Less than two weeks remain on the NHL Regular Season calendar and with each passing day the standings in both Conferences are an ever changing roller coaster ride. There is a tight race for the final few playoff spots in both Conferences that will no doubt continue to be an interesting topic through the final days of the season.

More impressive is the Pacific Division; Four teams all with a realistic shot of landing the coveted 3rd seed in the Western Conference and home ice advantage for the first round of the postseason.

Needless to say parody is at an all time high in the NHL!

While the NHL has worked hard to create a league with parody and equality it can be argued that a negative byproduct of the current system is preventing the NHL postseason from being as competitive and entertaining as it actually could be!

By providing the Divisional winners automatic ranks of 1, 2 and 3 the NHL has actually created an unequal playing field for great teams that happen to play in the same Division as other great teams.

As of Sunday March 25th the 4 best teams in the Eastern Conference could all be found in the Atlantic Division, and a similar situation exists in the Western Conference as 4 of the top 5 teams all reside in the Central Division. Because the winners of the other Divisions are automatically given the 2nd and 3rd seeds for the playoffs the teams that don’t win the Atlantic or Central Divisions will be ranked 4th, 5th and 6th going into the playoffs.

Clearly the Atlantic and Central Division are the strongest divisions in professional hockey but yet they are penalized instead of being rewarded for icing great teams and having great seasons. In fact the teams in the Atlantic and Central Division are so strong they have managed to dominate the Eastern and Western Conference despite having to play each other so frequently. Each team will play inter-divisional rivals 6 times this season; for a total of 24 games.

Yup that’s right; they play about 30% of their games against each other and yet they still manage to have more points than the best teams in Divisions like the Southeast, Northeast, Pacific and Northwest (Vancouver Excluded) who play a majority of their schedule against inferior teams within their own Division.

It’s only logical to assume that because they play so many of their games against each other that these teams must be dominating the other Divisions within their Conference this season; the season totals answer that question.

Atlantic vs Rest of Eastern Conference: 109 – 57 – 17

Central vs Rest of Western Conference: 103 – 70 – 16

Instead of rewarding the Best of the Worst in the Southeast with the 3rd seed perhaps the NHL should just start rewarding teams for icing a good team and having great seasons by giving them a fair and equitable shot at winning the Stanley Cup. Here is an example of what I mean:

If the NHL were to start it’s playoffs tomorrow and all of the top ranked teams win their first round match-ups the Eastern Conference semi-finals would look like this.

(1) NY Rangers vs (4) Pittsburgh Penguins

(2) Boston Bruins vs (3) Florida Panthers

The two best teams in the East (Rangers & Pens) would be forced to play each other while the Bruins would benefit from being the second seed and get the easiest opponent (Panthers). Doesn’t really make sense and seem fair to me! The Rangers get screwed over by having to face the toughest opponent left in the East and similarly the Pens get screwed over by having to play the Conference Semi-Finals on the road and against the best team in the East. The same can be said for the Western Conference.

Divisions are developed in every professional sports league to create rivalries, well could you imagine any better setting for a heated rivalry than a Conference Finals with a shot to play for the Stanley Cup on the line? Imagine the Pens playing the Flyers in a battle of Pennsylvania, or the Leafs and Sens creating a frenzy in Ontario? Well the Leafs and Sens might be a stretch but you get my drift.

By structuring the Standings the way they do the NHL is actually limiting the potential for a great Divisional match-up in the Conference Finals. Over the past 10 seasons we have only seen 1 of these match-ups in the East Final and only 2 in the West.

The only way to say with any certainty that the two best teams are playing for the Stanley Cup is to change the Standing structure and allow the best teams to get the best seeds, regardless of the Division they play in. I don’t mind if one spot is guaranteed for each Division but they should not get special treatment just for being the best of the worst.

What do you think?

