Some playoff thoughts

Random thoughts after the weekend's games, again, mostly on refereeing. I apologize for dwelling on this so much, really, but there were some blatant instances that I have to comment on.

* Man, the refs are calling these playoffs weirdly. After refereeing in the NHL sort of stabilized after the post-lockout rules changes, we already got used to the "playoff line" of far fewer penalties. Now, though, they're randomly calling very soft obstruction penalties that would have been unheard of only last year, unless you were playing the Pens. For example, the Sharks-Wings series has been called bizarrely.

* By the way, the NHL definition of boarding is: "a boarding penalty shall be imposed on any player or goalkeeper who checks an opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to be thrown violently in the boards." The Pittsburgh definition of boarding is "a penalty that is imposed on other teams". Or is there some other reason why Matt Cooke didn't get a match penalty and suspension for injuring Andrei Markov? Or why none of the other flagrant cases of boarding were called on the Pens?

* In other news, diving is back. Evgeni Nabokov took a ridiculous dive in Game 2 of the Sharks-Wings series, only eclipsed by the Olympic-quality dive Malkin took in his Game 2. The refs went for both. What does it take for the referees to call an unsportsmanlike penalty? If they don't, expect more dives as the series go on.

* To finish this refereeing thing on an interesting note, Crosby's special treatment is no longer confined to lunatic anti-Pens bloggers like me. As the CBC studio unanimously agreed, had anyone else smashed their stick into the goal and thrown it into the stands like Cindy did in Game 2, they'd have got a penalty. But not Cindy. In a Game 2 where he was completely useless, we liked the shift where he smashed his stick in frustration, skated over to the bench and started screaming obscenities. That's the kind of leadership he brings to the team.

And now, the most important thing.

* You're doing the Hart Trophy wrong. As per nhl.com: "The Hart Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the player judged to be the most valuable to his team." It is not the award for best player. The finalists this year are Ovechkin, Crosby and Henrik Sedin.

I have to agree with the Hockey News' Jason Kay when he says that "It’s not that Sid, Alex and Henrik didn’t have terrific seasons. It’s just their value to their teams’ success, while hefty, still lagged behind what Ryan Miller did for the Buffalo Sabres in 2009-10." Miller should, in my opinion, win the Hart this year, no question. The fact is that the Hart should be given to the player who is most valuable to his team during the regular season. Adam Proteau agreed: "This award goes to the player most valuable to his team and not the best player in the league, as much as some would prefer it. Because of that fact, the only reasonable choice is Miller, without whom the Buffalo Sabres would be a non-playoff team (as they were last season following a Miller injury)." Having said that, he also stupidly voted for all three of the current finalists.

Of the current finalists, I think Henrik would be the most worthy winner. However, even he wasn't nearly as important to his team as Miller was to his. Ovechkin missed a bunch of games this year, and the Caps' record without him is better. As for Crosby, there hasn't been any doubt over the last few years who the MVP of that team is, and it isn't him.

Ideally, the Hart winner should be a player without whom his team wouldn't have gotten as far as they did. None of the three finalists fit that bill. The Hart Trophy seems to be degenerating into a "best player" award, which is in my opinion just wrong. That Miller isn't even a finalist is pathetic.

* You're doing the Calder Trophy wrong. The finalists are Matt Duchene, Tyler Myers and Jimmy Howard. Um. I guess posting the best save percentage in the regular season and displacing last year's Vezina winner as your team's starting goaltender doesn't count. Or taking the lowest-scoring team in the league to the playoffs. In other words, TUUKKA RASK. What does a guy have to do to get a Calder nomination? How can Jimmy Howard, who's played worse than Rask in every category, be nominated over Rask?

Sometimes I think the hockey writers who vote for these awards are insane, intoxicated or both. This year I think I can prove it. The best rookie in the league and the most valuable player in the league aren't up for those awards. The people who voted for them ought to be ashamed of themselves.