When the NHL will quit warning the Flyers? Is Sid the Kid is really the greatest and what award did the Leafs pick up?
If the Philadelphia Flyers were on the NHL's warning list before the Steve Downie incident in Toronto on Saturday night, where are they now? On double-secret probation?
I have no problem with not suspending Downie for his second cheap and gutless act this season, a sucker punch to the eye of Leafs forward Jason Blake. That sort of thing goes on all the time in the NHL with players throwing punches while linesmen attempt to gain control of their little sideshow act. For what it's worth -- and one has to wonder exactly what that is in the NHL today -- Downie's latest act defines him for what he is and how he will be perceived by other NHL players. Players in the league now know for certain what players in junior hockey already understand: Downie is not to be regarded as anything more than a dirty player.
He will be treated accordingly.
But the problem here is that the Flyers had been warned that any more outrageous acts will not be tolerated. Starting when, you ask? The edict came down earlier this season from the commissioner himself and the first time the league had a chance to back up that statement: nothing. Downie got a fine and a "stern" warning.
Under normal circumstances, fine, fair enough. But these were not normal circumstances. The NHL made a point of putting the Flyers on notice to control their players; punching the eye of a player who was being restrained by a linesman falls horribly and dishonestly short of being in control.
Tell me what team is going to take a warning from the commissioner's office seriously after that?
I read for the umpteenth time after the outdoor game in Buffalo that it couldn't have been scripted any better with the best player in the game scoring the winning goal in a shootout before a sellout stadium crowd (and an additional 11,000 watching on the big screen in Buffalo's HSBC Arena downtown).
The latest to voice this opinion was Peter King, the very fine football writer/personality who writes and makes appearances for national publications and broadcast outlets including NBC. Bottom line, King is a huge hockey fan.
But here's the question: once you win the Hart and Pearson trophies, are you the best player in the game every season thereafter? I ask because there's a substantial argument that there are other players who can make claim to that title this season. Crosby isn't just good, he is great and a joy to watch every time he sets foot to ice. But can you be the greatest player if you're not having the greatest season?
When Wayne Gretzky owned that title it came about because he reached the top and remained there year after year after year. Same for Bobby Orr, Mario Lemieux (most of the years he was healthy) and a handful of others. Crosby may have an even stronger second half and sweep the awards, but given what we've seen so far, he may not. Especially if Jarome Iginla, Vinny Lecavalier, Ilya Kovalchuk, anyone of the Ottawa Senators big three of Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley or Daniel Alfredsson or one of a handful of superb goaltenders keep playing the way they are.
We're quick to anoint stars in the NHL. Somehow Mark Messier has been declared not just the best leader on his team or his era, but of all time and by no less an authority than the NHL marketing offices and the Hockey Hall of Fame presenters. And in the same vein, Crosby has gone from a young phenom to the game's greatest player. Funny, but I thought a history of achievement at the highest level over a long period of time was the determining factor in that arena. Crosby is an odds-on favorite in that regard, but he hasn't done it yet.
While we're on the subject of best, here are my midseason picks:
Best Team
Detroit Red Wings: There is no second place; only a tie between Ottawa in the East and San Jose in the West.
The Red Wings are just a joy to watch and at the half have 67 points, and just eight losses. Heck, the Senators, a good team, earlier this season nearly lost that many in a row. Give the Sharks some credit here, almost from the moment certain media types wrote them off as frauds, they've started tearing it up and are starting to show that they have grit as well as some talent.
Player adjudged to be most valuable to his team:
1. Jarome Iginla; 2. Roberto Luongo; 3. Ilya Kovalchuk
Iginla is playing as well as humanly possible, and he is the glue that has put the Calgary Flames back together. The modern definition of a power forward that also happens to carry himself with class and dignity. There is no more complete player in the game today.
Luongo gets the nod because he is what Dominik Hasek was to the Buffalo Sabres in the '90s, the single reason they win. Kovalchuk, because he's a singular highlight reel and carries a mediocre team all by himself. Honorable mention to Columbus' Pascal Leclaire and Florida's Tomas Vokoun and St. Louis' Manny Legace, Washington's Alex Ovechkin, Chicago's Patrick Sharp, San Jose's Joe Thornton, Los Angeles' Anze Kopitar and Philadelphia's Mike Richards.
Player adjudged to be playing to the Best of his Ability so far this season:
1. Lecavalier; 2. Iginla; 3. Sidney Crosby and Henrik Zetterberg
Leading the game in points and panache, Tampa's Lecavalier is dominating -- despite the fact his team plays so poorly. Iginla is performing beautifully in every area and he also leads the league with six game-winning goals passes well, skates well, throws in the occasional motivating fight, leads with authority and scares the heck out of every defenceman he faces. Crosby, well, because he's Crosby and he plays with a heavy marketing load. Zetterberg because he's the driving force and best player on the league's best team.