It’s only a day after Duncan Keith delivered a flying elbow to the head of Daniel Sedin as retaliation for a previous hit that Sedin had laid on Keith. Keith’s hit was illegal and he will absolutely be suspended for it; however this is one of those cases where I believe that an illegal action was also a necessary action. Necessary because proper justice was not going to be served for a hit that Keith felt crossed the line.

Vancouver fans are crying “bloody murder”, and a good percentage of NHL players and fans are quietly thinking to themselves.. “couldn’t have happened to a better team”. It is undeniable that the Vancouver Canucks have a reputation as being one the NHL’s dirtiest and most hated teams and last night they got exactly what they deserved, a taste of their own Dirty Medicine.

And for those Canuck fans who believe that the Sedin hit wasn’t illegal let me quickly explain why it was both intentional and illegal, using the typical criteria of analysis that the NHL uses.

1) Did Keith have the puck – NO

2) Was the hit from the blindside – YES

3) Was the principle point of contact the head – YES

These three facts alone makes it an illegal hit; but lets look a little closer at the hit itself. Can we at least agree that hockey hits are designed to be Shoulder on Shoulder…. I mean that’s why they wear those massive shoulder pads isn’t it??

So if hockey hits are designed to be shoulder on shoulder why does Sedin skate right past Keith’s right shoulder, proceed around to the front of his body and just as he is about to deliver a hit to Keith’s Sternum elevate his shoulder right into Keith’s face? I’ve played enough hockey to know a deliberate action when a I see it and both Sedin’s hit and Keith’s hit were deliberate attempts to hit the other in the head. Really the only difference lies in the Cause & Effect relationship…. without one hit we would not have the other.

Now it’s the NHL’s turn.. most of the blame for this incident goes to Brendan Shanahan and the NHL; for refusing to hand out real suspensions to those who target another players head (and livelihood) with either an elbow or shoulder. A real suspension of 20 + games for a first offense would almost eliminate the concussion problem plaguing the NHL. Matt Cooke is a prime example; Cooke received almost 20 games for his illegal hit to the head at the end of the season last year. This was Cooke’s 5th suspension for an illegal hit to the head; but it was the first suspension that was large enough to actually send a message to Cooke. Just image if this message had of been sent during his first suspension… there would be 4 fewer players in the NHL with brain damage of some degree.

This season Cooke has learned to play the game with integrity as a result of the message sent at the end of last year, and the results of these changes incredible. Cooke has averaged a little over 100 PIM’s over the past 5 years and this year only has 30. Oh and he also has more goals this year than he ever has before; and has more points this year than any of his previous 7 seasons.

A message was sent to play hockey, and that is exactly what Cooke is doing.

Perhaps Keith would not have needed to retaliate if the NHL had a history of handling head shots properly; but they don’t so Keith retaliated to deliver the justice that he felt the NHL would deny him… and honestly I can’t blame him and I doubt that his coach, teammates, GM and owners will blame him either.

Well I do have to admit.. considering who is really in charge (Gary Bettman & Owners) it doesn’t surprise me when with regular frequency a new rule or addendum the NHL approves make absolutely no sense to me. So as a result I have decided to start a new regular Blog called: Nonsensical Hockey League. The frequency with which this blog will be posted all depends on Bettman and others involved in shaping the game that makes less sense every time they get together to play golf.

(1)  2 For 1 Penalties – Well it was called in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals and it embodies everything that is wrong with the NHL.. far too much grey. I don’t know about you but as a former official the idea of calling a diving penalty AND a hook, hold, trip makes absolutely no sense to me. You don’t see the NBA calling an offensive and defensive foul at the same time… you can’t be out in the MLB and get to stay on base; but for some reason in the NHL a player can dive (meaning they weren’t really hooked, held or tripped) and the referee can call a dive and a hook, hold or trip..?

This usually happens when the official can’t decide which happened, but he’s positive the receiving player embellished whatever happened. There it is again.. the Grey area that the NHL loves to give it’s officials. So instead of trying to get it right they just send them both to box. Well the problem with this is the now we have players that are diving with regular frequency; and as long as they do a good job “selling it” they will at worst go to the box with someone else.

