The Hockey News recently published its annual NHL yearbook and as usual one of the notable features is its Top Fifty NHL Players listing for the upcoming season.

Although I’m now a free-lance contributor to THN.com that won’t prevent me from critiquing this list, and no, this isn’t a free plug for The Hockey News on my part as I reviewed their rankings last summer prior to contributing to their site.

Anyway, here’s how THN ranked their top fifty players for the upcoming season:

1.       Sidney Crosby
2. Alex Ovechkin
3. Henrik Zetterburg
4. Pavel Datsyuk
5. Vincent Lecavalier
6. Niklas Lidstrom
7. Roberto Luongo
8. Jarome Iginla
9. Evgeni Malkin
10. Dany Heatley
11. Chris Pronger
12. Daniel Alfredsson
13. Marian Gaborik
14. Henrik Lundqvist
15. Brendan Morrow
16. Evgeni Nabokov
17. Marian Hossa
18. Ilya Kovalchuk
19. Eric Staal
20. Zdeno Chara
21. Joe Thornton
22. Dion Phaneuf
23. Martin Brodeur
24. J-S Giguere
25. Martin St-Louis
26. Scott Niedermayer
27. Brian Rafalski
28. Sergei Gonchar
29. Marty Turco
30. Ryan Getzlaf
31. Andrei Markov
32. Zach Parise
33. Ales Hemsky
34. Jason Spezza
35. Vesa Toskola
36. Rick Nash
37. Joe Sakic
38. Scott Gomez
39. Ryan Miller
40. Jonathan Toews
41. Daniel Sedin
42. Daniel Briere
43. Anze Kopitar
44. Miika Kiprusoff
45. Paul Statsny
46. Shane Doan
47. Derek Roy
48. Mark Savard
49. Mike Richards
50. Patrick Kane

If we’re going by last season’s performance I’d rank Ovechkin over Crosby but they’re definitely 1-2 in my estimation and the case can be made for either to be ranked as the league’s top player.

Lidstrom should’ve been ranked higher, perhaps 3rd or 4th, but he’s definitely the league’s best defenseman.  

As for Luongo, he’s a great goaltender and perhaps will justify that higher ranking this season but I’d swap Brodeur for Luongo if we’re basing this on last season’s performance. I know Brodeur’s getting older and he’s fast approaching his best before date but until he does in my opinion he’s still the league’s best goaltender.  Nabokov, Luongo and Lundqvist are nipping at his heels though.

I would also rank Malkin higher than Iglinla and Lecavalier, ranking him no lower than 6th.

Pronger’s ranking will likely draw some criticism given his penchant for dirty play but he’s still among the game’s elite defensemen and every team (yes, even the Oilers) would love to have him on their roster.

Morrow deserves to be on this list but I wouldn’t rank him above Kovalchuk, Staal, Thornton, Brodeur and Nash and consider him ranked far too high.

Speaking of Kovalchuk, it’s good to see him finally getting his due from THN as his ranking last season (48th) was in my opinion an insult.

And why is Thornton, who was again among the league’s leading scorers, not in the top ten? Or even the top 15? Sorry, but this is far too low for a player of his caliber. Sure, the case can be made that he struggles in the playoffs, but there’s no denying his obvious talent and skills. I certainly wouldn’t rate Alfredsson, Heatley, Kovalchuk, Morrow, Gaborik, Hossa, Staal and Chara above Thornton.

Lundqvist is a terrific goalie but I don’t believe he ranks higher than Nabokov. If it were up to me, I’d rank Brodeur, Nabokov and Luongo over Lundqvist.

I also disagree with Phaneuf dropping in the rankings compared to last season and I’d give him a slight edge over Chara in ranking defensemen.

Niedermayer missed most of the first half of last season before deciding to return to action and that cost him in the rankings. Had he played a full season his ranking likely would’ve been higher.

And Toskala ranked higher than Nash, Sakic, Gomez, Toews, Kopitar, Richards and Kane?  Gimme a break!  In fact, why is Toskala even on this list? Mats Sundin or Tomas Kaberle would’ve been better choices if one is seeking decent Leafs (or former Leafs) to be on this list.

I would also rank Richards higher than where he placed (probably about ten spots higher), but there’s no question he deserves to be on this list and his stock will continue to rise.

As for the rest of this listing, I really don't have much of a quibble over where most were ranked. Some could probably be moved up or down a spot or two but for the most part I have no real argument over the rest of these rankings.

That’s my two cents, folks.  Let me hear yours in the comments, and remember, this is THN’s listing, not mine, so don’t complain to me about where they placed these players as I had no input in this.

As expected the Pittsburgh Penguins have re-signed Evgeni Malkin to a five-year contract extension, which will commence for the 2009-10 season following the completion of the final year of his current entry level contract.

No official word yet on the financial terms but it’s believed to be in the neighborhood of $8.5 million per season .

