The second rule dealt with the issue of safety while players are pursuing the puck on a potential icing call.
[5] At the meeting, held in Naples, Florida from March 9–11, 2009, general managers of the teams discussed issues that concerned them.
Kelly intends to review the issue at the future Competition committee meeting, which is held after the Stanley Cup Finals.
[7] The managers agreed to award a second-round compensatory pick in the 2009 entry draft to the New York Rangers due to the death of Alexei Cherepanov.
The Rangers swept Tampa Bay 2–0, going on to represent the NHL in the inaugural Victoria Cup challenge game as part of the club's pre-season schedule.
[9] Other than the four overseas regular season games starting October 4, October 9 was the actual first day of regular season games as far as widespread continental North American broadcast from most providers, including pay per view hockey packages.
Another site considered was Beaver Stadium at Penn State University, with that game to likely involve the Penguins and the Flyers.
It was decided that the game would be played at Wrigley Field, the North Side home of the Chicago Cubs, as confirmed by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on July 6.
The first goal of the season was scored by Markus Naslund of the New York Rangers in Prague against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
First, Campoli retrieved a loose puck and fired a shot past Jacket's goaltender Fredrik Norrena.
[17] On December 2, 2008, Carolina Hurricanes' head coach Peter Laviolette was fired and Paul Maurice was rehired in his place.
Asked to comment on Phoenix's loss, Commissioner Gary Bettman was quoted as saying "They're going to get through the season just fine.
The Coyotes pledged all of their assets to New York company SOF Investments LP to cover an estimated debt of $80 million.
One of the team's owners, Jerry Moyes' principal source of revenue, Swift Transportation was also in financial difficulty.
The NHL reportedly wanted to work with the city of Glendale, Arizona, which owns the arena and receives revenues from the team.
ESPN also reported that Moyes wanted to sell his share of the team and that Hollywood film producer Jerry Bruckheimer was a possible interested purchaser.
[23] On February 23, the New York Rangers fired Tom Renney following an overtime loss and he was replaced on the same day by TSN analyst and former Tampa Bay Lightning head coach, John Tortorella.
Guy Carbonneau was also fired as the head coach of the Canadiens when the team was in danger of being eliminated from the playoffs.
In an ironic twist, considering his injury woes of past seasons, Jordan Leopold played in all 64 games for the Colorado Avalanche.
[25] Jacques Lemaire resigned as the first head coach of the Minnesota Wild on April 11 after missing the playoffs.
In the documents filed with the Phoenix bankruptcy court, the NHL stated that the league took official control of the team on November 14, 2008.
On June 9, despite Brent Sutter winning 51 games (a franchise record), he resigned as head coach of the New Jersey Devils after two first-round playoff losses because of family reasons.
The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.
The following is a list of players of note who played their last NHL game in 2008–09, listed with their team: In June 2008, the NHL reached a new Canadian television deal with TSN, allowing the network to broadcast 70 regular season games per season featuring at least one Canadian team.
But under the new deal, CBC and TSN selected the rights to individual series using a draft-like setup, regardless if they involve Canadian teams.