Best Goalie:
1.Luongo; 2. Chris Osgood; 3. Tomas Vokoun
Netminder is always a tough call because some teams (Minnesota, Columbus, Boston) play to prevent goals while others try to score them. We give Luongo a slight edge over Osgood simply because he makes one mistake and the Canucks, who can't score, lose. Osgood, who is playing superbly, has the cushion of having the best team in hockey in front of him. Vokoun faces more shots than any other in the game and (like Luongo when he was with the Panthers) stops them on a nightly basis. Were it not for a poor start to the season (after the surprising trade from Nashville), he'd likely have the best numbers in the game. No small achievement when playing behind for a team that without him barely registers a pulse.
Best Coaching Job (which is slightly different than best coach)
1. Mike Babcock & staff; 2. Ted Nolan; 3. Wayne Gretzky.
It's not just because Babcock has the best team (that often makes it harder), it's because his team is unselfish and can beat you any way you want to play the game. It takes good coaching to make that happen. Nolan gets No. 2 spot because he's got nothing on offence and nearly nothing on defence, and has his team ahead of so many teams that have more. Gretzky simply because nobody scores and the goaltending is mediocre at best, and yet he's taken his team from arguably the worst in the NHL last season to respectability in just 40 games.
Honorable mention: Mike Keenan (Calgary), Brent Sutter (New Jersey Devils), Ken Hitchcock (Columbus) and Craig Ramsay -- who though he is "only" an associate coach is as noticeable by his presence in Boston as he is by his absence in Tampa Bay.
Best Defencemen
1. Nicklas Lidstrom; 2. Dallas' Sergei Zubov; 3. Detroit's Brian Rafalski & Andrej Meszaros
Lidstrom is so good it's now difficult to find new ways to say it. Zubov plays a similar game, smart, strong, thinking and he carries a team that no longer counts Mike Modano as a leader or producer. Rafalski is almost mistake proof in his own zone and Meszaros might be the most underrated, all-around defenceman in the game.
Honorable Mention: Gary Bettman. Bettman's defence of the game while completely ignoring the downturn in scoring and the impact of the rise of the Canadian dollar has been so unshakable he reminds one of Chris Pronger on his way out of Edmonton
Best Hockey Organization this Season
1. Detroit; 2. Ottawa; 3. New Jersey & San Jose
The Red Wings keeping playing at the highest levels year after year and challenge after challenge and are runaway winners in this category again this season. Ottawa soldiers on despite the loss of noteworthy hockey man John Muckler and with a change in the coaching ranks and with some goaltender issues. New Jersey boss Lou Lamoriello stumbled a bit last season with another last minute coaching change, but rebounded to overcome huge losses to free agency all while fitting in another new coach and opening the season with nine straight road games because their new building wasn't finished (and still isn't).
In San Jose Doug Wilson has built a good to almost great team and has room under the salary cap to make it better. Honorable mention to the Ducks of Anaheim who have good scouting, management and coaching and an newbie owner with a commitment to letting them do their jobs and to the Minnesota Stars who can say exactly the same.
Worst Hockey Organization this Season
1. Toronto; 2. Florida; 3. Buffalo
The Leafs have money, market size, a fan base whose money and loyalty borders on the absurd and they even have a decent hockey man in John Ferguson. But they fail where they always fail, at the top. If they had a trophy for ineptitude, the Leafs would have retired it. Florida signed Vokoun and that's good, but they got him to replace Luongo and that's both typical and too bad. The Panthers are also too poor to hire a coach and a general manager; and it shows.
The Sabres spent the last two years trying (and failing) to win the Eastern Conference Finals and might now miss the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Sabres cut scouting down to the cost of a video tape machine; butchered their dealings with co-scoring leaders and co-captains Chris Drury and Daniel Briere; got forced into overpaying for the now disappointing Thomas Vanek; damaged their defence and the morale in their locker room with a kick to the broken heart of defenceman Teppo Numminen; made no acquisitions to replace the players they lost, cheapened out on a long-time relationship with their AHL affiliate (now shared with Florida and what does that tell you) and cut spending to well under the cap in order to enhance profitability while pocketing a big chuck of change from the outdoor extravaganza. With actions like that one would think the Sabres either don't know what they are doing or owner Tom Gollisano knows exactly what he is doing and that's gathering as much cash as possible before positioning the franchise for a sale once his tax breaks run out.
Biggest Disappointment (Team)
1. Tampa Bay Lightning; 2. Buffalo Sabres; 3. Edmonton Oilers
The Lightning can be fun to watch offensively, but they botched the salary cap, haven't had a goaltender since they won the Cup in 2004 and can't seem to fix anything themselves. I know we gave the Sabres a bit of a plus when they rolled out six-straight wins (seemingly erasing a lousy start) just before Christmas, but they followed that up with six-straight losses and might be the most underachieving team in the game today. Edmonton has problems on the ice and in the ownership offices and it shows ... again.
Biggest Disappointment (Player)
1. Brad Richards; 2. Thomas Vanek; 3. Andrew Raycroft
In the case of Richards and Vanek, look at paychecks then look at the stats. Enough said. Regarding Raycroft, it's as much of a case of oversell as it is performance, but the performance is still pretty weak.
Best Rookie
1. No mas
I do this every season, pick the best of the early crop and then watch as they drop in the second half and the real cream rises. We'll make a call at season's end when we can be sure that Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Nicklas Backstrom, Tobias Enstrom, Carey Price, Mike Smith and Josh Harding are as good down the stretch as they were in the first lap.