So much for the baseless speculation in recent weeks that Malkin didn’t want to play second fiddle to Sidney Crosby or wanted as much money as Alexander Ovechkin.

I realize some folks believe the Penguins should’ve focused on re-signing wingers Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone and shopped Malkin but let’s face it, when you’ve got two of the top young centers in the game and have the opportunity to re-sign them, you do it.

The Penguins are expected to open contract extension talks with another young center, Jordan Staal, later this month.

A lack of scoring wingers is still a problem for Penguins management but that’s something that can be potentially resolved in the coming days or weeks, albeit with more affordable acquisitions.

This move potentially ties up over $17 million in cap space for the Penguins starting in 2009-10, but given the ownership’s new willingness to keep pace with the cap and absorb losses over the next two seasons whilst awaiting the construction of their new arena, that might not be as problematic as it appears.  

Recently in my Foxsports.com column I wrote about how important it is for the National Hockey League’s efforts to regain its visibility in the American sports market for its most marketable players – Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby – to elevate their play in this year’s post-season.

In the article (“NHL Needs Ovechkin, Crosby to Shine In Playoffs”), I wrote that the two have been considered this hockey generation’s versions of Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, two of the greatest stars in league history who helped the NHL reached its highest level of popularity in its history.

I suggested that the NHL is hoping those two can raise their post-season performances the way their predecessors did as it could only help the league improve its sagging popularity in the United States.

Unfortunately, judging by many of the comments in response to that column, the point was missed, as several readers believed the article was trying to draw a direct comparison between Crosby and Ovechkin with Gretzky and Lemieux, which wasn’t the intent.

Let me repeat the point: Crosby and Ovechkin are the NHL’s biggest, most marketable stars and the league is hoping its two current young superstars will generate more interest in its product amongst American sports fans.

If there is a direct comparison to be made, its that Ovechkin and Crosby are every bit as important to the NHL as Gretzky and Lemieux were in their heyday.

It’s not about suggesting “Sid the Kid” and “Alexander the Gr8t” are as great or greater than “The Great One” or “Super Mario”.

That is for history to decide once Ovechkin and Crosby have retired, which hopefully won't be for a long time.

When Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby was sidelined in mid-January by a high ankle sprain more than a few observers suggested the Penguins would struggle without him.

After all, Crosby was the Penguins leading scorer, among the top ten in the league and last season’s Art Ross trophy winner as the NHL’s leading scorer.

The offensive burden fell upon Evgeni Malkin, the 2007 NHL rookie of the year, but some wondered if Malkin, in only his second NHL season, was up to the challenge.

In the six weeks since Crosby was sidelined, Malkin has not only responded to the challenge, he’s answered his critics and emerged for the shadow of “Sid the Kid”, blossoming into a young superstar in his own right.

In the 19 games since Crosby was sidelined Malkin has 13 goals, 19 assists for 32 points, making him not only the Penguins leading scorer but also vaulting him to the top of the NHL’s scoring race, battling with Washington Capitals forward and fellow Russian Alexander Ovechkin.

Should Malkin win the Art Ross as the NHL’s leading scorer it’ll mark the first time in ten years that two teammates won the award in consecutive years; coincidentally, it was two Penguins teammates  - Jaromir Jagr (1995) and Mario Lemieux (1996)  - who last accomplished that feat.

Malkin’s performance will likely merit him consideration for the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. I still believe Alexander Ovechkin will win it, but Malkin’s performance means it’s no longer a sure thing.

It also puts pressure upon the Penguins management to lock up Malkin a year before he becomes a restricted free agent as they did with Crosby last summer, but like Crosby it’s gonna cost them, probably in the neighborhood of $8.5 million per season.

The Pens would be wise to re-sign him to that rate now, because if not his asking price is likely to rise next season, and there’ll be teams eager to send him an offer sheet worth over $10 million per season. Better for the Penguins to set the price themselves now rather than have another team call the tune next summer. 

Almost one month into the NHL’s 2007-08 season there’s been some interesting surprises.

Who would’ve believed:

Mike Cammalleri of the LA Kings would be the league’s leading goalscorer? As of this writing he leads all scorers with ten goals. He’s an emerging talent and could be poised to become a big star. Right now, he’s outshining teammates Anze Kopitar and Alex Frolov, as well as more big name “snipers” like Vincent Lecavalier, Dany Heatley, and Alexander Ovechkin. 

Chicago Blackhawks rookie forward Patrick Kane would lead all rookies in assists and points? He’s a promising young talent but heading into this season most pre-season analyses expected others, including teammate Jonathan Toews, would rank higher in rookie points than the diminutive Kane. Thus far, he’s putting me in mind of another small rookie player, his head coach Denis Savard, who had 75 points in 76 games back in 1980-81.

Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo would have such terrible starts? Last season, Brodeur and Luongo were the undisputed goaltending masters of the NHL, dominating in nearly every statistical category, most notably wins, where Luongo matched the old record of 47 and Brodeur broke it with 48.  Thus far this season, not only are they missing from the league’s top ten statistical rankings for goalies, they’re not even in the top twenty in some categories.  Both should round back into form as the season progresses but it is unusual not to see them amongst the league leaders.

Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin aren’t among the top ten offensive players? They’re considered the twin pillars upon which the league hopes to rebuild its shattered reputation following the 2004-05 lockout, yet neither are off to rip-roaring starts. However, don’t expect them to be out of that listing for long.

Martin Gerber would lay claim to the job of Ottawa Senators starting goalie? It was a foregone conclusion this summer; Ray Emery was the starter, Gerber was an overpriced backup the Sens were hoping to dump at some point. But with Emery slow to recover from off-season wrist surgery, Gerber has stood tall between the pipes, earning his $3.7 million per season and making it tough for Emery to get back into the lineup. It’s a goaltending dilemma but one that should only benefit the Sens.

Scott Gomez and Chris Drury wouldn’t be a good fit with Jaromir Jagr? Few raised that suggestion during the off-season when the Rangers landed these two. Indeed, the only guy I recall saying it was “Cabbie” on The Score. Turns out he was profound, as neither have meshed well with the talented but enigmatic Jagr.

If anyone wants to add to this list please feel free to do so.

Sidney Crosby is now the highest paid teenager in NHL history.

Crosby, 19, re-signed a five-year, $43 million contract extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins, which will take effect for the 2008-09 season and runs through to the 2012-13 season.

The deal breaks down to $8.7 million per season, less than the 20% maximum a team is allowed to spend on a single player under the current salary cap (currently just over $10 million).

To be honest, I expected Crosby to accept less than this to allow the Pens the cap space to build and maintain the roster around him, but I suppose his agent and the NHLPA wanted to ensure he got as much as possible so as not to adversely skew the salary structure.

Still, I doubt knowledgeable hockey fans, especially those in Pittsburgh, will quibble over the amount. Besides, if the cap keeps rising from now until 2012, potentially hitting $60 million by that time, his contract will look like a bargain in the latter years of the deal.

The scary thing is, Crosby hasn't even hit his prime yet. He turns 20 in August, meaning he's still five years away from entering the period considered a forward's playing prime (25-31).

And really, what choice did the Penguins have? This kid is their franchise saviour as well as its best player. He was eligible for restricted free agency next summer, but you just know at least a dozen teams would've been poised to swoop in with mind-boggling offer sheets, likely considerably more than the $8.7 million they got him for today.

Smart management by Pens GM Ray Shero to avoid that possibility and for not playing "hardball" with his best player. As if the latter was ever on his mind to begin with!

Back on May 2 I posted up the list of nominees for the NHL individual awards and my predictions of who would win. 

The awards I covered included the Calder, Selke, Hart, Adams, Norris, Lady Byng, Pearson and the Vezina.

And except for the Adams, Lady Byng and Pearson, I was spot-on with my other predictions.

Evgeni Malkin won the Calder, Rod Brind'amour the Selke, Sidney Crosby the Hart (and the Pearson), Nicklas Lidstrom the Norris and Martin Brodeur the Vezina.

The Adams went to Vancouver's Alain Vigneault (I'd picked Buffalo's Lindy Ruff), the Pearson to Crosby (I'd picked Vincent Lecavalier) and the Lady Byng went to Pavel Datsyuk (I'd picked Colorado's Joe Sakic).

OK, so I went five for eight. Still not bad, eh? 

Other awards that I didn't post predictions on were the Masterton Trophy, which went to Boston's Phil Kessel for returning back to action after surgery for testicular cancer, and the King Clancy went to Montreal's Saku Koivu for his charity work.

The biggest surprise for me was Crosby winning the Pearson, as there was a perception that he might not yet have the full respect of his peers at such a young age to garner enough votes to win. The fact that he has should now cast no doubt as to his greatness.

It's one thing for fans to be critical of his getting awarded the Hart as that's voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, but when the players vote him the Pearson, signifying their choice as the league's MVP, that ends the debate. They play the game and know true greatness when they see it.  

Congratulations to all.  

The NHL recently released the list of finalists for their individual awards for this season. What follows is the listing and my prediction as to which players will win.

CALDER MEMORIAL TROPHY (outstanding rookie): Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh
Penguins; Jordan Staal, Pittsburgh Penguins; Paul Stastny, Colorado
Avalanche.

Staal is the best all-around player of the three, and Stastny, son of Hall of Famer Peter Stastny, proved the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree with a strong rookie campaign, but Malkin will likely get the nod.

FRANK J. SELKE TROPHY (outstanding defensive forward): Rod Brind'Amour,
Carolina Hurricanes; Samuel Pahlsson, Anaheim Ducks; Jay Pandolfo, New
Jersey Devils.