Want to solve this problem? Give the benefit of the doubt to the one not embellishing or diving. A few bad diving penalties and their roster spot will be in jeopardy.. that much I can guarantee! Problem solved! See Gary that wasn’t that difficult..

(2) The Goal Review Process – You know what I’m talking about.. the extensive amount of time you get at random points of the game to grab a beer and make a new plate of nachos… and yes this one is covered in Grey as well! Considering the considerable amount of time it takes for the mystery man in the sky to review and decide upon a questionable goal I honestly don’t know why they don’t just put a tv screen in the box for the officials. I know that by the time CBC or TSN has shown me all of the angles they have I can make an educated decision and still grab a beer from the fridge.

I mean the officials are the ones that have to make a call on the ice.. and if the review is inconclusive the call on the ice has to stand regardless of whether it logically makes sense (i.e. – a puck under a pad or glove that isn’t visible). It couldn’t possibly take longer for the officials to just review the play on their screen in the box and at least this way he could do what he feels fit with his own call. The current method is foolish.. especially considering the plausible deniability that both the mystery man in the sky and the official have exists only because of each other.

(3) 2 Here – 3 Points There – While the post lockout hockey has definitely been faster paced and more exciting their new point structure is both unfair and illogical. Yet again the only professional sport in the North America where the number of points handed out during a giving game can vary from 2 to 3 is the NHL. I don’t know if they stated why they did this but the only thing I can come up with is that they believe that it will help create league parody. I can honestly say that I have done the math and if the point structure was even and fair (meaning 3 points for a regulation win, 2 for OT win/SO win, 1 for OT loss/SO loss, and 0 for a regulation loss) the parody would still exist. I have extrapolated the points for each season since the lockout and there are several situations where a team that missed would have made the playoffs.

The thing that makes this illogical is that while trying to create parody that already exists they are actually creating a lesser quality product. If 3 points were available for a regulation win more teams would be in contention for the playoffs for a longer period of time in the regular season. Have you also noticed how boring a third period between two tied teams can be in the regular season? Almost as if both teams are just happy to pick up at least a single point? Well I guarantee that if there was an extra point available for a regulation win the third periods of tied games would be a hell of a lot more exciting.

Well that’s it for now from the guy that just doesn’t understand!

Time to continue the review of Bob Nicholson`s comments following Canada`s quarter-final exit from the World Hockey Championships…

When asked about players declining the invitation extended after their first (or second) round series ended Bob had the following to say…

“It`s a few key players… This team was good enough to win, but with on or more players (it could have been different). You know what, Hockey Canada have been pretty good to those players through the under-18, the juniors and an Olympics Games.. I thought they would have thought about that before refusing to come this year.“

Clearly Bob and his Gm Dave Nonis were not impressed by the declined invitations but if you are going to bring something like this to the media you might as well state names…. they did it last year when Crosby refused the invitiation. If your expectations exceed your results why throw the blame on the shoulders of a “a few unnamed players“. Step up and accept some responsiblity yourself for selecting the GM, and the GM should do the same for putting the roster together…. if we are going to play the blame game that is.

Because in my opinion there is plenty of blame to go around… and why just blame the players that refused after being eliminated from playoff contention. The team didn’t have a legitimate starting goaltender on it’s roster…Eric Stall and Cam Ward both should have been on the team but they weren’t so clearly they refused to participate as well right? Or perhaps they weren`t asked….which would be the GM’s fault… see what I’m getting at here! If you are going to make it a public process in the future you should let the public know everyone that was asked and everyone that has declined. That way we are not just judging the morals of the players that refuse but we also get to judge the ability of the GM…… and Bob himself.

Now before I move on I want to quickly talk about legitimate reasons why players might decline the invintation other than injury. This is for those who decided to blame Crosby for last years loss not the GM Messier and for those who will blame those who they believe turned down this years invintation.

