That’s the suggestion of some Flyers fans in chat rooms, message boards and blogs, as well as in comments on some of my Foxsports.com articles.

NHL officiating always gets knocked more in the post-season than it does in the regular season (when there’s always a steady drumbeat of discontent over it).

I haven’t found the officiating to be any better or worse in this year’s playoffs. It seems about the same, some games it’s good, some games it’s questionable.

As for the Flyers, it seems to be part of their cultivation of their underdog status, their “us against the world” mentality in this year’s post-season to suggest they’re not getting the benefit of the calls or for some of their fans to outright make that claim.

So, is there any truth to it?

Granted, the Flyers are bound to be watched more closely than other teams given the notable suspensions handed down to a couple of their players during the season, which at one point earned them a stiff public rebuke by the NHL ‘s disciplinary arm.

In the Flyers-Washington Capitals series, both teams drew 35 penalties, the most notable being Washington’s Tom Poti’s tripping call that led to Joffrey Lupul’s overtime series-winning goal in Game Seven.

In the Flyers-Montreal Canadiens series, the Flyers had 22 penalties to the Canadiens 14, 8 of those coming in the very rough third game when Derian Hatcher took a stupid boarding call that saw him tossed from the game and put his team shorthanded for half of the third period. In the other four games, two saw the teams draw equal number of penalties , one saw the Flyers draw one more and the other two more than the Habs.

A questionable call on Mike Richards for tripping Alex Kovalev late in Game One resulted in Kovalev’s game-tying goal, but the Canadiens Steve Begin took a silly interference late in the third of Game Four that snuffed out his club’s rally and resulted in the game winning PP goal by Daniel Briere.

After three games against the Penguins in the Conference Finals, the Flyers were assessed 11 penalties, the Penguins 10, with six of those 11 penalties coming in Game Two.

Flyers fans were justifiably upset over Scottie Upshall’s tripping call when a similar one later in the game by a Penguin was not called, and Evgeni Malkin’s blatant elbow to the head of Daniel Briere in Game Two going uncalled.

Overlooked however was Jason Smith’s punch to the face of Sidney Crosby in Game Two that went uncalled, as did a couple of other questionable tactics on Crosby and Malkin that the officials missed.

In the final assessment thus far, except for three games (one in each series) where undisciplined play got the better of them, the Flyers haven’t been getting the worst of the calls. It's was dead even against the Capitals, only one game skewed their numbers against the Habs (a game the Flyers won anyway), and it's been almost even against the Penguins in the first three games.

As far as calls go, some have certainly been missed for the Flyers, but so too have they gotten their share of breaks against their opponents.

The only thing beating the Flyers in their series against the Penguins is the talent depth of the Penguins, the absence of Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn from the Flyers blueline and the inability of the rest of the Flyers defense to contain the Penguins speed. Penalties have nothing to do with it.

**Update** In Game Four, the Flyers were only called for two penalties, the Penguins called for four, leading a clearly upset Penguins coach Michel Therrien to sarcastically compliment the Flyers on their "disciplined play".  The Flyers tally of penalties now stands at 13, the Penguins at 14.

American hockey fans watching Game Five of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals between the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres on NBC this past Saturday afternoon got a rude surprise at the end of regulation time.

With the game set to go into overtime, NBC without warning abruptly cut to coverage of The Preakness, the second jewel in American horseracing’s Triple Crown. The only heads-up was NBC informing viewers who had Versus that they could switch to that channel to watch the OT.

Fine if you have Versus, but not for those who don’t.

That generated justifiable outrage, even some calls from American hockey fans and some bloggers and pundits that the NHL should dump NBC when the current contract with the network expires.

Don’t count on it. The NHL needs NBC much more than the network needs the NHL.

As I pointed out in a post on Tom Benjamin’s blog on the subject:

“(T)he NHL won't do this because they're desperate to keep their product on a major US network, despite shoddy ratings or mistreatment by said network.

Right now NBC is the only major network willing to broadcast their product due to the sweetheart deal they have with the NHL. That's why it was willing to extend the deal recently by another two years. They're not losing any money in the deal, they only have to provide minimal coverage, and they can influence both the NHL's regular season and post-season schedule to determine the best matchups.