Pandolfo and Pahlsson have both be very good defensive forwards and as valuable to their team's success as their more talented, better-known star teammates, but Brind'amour not only has always played a strong two-way game, he's also the only one of the three with a plus-minus rating on the happy side of plus, and in the end that tips it in his favour.

HART MEMORIAL TROPHY (most valuable player to his team): Martin Brodeur,
New Jersey Devils; Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins; Roberto Luongo,
Vancouver Canucks.

Brodeur and Luongo are THE stars of their respective teams and invaluable to their club's respective successes, but let’s face it, they played for teams that going into this season had the talent to make the playoffs. No one other than die-hard Penguins fans expected Pittsburgh to clinch a berth, let alone finish the season with over 100 points. The player directly responsible for that is 19-year-old Sidney Crosby, who also won the Art Ross as the league’s leading point-getter.

JACK ADAMS AWARD (outstanding coach): Lindy Ruff, Buffalo Sabres; Michel
Therrien, Pittsburgh Penguins; Alain Vigneault, Vancouver Canucks.

Therrien and Vigneault both did very good jobs with their respective clubs, but their teams still suffered from deficiencies (defensive for the Penguins, offensive for the Canucks). Ruff turned the Sabres into the best team in the NHL, with no real weaknesses. He gets the nod.

JAMES NORRIS MEMORIAL TROPHY (outstanding defenseman): Nicklas Lidstrom,
Detroit Red Wings; Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim Ducks; Chris Pronger, Anaheim
Ducks.

Niedermayer led all defensemen in assists and points and Pronger logs more ice time, but Lidstrom finished the season with a plus-minus of +40, better than Niedermayer and Pronger, had fewer penalty minutes and finished the season with 62 points. I think that makes him the better all-around blueliner.

LADY BYNG MEMORIAL TROPHY (sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct): Pavel
Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings; Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche; Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning.

Datsyuk and St. Louis both play well without putting their teams in penalty trouble, but no one has the respect of NHL players or plays with more class than Burnaby Joe. Sakic will likely win this one.

LESTER B. PEARSON AWARD (most outstanding player as voted by fellow members
of the NHLPA): Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins; Vincent Lecavalier,
Tampa Bay Lightning; Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks.

I think Crosby should win this, but I get the sense that because of his age that his peers may not believe he’s fully matured enough to deserve this award. It’s a tough call between Luongo and Lecavalier, but I think Lecavalier will win this.

VEZINA TROPHY (outstanding goaltender): Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils;
Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames; Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers;
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks.

No offense to Lundqvist and Kiprusoff, but this one comes down to Brodeur and Luongo, and if one compares their stats for this season, it’s no contest. Brodeur led Luongo in wins, shutouts, goals-against average, save percentage, saves made and shots-against. Luongo will one day win this award, but not today.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, particularly their whiz kids led by Sidney Crosby, learned last season what it took to win in the regular season, and this year, they learned a hard lesson of what it takes to win in the playoffs.

Yes, I predicted the Penguins to upset the Senators. They had such an impressive second half, and despite their average-at-best defensive game, proved on more than one occasion that no lead was safe against them.

Talent and youthful exuberance carried them to respectability this season, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a seasoned team with defensive depth like the Ottawa Senators.

This early post-season exit for the Penguins is disappointing for them and their fans, but it’s only one signpost on the road to greatness for this team.

Crosby proved he could play well in the playoffs, and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury showed he was capable of overcoming a shaky start to a playoff series to cope with the intense pressure a goaltender faces in the post-season.  18-year-old Jordan Staal also gave a good account of himself in his first playoff series. These three will only get better as time goes by.

Other Penguins, like Evgeni Malkin, Ryan Whitney and Colby Armstrong, didn’t fare as well, but after the dust has settled from this series they’ll have learned how to step up their game in the post-season.

Many observers, myself included, compared this year’s young Penguins to the Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers kiddie corps of the early 1980s.

As one hockey pundit noted, those Oilers didn’t win the Stanley Cup in their first playoff year, so it was obviously unrealistic to expect the Penguins to pull off that feat.

That young Oilers team took four long years of learning sometimes painful lessons in the playoffs, often against more experienced teams, before they finally won the Stanley Cup.

That young Oilers team was also eliminated in the first round of their first playoff series.

Like those Oilers, the Crosby-led Penguins will lick their wounds and take away the necessary information needed to perform better in future playoffs.

They were taught a valuable lesson this year on the kind of defensive game required to win in the playoffs.

It’s a lesson no one on the Penguins, from owner to GM to coach to Crosby to whichever young prospect should join them down the road, will ever forget.

A necessary growing pain. 

That’s the claim of the Globe & Mail’s respected hockey pundit Eric Duhatschek:

“The league stumbled badly this week when it set the television schedule for the first round of the playoffs and gave CBC the chance to televise the second game of that highly anticipated New Jersey Devils-Tampa Bay Lightning playoff series in its primetime Hockey Night In Canada slot. It's not that anyone minds watching Vinnie Lecavalier or Martin Brodeur, two great Canadian talents; it's just that there's little rooting interest for either the Devils or Lightning among the vast majority of Canadian hockey fans. If the Stanley Cup final eventually produces an all-American match-up, so be it; people will still tune in.