(1) Executive Roster Favors - Those who are asked to coach and act as GM have usually given players on the team they work for preferential treatment when putting the team together.. Eric Stall, Rene Boruque and even Mike Ribero or Andy McDonald would have been a better selection than Antoine Vermette who clearly made the team because his coach is Ken Hitchcock. Stephane Robidas, Trevor Daley, Jay Bouwmeester and Mark Giordano (to name a few) were more deserving than Luke Schenn who clearly made the team because Nonis works for Toronto… and of course Cam Ward would have been a massive upgrade over James Reimer who also plays for the Leafs….. So my point is why would players feel obligated to play with a National team that doesn’t have the best players available on it???

(2) Saving Roster Spots – I don’t know about you but if I was a Canadian hockey player and was awarded with the opportunity to play for my country you would probably invite family members and maybe even friends to come and watch you right? Well Canada has decreased the number of roster spots it “saves” for players eliminated from the playoffs meaning that with every addition to the roster someone else has to sit and watch from the stands… with their friends and family members. Doesn’t really seem fair.. or Canadian in my opinion and while I doubt every player invited has this thought process but I know that some of them have to think to themselves before saying no… “do I really want to take the opportunity away from someone else?”

I know that last  year when the team got off to a slow start and Mark Messier was feeling the heat he really needed Crosby to come in and “save the day”. But why is Crosby’s job to fix Messier`s mistakes? It was clear that the team Messier put together wasn’t the best team possible. And do you really think that those who said NO this year didn’t realize why guys like Vermette, Reimer, Schenn made the team?

In my opinion the roster should either be set in stone and not changeable after the playoffs begin.. or team Canada should go back to a format where they set aside more roster spots for players still involved in the playoffs that they have in mind….

Anyways just a few more thoughts on comments that rubbed me the wrong way.. feel free to comment and let me know what you think.

With the World Hockey Championships coming to a close and Canada’s second straight year without a  medal Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson needs to look himself in the mirror…. but not because of the poor results.. because of the comments he made a few days ago regarding their lack of success…..

” Unacceptable, totally unacceptable,” said Nicholson. “Everyone has to find a way to be better.”

I guess my first question is what are  your expectations Bob? Because based on the rosters you have sent the previous two years I just assumed you had changed your focus. I just figured that with the youth movement you had infused Canada’s rosters with that you had decided to treat the WHC as a development process. Now based on his comments I know this isn’t true; although honestly I didn’t have a problem with it and I actually thought it was a good idea. Because the IIHF has decided this tournament will take place at the same time as the NHL playoffs we are not able to send our best roster anyways so why not give some of the good young talented kids playing in the NHL these days an opportunity to gain experience at the International level? It surely will help them in the NHL career and also any future WHC or Olympics they are selected to play in!

My second question for Bob is this: Are you really that naive and arrogant to believe that we can send our “C” or “D” squad to this tournament and expect to medal every year? I’M NOT!!! While I do believe that our “A” squad should win a Gold medal most of the time I’m not that naive to think that the rosters you have been sending are medal contenders. There are a lot of talented hockey players across this Globe and at least 8 countries are able to field a competitive team for this tournament every year. So if you truly believe the outcomes are unacceptable then you need to give you head a shake… Canadians alike don’t expect much from this tournament on a yearly basis so neither should you!

Now let’s be honest with ourselves.. the World Hockey Championships isn’t that important to Canadian hockey fans. We will watch it if it’s on but we aren’t exactly cutting out of work early to catch a game. There are numerous reasons why we don’t really support it and I would hope that your line of thinking is similar to mine and you don’t support it because you don’t like the way we are treated by the IIHF!

About 10 years ago the IIHF decided to host the World Juniors in Canada every other year (or more frequently) and this had to do with one thing and one thing only: PROFIT. Every year around Christmas time the tournament is sold out and we generate a lot of money for the IIHF so you would think that the IIHF would do us Canadians a favor and push the start date of the WHC back a few weeks… but they don’t. A few weeks is all it would take for the first and second round of the playoffs to be over and that way we (and other countries) would be able to field a much more competitive team. A logical person would deduce that more competitive teams mean a more entertaining tournament… so not only is the IIHF screwing us; they are screwing themselves!