Can you imagine NBC have that kind of sway over the NFL, NBA or MLB? They've got the NHL by the short and curlies and they know it, so they're obviously not gonna lose any sleep over any outrage from NHL hockey fans over switching unannounced to coverage of the Preakness.

And they certainly won't care how much Bettman stamps his little feet in protest. In fact, Bettman was probably outraged but didn't say a word to the good folks at NBC, because he needs them more than they need him.”

There was probably considerably more outrage at NHL headquarters than their tepid response that was published in The Globe & Mail. Bottom line, there's nothing the NHL can do about it.

Don't be surprised if the league points out how accommodating NBC has been in their playoff coverage by pre-empting shows (such as the documentary on Barbero).

A horserace like the Preakness trumps coverage of an NHL playoff game for any of the American networks. 

In other words, folks, your complaints and outrage will fall on deaf ears.

All of this is merely reflective of how far the NHL's value has declined in the all-important American sports market. 

That’s a headline I never thought I’d type heading into this year’s playoffs, especially in a series against the Buffalo Sabres, and one I’m betting denizens of “Leafs Nation” never hoped to see.

I don’t mean that disparagingly, Senators fans, just being honest. After years of watching this team come up small in the playoff so often, it was an easy assumption to make going into the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs.

But once the Sens got past the Penguins (yes, I picked the Pens to upset them) and after their strong showing against the New Jersey Devils, my opinion changed, leading to my at-the-time bold prediction that they’d upset the Sabres.

And this should be considered an upset, except that for most of this series, the Senators were the dominant team. This victory in five games over the Sabres was not a fluke, nor was it lucky. Ottawa deserved to win this series.

Their penalty killing was incredibly aggressive. They constantly forechecked and were responsible defensively. That defence corps is scary-deep, with guys who can move the puck well and chip in offensively (Redden, Corvo, Preissing) and those who can play a tough, physical defensive style (Volchenkov, Phillips, Schubert).

Volchenkov in particular has emerged as my personal favourite with his bone crushing hits and shot-blocking ability.  Anyone who still believes the myth of “weak Russian players” need only watch “the A-Train” to have their minds changed. This guy is the epitome of "old time hockey".

Ray Emery may not be winning many fans with his cockiness, but his play has given the Sens the confident goaltending they’ve lacked for years in the playoffs. When you're doing as well as he is, you can afford to be cocky.

Their best players were just that, their best players, particularly Daniel Alfredsson (my candidate to win the Conn Smythe Trophy), Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza, who were only shut out once in this year’s playoffs.

Alfredsson has been silencing his critics this spring by doing what a great captain does, leading his team to victory. Whether it's scoring or setting up goals, working the PP, killing penalties, blocking shots, or playing the body, "Alfie" has been unusually aggressive this spring, and it's made him Ottawa's best player in this year's playoffs.

Their secondary forwards, notables like Mike Fisher, Antoine Vermette, Chris Kelly, Dean McAmmond, Mike Comrie and Oleg Saprykin, have been tremendous in their work ethic and their two-way play.

The Senators were simply too good in the little things that win games.

It has to be heartbreaking for the Sabres and their fans. This was supposed to be “the year” when finally a championship would come to Buffalo, but it was obvious to me in their opening round series against the lowly New York Islanders that something was wrong with this club, that this year’s playoffs was going to be a hard road.

Ultimately, my concerns about the Sabres, which I expressed in earlier posts on this blog so I won’t waste time repeating myself, were justified.

Something was different about the Sabres this season compared to last year’s playoffs, when they came so agonizingly close to going to the Finals.  

Perhaps they put too much pressure upon themselves, or maybe not enough. Whatever the reason, they’re now heading into an off-season filled with as much uncertainty as there was a year ago.

Last summer, the casualties were Jay McKee, JP Dumont and Mike Grier. This year, it could be Daniel Briere, Chris Drury or perhaps a couple of other players will be dumped to free up salary to retain those two.

This unexpectedly short Eastern Conference Finals appearance will definitely influence the off-season plans of Sabres management.

They can make no excuses since they were simply beaten by a much better team, one that deserves to be in the Stanley Cup Finals. Hopefully, the Sabres have learned some valuable lessons from the Senators, lessons the Sens themselves took years to learn.

The Ottawa Senators deserve to be Eastern Conference Champions.

It’s conventional wisdom in sports (and warfare) that one should never underestimate an opponent.