But with three Canadian teams alive and Saturday night telecasts on Hockey Night In Canada such a long-standing tradition, what in the name of Ralph Mellanby were they thinking by giving the biggest game of the day — the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Ottawa Senators — to NBC? It can only mean they thought Sidney Crosby's presence, live across the network, on the second Saturday of April, would resonate so greatly with American hockey viewers that there'd be a stampede to the television sets and help to create the sort of genuine excitement about the game that's been lacking oh these many decades. As if.”

“The last thing the NHL needs now is to see this growing northern alienation take root. Canadians have threatened to walk away before — usually after lockouts or strikes - but always flocked back when the game returned. There was a massive uproar against the decision to show the Pens-Sens' game in the afternoon, a demonstration of the passion that NHL fans have in Canada for playoff hockey and the institution of Hockey Night In Canada. One of these days, the league is going to make a similar sort of call and find the response far more muted. That'll be the day they have something to worry about.”

Sorry, Eric, but as a fellow Canadian, I disagree.

“Massive uproar”? Hmm, must’ve missed it here on Prince Edward Island, but of course we Islanders - hockey mad as any Canadians - tend to promote the calming influence of our province so perhaps we’re not as overly excited as mainlanders.

Yes, there was some noise made on the mainland over this. Nova Scotia’s provincial legislature issued a formal complaint that -–horror of horrors – the Penguins-Senators game would be televised at 3 PM eastern rather than during prime time on Saturday night, blathering about how it would interfere with folks’ usual Saturday afternoon routines. They complained it would make it difficult for Nova Scotians to watch home-grown hero Sidney Crosby.

The legislature embarrassed itself with this trivial nonsense, but speaking as someone who was raised in Nova Scotia and whose family has lived in Nova Scotia for decades, we’re pretty much used to Nova Scotia politicians embarrassing themselves and the province with trivial nonsense.

Most of the uproar probably originated in Ontario, particularly in the Ottawa region where the Senators are king.

I could understand if CBC wasn't covering Saturday’s Penguins-Senators tilt. Yes, that would definitely be upsetting.

But the game’s being shown in the afternoon!

Sorry, but that's just not worth getting wrapped around the axle.

It’s not the first time playoff games have been televised on Saturday afternoon’s in Canada. Heck, I remember watching the New York Islanders win their first Stanley Cup on a steamy Saturday afternoon in mid-May after spending the morning and early afternoon cutting pulpwood with my cousins.

I don't ever recall Canadians feeling "alienated" over previous afternoon playoff telecasts involving Canada's best players, and I doubt they'll be alienated or driven away from the game now.

Duhatschek is right that Canadians will flock back to the game regardless of real and imagined problems. I don’t need to explain why.

However, the NHL is trying to re-establish itself as a big league sport in the United States after a stupidly short-sighted, season-killing lockout all but wiped it out of the consciousness of American sports fans.

That’s why it’s showcasing its top talent – Penguins wunderkind Sidney Crosby – on a Saturday afternoon in hopes of improving its American audience.

Canadian hockey pundits almost constantly decry how the NHL is struggling in the United States. Yet, when the league attempts to improve its visibility in the all-important American sports market, some Canadian pundits are grumbling about “Canadian alienation”.

Look, nobody expects American sports fans to "stampede" to their TV sets to watch Crosby, but if this move attracts even a handful of American sports fans who wouldn't normally watch the NHL to check it out regularly in the future, it's a positive step.

I agree with Duhatschek that league commissioner Gary Bettman hasn’t been the enemy of the Canadian game as his critics claim. I can and have found fault with Bettman’s stewardship, but he’s not the evil boogeyman out to destroy or “Americanize” the game.

I think in this instance Mr. Bettman and company have their priorities straight.

Canadian hockey fans aren’t going to feel “alienated” if the league continues to showcase their player on Saturday afternoons. They’re not going to be turned off from the game.

The NHL knows this. They’re not taking Canadians for granted, rather, they understand they can always count on Canadians to support their product.

It’s for that reason that they can focus on improving their visibility in America without worrying about killing their support in Canada.

All this talk of the NHL risking “Canadian alienation” is nonsense.

There appears to be some debate amongst hockey fans and pundits over which player should be awarded the 2007 Hart Trophy as this season’s most valuable player.

The choice has come down to three players: Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, Tampa Bay’s Vincent Lecavalier and New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur.

To me, the choice is crystal clear: Crosby is the most valuable player of the 2006-07 season.

At only 19 years of age, Crosby is leading the NHL in points with (as of this writing) 106, ten more than Lecavalier. Barring injury or a slump, Crosby will win the Art Ross trophy as the league’s leading point scorer.