Now while I did get a little of topic at the end of this blog I do have more to say regarding other comments Nicholson made to the media so check out Part 2 which will be posted soon.

Eastern Conference: (3) Boston Bruins vs (5) Tampa Bay Lightning

Prediction: Bruins in 5

For those who have forgot the Eastern Conference Finals will feature two teams that haven’t played in weeks. Both teams managed to sweep their opponents in the last round to get to this point. Despite their commanding wins I don’t see this being a close series and in fact another sweep is a real possibility it will just depend on how disciplined the Boston Bruins manage to play.

The Montreal Canadiens managed to take Boston to 7 games by capitalizing on their PP opportunities and the Lightning have the best PP percentage of any remaining team. They have a total of 12 PP goals and have only scored 38 goals in total. The Bruins are simply deeper on offense and defense and despite the excellent play of Dwayne Roloson the Bruins win the goaltending battle as well in my opinion.

If you are wondering why I am not giving the Lightning a ton of credit or respect heading into this series it has to do with the body of work they have displayed. It took the Bolts 7 games to knock off a Pens team that didn’t have a legitimate goal scorer on their roster. While the Caps should have provided more of a challenge to the Bolts than they did I think we can all agree that Bruins weren’t supposed to roll over the Flyers in 4 either.

The main problem with the Bolts is their lack of depth on offense.. and this is a strength of the Bruins so I expect a tight checking defensive minded team like the Bruins to have no problem shutting down the 3 offensive threats the Bolts do have.

Western Conference: (1) Vancouver Canucks vs (2) San Jose Sharks

Prediction: Sharks in 6

Yet again the Western Conference match-up will surely be the one to watch as it should be a longer series and a more even match-up.  It should be fast paced and an offensive battle unlike the Eastern Conference Finals.

On paper I give the edge to the Sharks Forwards, the Canucks Goaltender and the Defense are a wash. Most would assume as a result that this match-up is a toss up; however it couldn’t be further from the truth. You see the problem with analysing this series on paper would indicate that the Sedins will product offensively and I believe that this will be their most difficult series yet. After playing an offensively challenged team like the Preds the Canucks will be facing the deepest offensive team in this years playoffs. Anytime your 3rd line centre is Joe Pavelski you have exceptional depth up front.

I don’t think that Ryan Kesler, clearly the Canucks best forward, will have the time and space he enjoyed against the Preds. If it were me I would have Pavelski on Keslers ass all series long and if you can shut down Kesler you will effectively shut down their offense. If Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau decide to show up this series the Canucks will have more than can handle as young guns Logan Coture and Devin Setogouchi are already flying with Joe Thornton playing his best playoff hockey to date.

Most will look at the comeback the Red Wings mounted and claim that the Sharks are still not ready to take the next step however I view it a little differently. The Sharks have faced adversity and overcome it already.. much like the Canucks did with the Hawks and as a result both teams are going to be entering this series confident… lets just hope they are not too confident.

The only thing that should worry Sharks fans is their netminder who has been brilliant and terrible all at the same time. If uncoordinated and clumsy Niemi then anything is possible.

It may have taken 3 more games than they would have wanted but the Sharks finally knocked off the Wings in a great Game 7 last night. Before I continue I just wanted to thank the Wings and Sharks for providing us the with entertaining hockey in a second round that clearly lacked it. The Sharks and Wings played to 6 one goal games and if it hadn’t of been for Drew Miller’s empty netter at the end of game 6 it would have been a clean sweep. The hockey was fast paced, highly energetic, skilled and still physical; I can only hope that the rest of the playoffs can live up this standard.

