I dont see why Foxsports continues to have this bozo write articles...almost everything he says is either wrong, farfetched, or incendiary. So he knows about hockey hunh? Who cares, the guy's a ####.

In his most recent article, he had the nerve to say the ice the Lightning play on is the 2nd worst in the NHL. Hmmm...have EVER seen a  game at Madison Square Garden??? It may seem like something inconseqeuential and stupid to get mad about, but I have a friend that works at the Forum and he's told me about all the #### that crew has to go through to keep the ice nice, and that they do an amazing job. In my opinion, the Forum ice is some of the BEST ice in the NHl, because its very fast and you dont get NEARLY the same amount of crazy bounces you get in some buildings.

Apparently uber-ref Joey Crawford has found something to occupy his time while he's suspended from the NBA: He's changed his name to Mick Mcgeough and is now ruining the NHL playoffs.

Seriously, the officiating in tonights game 4 between the Lightning and Devils was atrocious. Missed calls, non calls, and refs swallowing their whistles. In all honesty, either team deserved to win, but you hate to see a game marred by such complaint-worthy 3 blind mice officiating. Sucks that the Devils won, but hey, all you guys thought this series would be over in 4 or 5.

Holmquvist was outta his mind good tonight, Brodeur was once again so-so. Where's everyone at that was handing this series to the Devils just because of Brodeur????

The Lightning are a very good team, no matter what the national perception is. If this team had goaltending this good all year long, they'd have the best record in the league and would be wiping the floor with the Islanders. Oh well, we'll just content ourselves with watching watching the Thrashers tank in the playoffs...god that tastes so sweet.

 Jesus Saves...

Lightning can't sneak up on anyone in these playoffs

Peewee hockey brawl

 Trust me, it'll make your day

THis is something I've been watching all season long,  and if the NHL wants to maintain the integrity of its game, then they need to steop up and do something about it. I'm talking about two things: the quality of the referees, and the goal review process.

After last nights's debacle in St. Louis where this GOAL and this GOAL weren't even reviewed, its time to take a serious look at whether or not the NHL is doing everything it can to make sure the integrity of the game is being protected. After watching this video explaining how the review process works, I'm hardly reassured. I mean, dont forget such classics as this or this .

My main problem with the NHL is that the work of providing every conceivable camera angle is not provided, as in the first video where no conclusive look is available. You're telling me in this day and age we cannot make a camera samll enough to definitively tell whether a puck goes in nthe net or not?

When it comes to officiating every fan has their gripes. But I want someone to tell me in all honesty that they have watched all their team's games this year and have not seen any missed calls. Hell I see about 10 per game watching the Lightning play. And before you guys start saying I dont know what I'm talking about, I'm trained as a ref. I would have taken the USA Hockey camps and gotten certified, but I didnt have the money. I do know what I'm talking about when it comes to penalties. like this shameful display (about 2 min 10 sec in watch as Kubina hacks a skaters legs out from under him, then passes the puck leading to an odd man break.) Not to mention Daniel Briere's favorite "Im gonna hold a defenseman's stick in my armpit then flop for a hooking call" that I've seem happen at least 3 times in the 4 games the Lightning have played against Buffalo.

Listen up NHL: you need to straighten up and get your zebras better trained.

I'm putting a post here in hopes of attracting a healthy debate. I really think most people have basically given the MVP award to Sidney Crosby this year, and I dont think he deserves it. My personal choice would be the man who is leading the NHL in goals, tied for 6th in Game-winning goals, 2nd in the league in Short-handed goals, top ten in Power Play goals and second in points., Vincent Lecavalier. But by all means, I want to hear what you have to say.

  I know I'll probably hear it from you guys, but to me, Crosby isnt half the player Lecavalier is. Vinny is a force every night for his team, logging over 22 mins a game on the ice, playing power play, penalty kill and even strength. His even rating may turn some people off, but when you're on the penalty kill nearly the entire 2 minutes, it will affect your +/-. The most telling stat for me is that 6 of his 45 goals are game-winners, several other are game-sealers, and that more than 65% of his assists are PRIMARY. Compare that to Crosby, who has about 50/50 Primary to Secondary in the assist column. If you've ever read this article , you know that the secondary assist can be a very misleading stat. If you re-calculate the assist of Lecavalier and Crosby, removing all secondary assists, it looks like this: (sorry the data is about a week old)

Player                         GP            G                   A            Pts w/o secondary assists

CROSBY PIT             58           26                   41          67

LECAVALIER T.B     64            41                   26          67

When you look at this, the gap in points between Lecavalier and Crosby is erased, but Lecavalier still has all those goals. And to me, goals are more important than assists. If you look at scoring consistency, Lecavalier has been held scoreless in only 8 games this year, compared to Crosby's 12. Further, Lecavalier has only gone 2 consecutive games without a poin ONCE. Crosby is now mired in a 3 game skid, however, he hasnt gone more than 2 games without a point in a row.

I know many of you will talk about Crosby's effect on every player on the ice, his role in the locker room, blah, blah, blah. To me Crosby does nothing that Lecavalier doesnt do better. EXCEPT ONE THING:

Crosby whines better.

 Take this from someone who plays the game: it's ok to be mad about a call, even if its a good one. But if you're a player that can be found talking to the referee about calls after EVERY WHISTLE, then there's a problem. I like Crosby as a player, and he seems like a great guy, but if you're a leader of a team, there are times when you have to lead by example (And I'm not talking about Jarko Ruutu's new-found prowess at diving). Sometimes, you get a bad call, and then you just have to suck it up and kill the penalty. To me, that should make Crosby inelegible for MVP, at least until he grows up a bit and matures.

The MVP shouldn;t just come down to statistics. Team record is important, but for the time being I'm looking at both PIT and TBL as teams in similar standings (they actually are pretty close) and what happens in the playoffs should weigh heavily on the voter's minds. The purpose of this post is to open up everybody's mind, and to prevent Crosby from winning the MVP just because everybody assumed he deserved it most.

One final note, I disregarded Martin Brodeur from this list for a reason. I dont believe a goaltender should win MVP. Just like in baseball, goaltenders have their own award, and MVP should be limited to skaters, not a goaltender who plays in a defense-first system, especially not a system that still traps even if the team is down 2 goals. To me, Brodeur is a great goalie, and a certain Hall of Famer, but his system is set to help him out in every way possible. Im not knocking the trap here, even though I think its killing Hockey's marketability. Brodeur is a great goalie, and he should win the Vezina hands-down, but he should NOT be included in  MVP voting.