He’s also tied with Joe Thornton with the most assists with 75, and this season he became the youngest player in NHL history to rack up consecutive 100 point seasons.

There is of course no overlooking the performances of Lecavalier and Brodeur.

Lecavalier is well on his way to winning the Richard trophy with currently 48 goals, finally rounding into the consistent offensive force he was projected to be when the Lightning drafted him in 1998.

Brodeur continues to establish himself as one of the game’s greatest goaltenders, notching yet another 40 win season, on pace to possibly break the single-season wins record for netminders (47), leads the league in victories and shutouts and is among the league leaders in save percentage and goals-against average.

However, there are several factors which in my opinion puts Crosby above Lecavalier and Brodeur for the Hart.

First, there’s the age of the three. Brodeur is 34, a fourteen-year NHL veteran who is well established as one of the game’s best goaltenders. Lecavalier is 26, an 8-year NHL veteran, who’s over the past three seasons has begun to establish himself as an elite forward.

Crosby, however, is only 19. He’s still not fully matured as a player, still a teenager, yet he’s been leading the point-scoring race since December over rivals who are older and more experienced. In only his second NHL season, he could win the Art Ross trophy, something not even Wayne Gretzky accomplished at 19, although he did tie for the scoring lead in his rookie season but lost the Art Ross to Marcel Dionne based on goals-scored.

Not to take anything away from Brodeur and Lecavalier, but that's a phenomenal achievement by Crosby, a glimpse of further greatness to come.

Next, there’s the teams these three play for.

Brodeur backstops the New Jersey Devils, since the mid-1990s one of the NHL’s elite clubs. He’s played a major part in keeping the Devils at that status, but it must not be overlooked this year’s Devils club is with veteran players, many of whom were part of previous Devils championship teams. They know what it takes to win and consistently play their system year in and year out.

Lecavalier is a key component of the Tampa Bay Lightning, a club only three years removed from winning its first Stanley Cup title, which has rebounded from a sub-par performance in 2005-06 to battling this season for the Southeast Division title. Like the Devils, it’s a veteran laden team, many of whom were part of the 2004 championship season.

Crosby’s Penguins, on the other hand, are predominantly stocked with young players, all of whom have yet to play a post-season game, let alone win a championship. They weren’t expected to be in playoff contention this season, let alone challenging the Devils for first in the Atlantic Division or finding themselves among the top teams in the East.

On the Penguins, Crosby is clearly the straw that stirs the drink. The second-leading scorer on the team, rookie Evgeny Malkin, is 30 points behind Crosby’s 106 points. Take “Sid the Kid” out of the equation, and the Penguins aren’t a playoff team. It’s that simple.

Crosby isn’t the Penguins captain yet he might as well be. Like Gretzky’s Oilers in the early 1980s, the Pens clearly take their lead from their young superstar. He’s carrying a developing Penguins team into the playoffs, which is a significant achievement.

Finally, there’s the overall value to the league.

Brodeur and Lecavalier are unquestionably great players, but they don’t have the star power of Crosby. For the NHL to improve its visibility, it needs a great superstar, a player who towers over his rivals, a talented player who can attract excitement everywhere he goes.

Crosby, like Gretzky and Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr before him, has those qualities.

Whether fans love him or hate him, they’re interested in Crosby. They’re following his status in the scoring race. They’re marveling at his offensive gifts. They’re thrilled by his play and that of his young, energetic teammates. Crosby and the Penguins are bringing excitement back to the National Hockey League at a crucial time in its long history.

Moreover, does anyone really believe the city of Pittsburgh and the state of Pennsylvania would’ve committed to building a new arena for the Penguins if Crosby and friends hadn’t turned the team into one of the most exciting franchises in the NHL?

Mario Lemieux may have saved the Penguins several times over the years, but he wouldn't have been able to save them this time without Crosby.

Crosby’s detractors claim he’s unworthy of the Hart because, in their eyes, he’s a petulant whiner who takes dives to attract penalties.

Yes, Crosby has complained to officials when penalty calls sometimes don’t go his way. Yes, he’s looked childish at times, and yes, at times he hasn’t been above taking a dive.

Yet there are many NHL veterans who’ve done similar tactics which draw far less criticism. Crosby’s only 19, so immaturity should be expected from him at this point in his career, something hopefully he’ll grow out of it. Older players who continuously act that way have no excuse.

It should also be noted that Crosby has chopped his penalty minutes nearly in half this season, from 110 in 2005-06 to 56 this season. A good number of his penalties last season came from stupid retaliatory penalties and mouthing off at officials. This season, Crosby has learned to keep his temper in check, instead letting his play do the talking.

Besides, Gretzky and Lemieux heard similar complaints from, yet when their careers are recalled, few remember “Whiner Wayne” or “Moaning Mario”, and it certainly didn’t prevent them from winning the Hart Trophy multiple times.

Taking these factors into account, I believe it’s obvious that Sidney Crosby deserves to win the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player.