The Sharks had Ryan Clowe back in the line-up however Johan Franzen wasn’t able to suit up for the game. The injury problems only got worse for Detroit as this game progressed as Todd Bertuzzi had to leave only 10 minutes into the game after hitting Dany Heatley and Bertuzzi did not return. Only 3 minutes later the Sharks found the back of the net with Jonathan Ericsson sitting in the penalty box for holding. Joe Thornton completed a perfect no look pass from the corner to a wide open Devin Setogouchi who did not miss from the far wing. With only 1 minute left in the first Logan Coture helped the Sharks open a 2-0 lead as a rare turnover from Henirk Zetterberg landed on Coture’s stick and he rifled one high glove side past Jimmy Howard.

The second period saw the Wings cut the deficit to one as Henrik Zetterberg put home a backhand from the slot after a pass from Valterri Fillpula. The goal came on an odd man rush for the Wings and although Pavel Datsyuk did not get an assist on the play he deserved one. Datsyuk started the play off by lifting the stick of Heatley right before he was going to fire the puck at Howard.

With a 2-1 score heading into the third you had to expect the Wings to come out firing but it was actually the Sharks that beat them to the punch as they widened their lead to 3-1 with about 8 minutes left in the third. Although it was a tap in that even Tiger Woods could have finished off Patrick Marleau drove the net hard and cleaned up the garbage to find the score sheet for the first time in this series. The goal would be the eventual winner and although it wasn’t flashy he did manage to the monkey off his back for the time being. The remainder of the period of saw constant pressure by the Wings who did manage to close the gap to 1 off a beautiful backhand goal from Pavel Datsyuk who beat Niemi high blocker side.. it was a perfect shot and not even Greg Millen and Glen Healey playing nets at the same time would stopped it.

Prediction Review: Sharks in 7

Although my prediction was spot on I can’t take all of the credit. The Wings deserve a tremendous amount of credit for fighting back in this series after falling behind 3-0 and the character and heart they displayed should be admired by hockey fans alike. This game and this series was everything that hockey fans dream of and we all should thank the Wings and Sharks for entertaining us for 7 great games.

Although I predicted a Sharks victory in 7 games even I didn’t think the Wings had enough left in the tank or the talent to mount a comeback after falling behind 3-0 to the Sharks. However last night that is exactly what they did. For the first time in the series the Wings managed to outplay the Sharks for a full 60 minutes and again when they needed a last minute comeback they managed to do just that.

Although the game had 4 tallies non came in the first two periods and in a role reversal the Wings managed to drastically out shoot the Sharks 45-25. Both teams had a significant line-up change prior to Game 6: Johan Franzen couldn’t go due to a sore ankle and Mike Mondano got his second start of the postseason.. while the Sharks lost Ryan Clowe to an undisclosed upper body injury and as a result Jamie McGinn started in his place.

The first period hero was Anti Niemi no questions asked. He faced a total 18 shots and turned them all aside to keep the Sharks in it. The play of the period had to go to Pavel Datysuk a noted soccer nut and he attempted to put those skills to work by attempting to “head” in the puck off a high rebound from Niemi. Although he didn’t connect the idea itself shows his creativity and attitude to do whatever it takes.

The second period was dominated by the Wings yet again however they still couldn’t find a way to beat Niemi or the post. The best scoring opportunity of the game came in this period as Daniel Cleary jumped out of the box and was hit immediately with a pass sending him in all alone on Niemi. Cleary completed an excellent deke during which Niemi actually turned the wrong way and all Cleary had to do was slide the puck into an empty net however he someone managed to hit the post.

Finally we got to see some scoring in the 3rd period and the first blow came from the Sharks off the stick of Logan Coture. Coture whacked at a rebound from a Heatley shot and yet again it managed to sneak through Howard and just over the line. It was a weak goal that Howard should have had in a game where he really wasn’t tested that often. With only 10 minutes left in the 3rd Henrik Zetterberg finally tied the game up when he tipped a Nicklas Kronwall shot past Niemi.

After tieing the game up the Wings only waited 2 minutes before jumping ahead when Pavel Datsyuk used a backhand pass to find a wide open Valtteri Filppula in the slot who finished the play off breaking a personal playoff slump. The Wings managed to add an empty netter off the stick of Darren Helm bringing the final score of 3-1.