The Ottawa Senators forgot that wisdom on Wednesday night.

The Buffalo Sabres, seemingly down and out, written off by most observers (including a fair number of their fans) after falling behind 3-0 in the series to the Senators, fought back in Game Four.  After taking a 3-0 lead midway through the game, they hung on (thanks to Ryan Miller’s goaltending) to win the game 3-2 to stay alive in this series.

The Senators were guilty of a lazy start, resulting in Derek Roy’s goal only 9 second in. Still, they could’ve rallied back from that, and appeared on their way to doing so, but undisciplined penalties in the second led to Buffalo’s second goal by Maxim Afinogenov. Poor goaltending by Ray Emery resulted in Buffalo’s third, a sharp angle shot by Chris Drury.

To their credit, the Sabres fought back, potting two goals late in the second courtesy of their checking lines, and appeared to have regained the momentum.

But Ryan Miller regained his mojo, and try as they might, Ottawa simply couldn’t beat him despite numerous chances in the third period. When Dany Heatley took a dumb high-sticking penalty with less than three minutes left in the game, it effectively snuffed out Ottawa’s chances of tying the game and forcing overtime.

Now I don’t believe this means the Sabres are on their way to upsetting the Senators to win this series, although it would certainly make one heckuva story. The odd are against them, and while they’ll be playing Game Five in front of their frenzied faithful in Buffalo, the Sabres have to know the Senators will be far better prepared.

And for motivation for the Sens, the memory of that Game Four loss should provide plenty.

But the Sabres are still alive, giving hockey fans another chance to see another game between these two, one that could be one of the best in this year’s playoffs.

It may be premature to post this, but barring a miraculous comeback seen only twice in Stanley Cup playoffs history, the Buffalo Sabres won’t be advancing to the Finals as so many predicted they would.

Sure, at the start of the playoffs, I predicted the Sabres would get there, but ever since their first-round elimination of the NY Islanders, I thought they weren’t playing like a Cup contender. I caught some good-natured flak for this, but the Eastern Conference finals ultimately proved me right.

I’m not writing this post to gloat, but rather to point out that the Sabres have the potential to be a great team once they add a key ingredient: character.

That was something the Sabres had in last year’s playoffs, particularly when one by one their defensemen fell to the sidelines due to injury. With their backs to the wall in last year’s ECF, they came together as a team, showed incredible character, and came to within one period of advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals.

This year, perhaps weighed down by heightened expectations, perhaps believing their own press, perhaps believing talent alone would get them through, the Sabres weren’t the same playoff warriors they were a year ago.

Put simply, they lacked the character they had last spring.

Now folks will point to the Sabres woeful special team play in this year’s playoffs, especially in the ECF, or their inconsistent defensive game, or the struggles of their offensive game in the face of a determined defensive system throughout this year’s playoffs as the real culprit. All they need to do is address those problems and they’ll be a great team.

That’ll help, but ultimately without character, it won’t matter. Lack of character is why they've been unable to suitably address these problem areas. They're just not  yet willing to pay the price to elevate their game.

The Sabres and their fans need only look at the team that presently has them on the brink of elimination for a lesson in that.

For years the Senators were one of the top teams in the NHL, yet season after season came up short in the playoffs, usually beaten by teams with lesser talent or depth.

The reason why they became an annual spring joke, why they became known as choke artists, was because they lacked character. They weren’t willing individually and collectively to pay whatever price to take their game to the next level. They believed their talent was enough to get them through.

Talent helps, but as we’ve seen in playoff history, character is the ultimate measure of a winner.

The Detroit Red Wings used to be a team like that, too. In the early-to-mid 1990s they were, like the Senators, one of the best teams in the NHL, yet every spring they’d come up small in the playoffs. It got so bad that by 1996 folks were questioning Steve Yzerman’s leadership!

Of course, nobody does that now, and there’s a reason for it: the Wings finally learned the painful lesson that talent alone wasn’t enough, they needed character to win.

Today’s Senators remind me of those Red Wings teams. For years they came up short, getting so bad that earlier this season even the most faithful Sens fans were calling for team captain Daniel Alfredsson to be traded.

Nobody’s doing that now. “Alfie” and his teammates are playing like a team on a mission, and they, not the Sabres, look like true Cup contenders.