TSN’s Pierre McGuire made this claim on Wednesday watching Sidney Crosby racking up six points during his Penguins 8-4 demolition of the woeful Philadelphia Flyers.

Sports journalist and blogger extraordinaire James Mirtle also made the case for Crosby in a recent post.

I believe Crosby is, indeed, the best player in the NHL right now.

He took over the NHL scoring lead on Wednesday with that six-point game, and became the first 19-year old to do so since Wayne Gretzky way back in 1980.

As Mirtle points out, Crosby “is second only to Martin Havlat (18 points in 10 games) with a 1.74 points per game pace, and if the youngster can stay healthy for the rest of the year, that's a figure that will see him total 138 points — the highest total since Mario Lemieux won the Art Ross Trophy with 161 points in 1995-96.

Tonight's six points mark Crosby's 17th multiple point game this season, and fifth in the past six games. He's gone pointless only six times this season.”

Folks, that is an incredible achievement, something we haven’t seen in this league since Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were in their prime, back when the NHL was actually considered a legitimate major sports league in the United States.

Watching “Sid the Kid’ this season, it’s understandable now why he drew so many comparisons to the Great One during his Junior days. He’s a dazzling, creative set-up man, just like Gretzky was, and is an under-rated goalscorer.  Presently he sits 20th in goals-scored, but those 15 goals are only 7 back of Marian Hossa’s league-leading 22.

And like Gretzky, Crosby sees the ice like no other player, knowing instinctively where the puck is going to be, where his teammates will be, and where his opponents are.

Unlike Gretzky, Crosby isn’t a frail-looking beanpole that needs constant protection. His low center of gravity and leg strength makes him very difficult to move off the puck, and is perhaps the most under-rated part of his game.

His physical toughness is still called into question by his critics who compare him to his rival Alexander Ovechkin, but when you play the style of game Crosby does, with such elan, toughness isn’t an issue or a major requirement of your game.

Nobody questioned Gretzky’s toughness, or Lemieux’s, or Guy Lafleur’s or Mike Bossy’s or Brett Hull’s. At the end of the day, it’s the ability to put the puck in the net, or create plays for your teammates to do the same, that wins hockey games.

Crosby at 19 is showing more maturity than he did as an 18-year-old rookie. Yes, he still beaks off at referees, but not as much as last season, and certainly no more than Gretzky, Lemieux, Hull or Bobby Orr did in their primes.  Pro-rate his current PIMs for this season and he’ll have 82, down considerably from the 110 PIMs of a season ago.

Some fans responded to Mirtle’s post by suggesting Chris Pronger and Niklas Lidstrom have been better players than Crosby this season, but as one poster pointed out, they’re veterans on well-established clubs. “Crosby is 19 and the Penguins have only three other talents worthy of bieng a Red Wing or Duck. The team is pretty thin still, yet he's carrying it. That's something neither Lidstrom or Pronger is being asked to do.”

That makes all the difference in the world.

Granted, Crosby hasn’t won any individual awards yet, or carried the Pens to a Stanley Cup, let alone the playoffs.

But the kid is only 19 years old, and he’s carrying a young, developing team toward respectability in only his second NHL season. He’s answered his critics who suggest he’s too spoiled, a prima donna, a brat by quietly letting his play do the talking.

Another comparison to Gretzky is that Crosby is facing the same ignorant, short-sighted criticism that the Great One did when he was nineteen.

It remains to be seen if Crosby will ever break some of Gretzky’s records as Gretzky himself once suggested, but it’s obvious that “Sid the Kid” is for real, and right now, he’s the best player in the National Hockey League.

Don't look now, Pittsburgh Penguins fans, but eight games into the 2006-07 season, your team is currently sitting atop the Atlantic Division and third overall in the Eastern Conference.

Now I know it's far too early to suggest the Pens can keep up this pace. This club still needs a lot of work defensively and their lack of skilled depth on the blueline and on their checking lines will probably drag them down in the standings as the season progresses.

But after last season's horrific start that sunk any hopes of getting with sniffing distance of the 2006 playoffs, this year's holds a lot more promise.

At best, the Pens could be in a fight for a playoff berth down the stretch. At worse, they may fall out of the race by January, but this stronger than expected start to the 2006-07 season gives Penguins fans a glimpse into a promising future.

In goal, Marc-Andre Fleury has shaken off a poor pre-season to post up a respectable 2.66 GAA, an eye-popping .923 SP and a shutout in 8 games with a 5-3 won-loss record. What makes this even more notable is he's faced the most shots of any goalie in the league thus far.

On the blueline, the Penguins are still missing the physical presence of Brooks Orpik (still sidelined with a broken bone in his right hand), but promising d-man Ryan Whitney (whose 38 point rookie season was overshadowed by Sidney Crosby's performance) is off to a strong sophomore season by averaging a point per game thus far. Veteran Sergei Gonchar appears off to a better start that last season, giving the Penguins blueline some lethal offensive punch.