The game ended with a major scrum in front of Jimmy Howards net and the passion both teams displayed at the end of this game tells me that Game 7 should be a beauty. So I wanted to personally thank the Wings and Sharks for providing us hockey fans with an entertaining series to watch in a second round that has lacked excitement. Buckle up and enjoy what should be another epic Game 7.

Although the Sharks still have to find a way to finish off the Wings to advance and join the Canucks in the Western Conference Finals the eventual match-up will feature the 5 biggest playoff Houdini’s still active in the NHL. The Canucks and Sharks have both developed “choker” tags due to their lack of playoff success and in large part the blame has to fall on shoulders of the players listed below. For one of these teams this could be the season that they prove us all wrong… it will just depend which of these stars have learned how to adjust to playoff hockey.

All of these players do have something in common: Regular season success and accolades…. points come in bunches and seeing their names near or at the top of the scoring race is a regularity however when the playoffs start their production drops off for one reason or another.  Playoff hockey is a different beast than regular season hockey and some players can’t make the necessary adjustments while others know what has to be done but just refuse to do it.

1) Henrik Sedin

Reg Season: 810 GP – 157 G – 509 A – 666 PTS – (+158)

Postseason: 78 GP – 18 G – 35 A – 53 PTS – (-12)

Over the past 2 seasons the Sedin twins have been possibly the most dynamic, entertaining, creative and dynamic duo in the NHL regular season. Back to back Art Ross trophy winners they have proven that they can fill the net however as we have all seen this postseason they can’t seem to figure out playoff hockey. Personally I don’t think they will ever figure it out because they don’t have the grit, determination and heart to persevere when they are tightly checked like they have been in the postseason. To win a Cup your best players have to be willing to do anything to win a cup… that includes doing things they normally wouldn’t do like block shots, throw a hit and go to the tough areas on the ice.  Unless the Sedin’s learn what sacrifice is and realize that there are 3 zones the Canuck fans will continue to be disappointed.

2) Daniel Sedin

Reg Season: 787 GP – 249 G – 402 A – 651 PTS – (+146)

Postseason:  78 GP – 20 G – 32 A – 52 PTS (-8)

Explanation: See H. Sedin; for many including me it’s difficult to tell the two apart and the reasons for Daniel’s lack of postseason success are to similar to Henrik so I decided not to waste my time or yours with a different but eerily similar explanation.

3) Joe Thornton

Reg Season: 995 GP – 306 G – 695 A – 1,001 PTS – (+135)

Postseason: 102 GP – 17 G – 58 A – 75 PTS – (-24)

While I can’t blame Joe for a lack of success in Boston there are no excuses for his previous production levels during his Sharks postseason appearances. Joe did not have the surrounding talent required to win a Cup in Boston.. the same cannot be said for the Sharks. The one thing holding Joe back is his lack of physical play; during the regular season he seems to let his offensive talent compensate for his lack of physicality however his inability to bring both to the table in the postseason is probably why he is on this list. Listed at 6’4″ – 240 lbs he should be using his size as an advantage; if he played more physical he would create more space and time allowing his offensive talent to be even more prevalent. I will admit that during this postseaon it appears that Joe is playing a more complete game and as result that might give the Sharks the edge in the next round.

4) Patrick Marleau

Reg Season: 1,035 GP – 357 G – 409 A – 766 PTS – (+19)

Postseason: 117 GP – 47 G – 33 A – 80 PTS – (-8)

While Joe Roenick may have gone a little overboard with his comments a few days ago the underlying message and theme were spot on. Marleau has probably pulled the biggest disappearing act of this postseason with only 5 points on a Sharks team that has filled the net during this postseason. He has been shooting the puck a lot however he seems to have become frustrated and as a result stopped competing. Legendary hockey stars have always found a way to make a difference in other ways when their offensive production hits and skid and Marleau hasn’t made that adjustment. Roenick’s comments may just be the ultimate test for Marleau; I know I will be watching to see how he responds to someone questioning his integrity. If he responds it may just have been the kick in the ass he needed…. if not the Sharks may want to start shopping his services to allow for guys like Pavelski and Coture to play bigger roles and continue their development next year.

