three hours later, Daniel Alfredsson returns to his native Sweden when the Ottawa Senators open against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in NHL Premiere-Stockholm. The same teams will play again the following day.

The first game in North America will be Oct. 9, when the Toronto Maple Leafs visit Joe Louis Arena to battle the defending champion Red Wings. Prior to the contest, the Wings will unveil their championship banner, No. 11 in club history.

NHL.com has all the facts on the new season with a gigantic preview section of over 300 stories. NHL.com's staff of hockey experts break down each club and drills down to give fans exclusive looks at the statistics and players that will be important factors in the coming season. NHL.com also has detailed looks at each team's top prospects, a look back at each squad's 2008 Entry Draft selections and a final look back at how they fared in 2007-08.

The new season also will ring in a new look to the schedule as teams will play 24 games -- instead of 32 -- against their four divisional foes, 40 against the rest of the conference and 18 against teams in the other conferences. This allows for every team to skate in every building in the League at least once every two seasons. So settle back and take in all the info you need for the new season at NHL.com, your home for hockey.

On New Year's Day the NHL will present the Winter Classic, which this year features an Original-Six matchup between the Chicago Blackhawks and Red Wings at Chicago's Wrigley Field. Last season, before a record crowd of 71,217 at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, N.Y., the Penguins scored a memorable 2-1 shootout victory over the Sabres when Crosby connected for the clinching goal amidst the backdrop of a steady snowfall.

The game in Chicago will mark the third regular-season outdoor NHL contest. In 2003, Montreal edged Edmonton, 4-3, before 57,167 at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

While the League will celebrate the Winger Classic on New Year's Day, there will be a season-long celebration of the Montreal Canadiens' centennial season.

As part of that celebration, the All-Star Game will be held Jan. 25 at the Bell Centre, and the 2009 Entry Draft also will be held in Montreal the weekend of June 26-27. It's the first time in 17 years the Draft will be held in Montreal, when the 1992 selection process was held at the Montreal Forum.

The Anaheim Ducks began last season in London as defending Stanley Cup champions. They start this season 6,000 miles further west, hoping to bring the Cup back to Southern California after a disappointing season that ended with a first-round loss to Dallas in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
 
The Ducks struggled all season to put the puck in the net. The absence of Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne for most of the season didn't help -- nor did a late-season injury that cost Corey Perry the last 12 games of the regular season and three of the Ducks' six playoff games.
 
Niedermayer will be on board for the whole season. Selanne's status is still up in the air, but unlike last season, when the Ducks gave both players virtual carte blanche to set their own timetables for deciding whether they wanted to play again, the team has told Selanne he has to make a decision before training camp.

After winning the Southeast Division with a franchise-best 97 points in 2006-07, the Atlanta Thrashers failed to provide a successful encore last season stumbling to a 34-40-8 record to finish 27th in NHL standings.

Thrashers General Manager Don Waddell is hoping John Anderson, the fourth head coach in team history, can provide stability, excitement and motivation in 2008-09. Anderson has 30 years of experience in pro hockey as a player and coach, including the past 11 as the head man of the Chicago Wolves, the Thrashers’ American Hockey League affiliate since 2001. Former Rochester Americans coach Randy Cunneyworth and Wolves assistant Todd Nelson will join Anderson’s staff.

Few teams made their fans happier last season than the Boston Bruins. After all, expectations were extremely low coming into the season. Second-year General Manager Peter Chiarelli had just hired his second coach, Claude Julien, who had been previously fired by two NHL teams.

In addition, the big free-agent signing from the previous year, defenseman Zdeno Chara, had underwhelmed fans in his first season. Plus, two of the three players acquired in the Joe Thornton trade had moved on. Where were the signs of hope?

To top it off, 10 games into the season, the Bruins' best player, Patrice Bergeron, suffered a season-ending concussion when he was slammed from behind into the end boards. Oh, and the big summer free-agent signing, goalie Manny Fernandez, needed knee surgery.

We repeat, where were the signs of hope?

Remove a division titlist's best player from the roster and you've got a team with a problem. Remove the top three players and you likely have a team that fails to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That's what happened to the Buffalo Sabres last season when the top two centers, Chris Drury and Daniel Briere, left via free agency and top defenseman Teppo Numminen was diagnosed with a heart ailment at the opening of training camp.

 

That was quite a blow to a team that had won the Presidents' Trophy for best regular-season record the previous season.

Despite possessing world-class players Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff, the Calgary Flames saw their 2007-08 season end much sooner than anticipated with a first-round exit in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Under the belief that his team needed more firepower, Flames General Manager Darryl Sutter spent the offseason adding the likes of forwards Mike Cammalleri and Todd Bertuzzi. Both are expected to help Calgary win more of those always-tight games in the Northwest Division.

Cammalleri and Bertuzzi can only be excited about skating alongside Iginla, who ranked third in the League last season in both goals (50) and points (98). With the loss of center Kristian Huselius to free agency, the trio of Iginla, Cammalleri and Bertuzzi will be heavily relied upon to produce offense.

After failing to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs the last two seasons in the wake of winning the Stanley Cup in 2006, Carolina Hurricanes General Manager Jim Rutherford is optimistic his club can turn it around this season.

Having forwards Rod Brind'Amour, Justin Williams, Matt Cullen and Ray Whitney healthy will certainly help that cause. Brind'Amour (knee) and Williams (knee) missed a combined 67 games to injury, Cullen (concussion) was sidelined 23 games and Whitney (ankle) missed 16 contests. Their return, in addition to a full season from forward Tuomo Ruutu, will only help enhance an offense that finished 2007-08 scoring at a 3.05 goals-per-game clip. When Rutherford re-signed Ruutu, left wing Erik Cole, who spent six productive seasons in Carolina, was dealt to Edmonton in exchange for 24-year-old defenseman Joni Pitkanen. It marked the continued summer rebuilding process of a defense that ranked 25th in the League, allowing three goals per game.

The renaissance of the Chicago Blackhawks is scoring the Windy City's hockey club front-page headlines across North America.

Patrick Kane winning the Calder Trophy. The NHL Winter Classic. Brian Campbell. Cristobal Huet. Scotty Bowman.

It's been a summer of fun in Chicago after a season of change that saw youngsters such as Kane and new team captain Jonathan Toews turn into superstars, while defenseman Duncan Keith developed into an All-Star and veterans like Patrick Sharp and Robert Lang supremely played supporting roles.

Now it's time to kick it up a notch.

Despite numerous injuries to key players like Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth, the Colorado Avalanche not only managed to stay competitive last season, but nearly won the Northwest Division, finishing just three points behind the Minnesota Wild.

As we head into the 2008-09 season, though, significant changes have been made. Tony Granato, who coached the Avs from 2002-04, has replaced Joel Quenneville behind the bench. Sakic, who has been with the franchise since the Quebec Nordiques drafted him in the first round in 1987, has not committed to return.

Jose Theodore is no longer between the pipes, as the free-agent netminder signed a deal with the Washington Capitals. Instead, the Avalanche will be going with a tandem of Peter Budaj and newcomer Andrew Raycroft, who spent the past two seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The key word in Columbus this season is depth, which is something the Blue Jackets have never really had until now.

They have depth up front with the potential of 15 or more NHL-ready forwards. They have depth on the back end with eight or nine NHL-ready defenseman. They have depth in goal with a true No. 1 backed by a veteran and an up-and-comer.

Will it translate into the organization's first playoff berth? That's still unknown, but coach Ken Hitchcock believes Columbus is closer than it's ever been and it's finally fair to put some lofty expectations on his revamped club.