Up front, Crosby continues to weave his magic, leading the club in points with 12, only three behind overall leader Marian Hossa.

But it's the play of two rookie Penguins, Evgeny Malkin and Jordan Staal, that is also garnering attention.

Staal already has four goals in 8 games, making it harder for management to send him back to the minors. If this kid is ready to play, and the fact he looks comfortable on the second line thus far seems to prove he does, then the Pens should keep him and worry about re-signing him in three years time. A lot can happen in three years, but Staal is ready now. Sending him back to Junior this season just to stretch out his contract by another year is not gonna be a good sell with the fans.

As for Malkin, he's doing everything expected of him since returning to action after dislocating his shoulder in pre-season. In fact, he's showing no effects of that injury and appears to get stronger in every game, potting 4 goals and 6 points in his first six games.

Anyone buying into that stupid, baseless rumor that he wants out of Pittsburgh because he doesn't want to be overshadowed by Crosby need only watch his reaction after scoring a highlight reel goal on Wednesday against the Devils.

After scoring that goal he embraced linemate Crosby in a huge bear hug. Yeah, lotsa dissatisfaction was evident in that. Hoo, boy, Malkin, try to mask your disappointment in having Crosby as a linemate and having to play in Pittsburgh better than that next time. Hey, maybe that's how Russians hide their disappointment, by looking like they're having the time of their lives.

It's obvious Malkin loves playing in Pittsburgh, and hooking up with Crosby could make these two the most lethal Penguins one-two punch since Mario and Jaromir were in their early-90s heyday.

The Penguins may come crashing back to earth at some point this season, but these aforementioned youngsters are pointing the way to a much brighter future, provided this club can sort out its financial situation over the next three years.

Almost lost in all the playoff race hubbub and speculation of potential individual trophy winners was the news that Pittsburgh Penguins rookie forward Sidney Crosby set an NHL record by becoming the youngster player to reach 100 points in a season.

You’d think that would merit considerable attention in the hockey media, but the response to Crosby’s achievement, outside of Pittsburgh, has been tepid at best.

Since mid-season there’s been a definite shift in the coverage Crosby has received in the press. Rather than noting his considerable achievements, particularly on a Penguins team in disarray this season, many in the media have focused instead on his penalty minutes, complaints to referees over uncalled infractions and the possibility he may be a “diver”.

The biggest headline concerning “Sid the Kid” in the second half of this season was when Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson called him a whiner and a diver. This at a time when most of the hired guns brought in to supposedly help Crosby either retired or were traded away, leaving the kid to pretty much power the Pens offensive attack on his own.

There’s no denying Crosby was a complainer at times this season, and often took stupid retaliatory penalties when goaded by opponents of lesser talent.

What gets overlooked is the fact that he only turned 18 one month before training camp, and was perhaps the youngest player in the NHL this season. Like most typical 18-year-old proteges, he didn’t like the liberties some opponents took on his person, yet that was reason enough for some in the press to vilify him.

Crosby’s been the victim of a media backlash over the progression of this season, which was inevitable considering the amount of media hype he had coming into this season.

All of the media sniping about his on-ice immaturity has detracted from Crosby’s notable achievements this season and his poise away from the ice.

He’s done amazing things for someone so young, but the fact that he didn’t lead the league in scoring or carry his team to the playoffs as Gretzky had done in his first NHL season, and lacked the flash-and-dash of Washington’s 20-year-old Alexander Ovechkin has seemingly provided fodder for the media backlash.

Thus, because he acted human and dared to complain about the uncalled cheap shots being levelled at him and took matters into his own hands throughout the season, he’s been unjustly accused of being a whiner and a complainer, which in the ultra-macho world of the NHL ultimately brings his manhood into question.

As for his supposed diving, if it were really a problem, the NHL would’ve warned him and ultimately fined him. He may have taken a dive now and again, but since most NHL players aren’t above the occasional embellishment, it’s ridiculous to single him out.

Even though Crosby doesn’t play a similar physical game like Ovechkin, the kid has proven time and again that he can withstand the punishment, nor will he back down when challenged.

Perhaps the best example of this came earlier in the season against the Philadelphia Flyers, when Flyer blueliner Derian Hatcher cross-checked Crosby in the mouth, breaking two of his teeth.

Rather than run away crying Crosby came back for more, defeating the Flyers with an overtime goal and getting the last laugh.

He’s learned a valuable lesson this season about the media, that what they build up they love to tear down, as even the great Wayne Gretzky recently rediscovered thanks to “Operation Slapshot”.

Crosby won’t win the Calder as rookie of the year, but he potted 100 points in his rookie season, did everything expected of him by the moribund Penguins and was the only thing on this year’s Pens roster worth cheering for.

He’s clearly deserving of both better media coverage of these achievements and better treatment than what he’s received this season.

In short, give Sid the Kid the respect he deserves.

He’s earned it.