5) Dany Heatley

Reg Season: 669 GP – 325 G – 364 A – 689 PTS – (+69)

Postseason: 59 GP – 15 G – 40 A – 55 PTS – (-7)

Of all the players on this list his PPG average in the postseason is closest to 1.oo and is the only to have played in the Stanley Cup Finals. Finding the score sheet isn’t Heatley’s biggest problem it’s his inability to play all three zones that actually makes him a liability come playoff time. Having lived in Ottawa during their postseason run of  ’07 I can say with certainty that all the credit for that run should go to guys like Alfreddson and Fisher not Heatley. He was a passenger by times is in my opinion the embodiment of a ” 1 Dimensional Hockey Player”. Every time I see this guy skate through the slot with his stick in the air it makes me sick; and if he was forced to play on a roster without a set-up man he would be virtually useless. He is another big body that refuses to play physical and I doubt he will ever figure playoff hockey out but not because he isn’t smart enough… it’s because he couldn’t care less. If the Sharks do manage to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup this spring believe me it won’t be as a result of Heatley’s commitment to playing a team game.

Did I leave someone off the list or do you disagree? Feel free to comment and let me know!

Despite dropping the first 3 games of this series the Wings have somehow managed to make it a series as they have forced a Game 6 back in Detroit on Tuesday night. Despite being drastically out shot 42-22, outplayed for most of the game and having to kill off several undisciplined penalties the Wings managed to do complete their first comeback of the series erasing a 2 goal deficit in the 3rd period to prevail 4-3 for the second straight game. The trend continued as these teams played their 5 straight 1 goal difference however unlike the PP was not a factor in this game as both teams failed to find the back of the net.

The Sharks were the only team to find the back of the net in a first period where they managed 17 shots on Howard thanks in large part to two PP opportunities. The Wings did however have the best scoring opportunity of the period as Niemi absolutely robbed Jonathan Ericsson with the glove hand. Not long after Dan Boyle fired a puck on net from the point and Game 3 hero Devin Setogouchi tipped a waist high puck through the legs of Howard who had no chance on the play.

The scoring picked up a little in the second with both teams putting a 1 spot on the board in the final five minutes. Joe Pavelski managed to finish off a 2 on 1 with Ryan Clowe and beat a sprawling Howard to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead. Less than a minute later the magician Pavel Datsyuk did what he does best… as he found Niklas Kronwall sneaking in from the point and hit him with another beauty pass and Kronwall finished the play off.

The third period started with a band as Logan Coture managed to break free after Dany Heatley hit him with a pass and with just Howard to deal with Coture squeaked the puck through Howards legs to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead at home. It seemed like an insurmountable lead however the comeback began off a bit of a lucky play as Zetterberg fanned on a shot from the slot and the puck squirted to a wide open Ericsson and this time Ericsson managed to put the puck in the empty cage.

Down by 1 the Wings managed to tie the game up as a Kronwall shot was tipped wide and Dan Cleary worked hard to pick up the loose puck behind the net and then bank it in from behind the net of Setogouchi who had fallen in the crease. It wasn’t pretty but it didn’t matter to Cleary as his first goal of the series was a huge one for the Wings giving them new life. The game remained tied until Datsyuk hit Lidstrom with a pass at the point and Lidstrom fired a rocket that was tipped by Tomas Holmstrom who was doing what only Holmstrom can do in front of the net; Niemi didn’t stand a chance.

With 2 games down and 2 to go the Wings will look to do what the Blackhawks couldn’t earlier in this postseason; complete the ultimate comeback in professional sports. If they continue to get out shot and outworked as drastically as they have in this series it will require 2 more performances from Jimmy Howard like the Wings got in game 5.