No doubt the Sabres have the talent,. Even if they end up losing either Chris Drury or Daniel Briere to free agency this summer (and I still think it’s possible they can keep both by dumping salary elsewhere, but that’s a topic for another day), they’re so deep in good young talent they should be a contender for years. The only thing preventing that from happening is the will of ownership to spend what’s needed to keep most of the core of the roster together.

But this team hasn’t learned yet that talent alone isn’t enough in the playoffs. To go to the next level, they need character.

Now if they rally from the almost insurmountable hole they’re currently in against Ottawa, that’ll be one of the greatest displays of character in Stanley Cup playoffs history.

But if not (and I don’t like their chances), they’re learning a valuable lesson, one that hopefully they’ll never forget, one that hopefully – unlike the 1990s Red Wings and the earlier versions of the Senators – they won’t need to keep relearning for years until it finally sinks in.  

Although I picked the Senators to win this series, I certainly didn't expect them to take a 2-0 lead over the Sabres.

It's not just that they have that lead, but how they've achieved it. The Senators have been dominating the Sabres thus far, and except for the first period in Game Two, and part of the the second period of Game One, the Sabres just haven't been matching up well against Ottawa.

The Sabres are struggling against the Senators aggressive forechecking. They're trying to gain the zone with long passes or by stickhandling in and not have much success. Buffalo hasn't tried to adjust by going to a "dump and chase" style, perhaps because the Sens defenders can not only match the speed of the Buffalo forwards but can outmuscle them too.

In a thread to a previous post someone noted that Sens goalie Ray Emery has been giving up fat rebounds and at time appearing out of position on shots that go wide and bounce out the other side of his net. It's an astute observation, as more than once in this series Emery has come way out to challenge a Buffalo shooter, forcing the shot to go wide but leaving Emery vulnerable to the opposite side of the net when the puck caroms out the opposite side.

Unfortunately for the Sabres, they're not winning the footraces against Ottawa's defence corps, and thus unable to cash in on those golden opportunities into those empty nets.

There's also the problem of special teams. The Sabres powerplay wasn't that great going into this series but now it's dried up (althought to be fair, I believe that disallowed goal early in Game Two should've counted, which would've been a PP goal). Worse, they're allowing the Sens penalty killers to dance into the Buffalo zone for shorthanded scoring chances.

Finally, they're not shutting down the Sens top line of Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza. Those three have been Buffalo killers thus far.

I realize this series still has a long way to go, but the Sens have the Sabres reeling right now. If the Sens takes Game Three on Monday back in Ottawa, the Sabres will be in a hole that only two teams in over 60 years of best-of-seven series have ever climbed out of.

And I won't like the Sabres chances of being the third team to do it.

My preview of the Conference Finals has generated plenty of responses, both on this blog and in e-mails, particularly my concerns about the Sabres and Red Wings.

Rather than respond individually, I'll elaborate here.

First, the Sabres. If you'd come to me a month ago and asked who I'd pick in a Sabres-Senators matchup, I'd pick the Sabres without batting an eye, but what I've seen in their series against the Islanders and Rangers has me concerned about their chances in the ECF against the Sens.

Put simply, they're not playing like the dominant club they were expected to be in this year's playoffs.

Not taking anything away from the Islanders and Rangers, two underdogs that elevated their respective games against a dominant opponent, but I don't think the Sabres have played like a Cup contender thus far.

Far too often in both series (but especially against the Rangers), the Sabres appeared disinterested, their skating was sluggish, their speed and offensive depth advantage almost invisible.

Now I realize the ice at MSG was a factor in a couple of those game, but the Sabres struggled against the Rangers in two of their three games in Buffalo. I don't know if perhaps they underestimated their opponents, but the Sabres got lucky more than once, most notably in the dying seconds of Game Five when they faced falling behind 3-2 in the series heading back to New York before Chris Drury came to the rescue.

If the Sabres struggled against teams with average defensive depth that picked up their respective games, how will the Sabres do against a Senators team that's more physical and possesses more defensive depth? One that's charged up to both disprove their critics and extract revenge against the very team that eliminated them a year ago.

As for the Wings, I admit that I'm pleasantly surprised by their physical play, but my concern is how well they'll do against a strong club that'll actually play hard against them for a full sixty minutes.

Yes, the Wings more than held their own agains the Sharks, but let's face facts here, when the Sharks played their game, they dominated the Wings. The problem was, the Sharks didn't do it consistently. They'd dominate the first period, take an early lead and then would inexplicably change their style, sitting on the lead by going into a defensive shell. Against a talented team like the Red Wings, that's begging for trouble.

Then there's their blueline depth, which was whacked by injury, losing Kronwall and Schneider. I expect the Ducks to constantly pressure the Wings defence corps at every opportunity, forcing them to chase dump ins and pounding them along the boards and in front of Hasek. If the Ducks play that style consistently throughout the upcoming series, it'll take its toll on the Wings blueliners.

Now of course, all of this might not come to pass. The Sabres could burn the Sens with their speed and the Wings could pluck the Ducks. All I'm doing is airing concerns that I feel are legitimate, concerns which could have considerable bearing on the outcome of the respective series.

EASTERN CONFERENCE: Buffalo Sabres vs Ottawa Senators.

Admit it, hockey fans, this is the match-up everyone was hoping to see, especially after the brawl these two clubs staged in a mid-February tilt. There’s bad blood between these two, which could elevate the intensity of this series.

The Senators hope to silence their critics one and for all by advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals whilst extracting some revenge against the Sabres, who upset them in last year’s playoffs. The Sabres want to finally bring a championship to their long-suffering fan and extend their post-season series winning streak against Ottawa to 4-0.

No offense to fans of the Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings, but this one has the potential to be the marquee match-up of this year's playoffs.

Both clubs have quality starting goaltending in Ryan Miller and Ray Emery, although the Sens can turn to Martin Gerber if need be. The less said about Miller’s backup, Ty Conklin, the better. Looking at their respective defenses, the edge goes to the Senators, but when it comes to offensive depth, the Sabres certainly have the advantage there.

There’ll be plenty of intangibles, of course, but ultimately this could come down to the Senators defence against the Sabres offense.

Prior to the start of this year’s playoffs, if you’d asked me who’d win a Sabres-Senators series, I’d say the Sabres without a second thought, but I’ve been struck by how much the Sabres struggled against the Islanders and Rangers, two teams that, quite frankly, they should’ve easily beaten.

Conversely, the Senators have looked poised and confident, especially in the way they handled the New Jersey Devils, and I think that’s a telling sign that this year’s Sens aren’t like the previous versions we’ve seen in the playoffs. SENATORS IN SEVEN.

WESTERN CONFERENCE: Anaheim Ducks vs Detroit Red Wings.

I’m not surprise to see the Ducks here, but I am surprised to see the Wings get this far. This one may not have the hype of a “Battle of California” series had the Wings not defeat the San Jose Sharks, but that doesn’t mean this series isn’t worth watching, although to be honest I doubt it’ll match the intensity of the ECF.

It’s going to be an interesting contrast of goaltending styles; the aging but still effective and unorthodox Dominik Hasek against the steady, no-nonsense style of former Conn Smythe winner J.S. Giguere. I wouldn’t bet against the ancient Dominator as I know he’ll rise to the occasion, but he could be facing a problem with the defensemen in front of him.

Defensively the Wings can still draw on perennial Norris contender Nicklas Lidstrom, the ageless Chris Chelios and the tough, under-rated Danny Markov, but their depth has been walloped by injuries and that could prove a significant factor as this series wears on. Conversely, the Ducks ice a healthy blueline corps, led by workhorse Chris Pronger and the smooth-skating Scott Niedermayer. The edge definitely goes to the Ducks here, and that could prove wearing on Hasek as the series grinds on.

Both clubs match up well offensively, with both teams getting offense from throughout their forward lines. The Wings have also proven they can handle the physical going, but they’re in for a real test against Anaheim, arguably the most physical team in the league.

The Ducks have also proven capable of adjusting their game to fit their opponent and beating said opponent at their own game. If you try to play it tight defensively, the Ducks will squeeze you even harder. If you try to open it up, they’ve got plenty of firepower to match. And if you get dumb and try to play it tough, they’ll beat the stuffing out of you.

In the end, it’s this adaptability of the Ducks and the Wings injury-depleted blueline that tilts this series in favor of Anaheim. DUCKS IN SIX.

Last round: 2-2. Overall: 7-5.