Shams and Scams

I'm not going to go back on what I said about the Caps goaltending, everyone has a bad day. What I will hold firm on is that the refs in the NHL are atrocious. Its ironic that they clamped down on Ovechkin and had at least three no-calls for the Caps the day two scandals start brewing. Alexandre Burrows accused ref Stephane Auger of deliberately going after him game after game and the NHL believes it enough to publicly announce they were investigating the issue. I would like them to investigate if this persecution extends to all players whose first name start with Alex.

Auger may end up being the Tim Donaghy of the NHL, in that he could expose some type of conspiracy. Just like the treatment of Ovechkin previously this season, and especially tonight against the Lightning. That game almost turned into an all-out brawl because the refs let Ovechkin get trampled on, and if he even nudged back he was in the box. If a teammate wanted to stick up for the Great 8, they headed to the box as well or completely thrown out of the game. Maybe the NHL didn't want the Southeast division to become a complete runaway. Something was awry.

Kind of like the playoffs last year. We have to give it to the Pens, they beat us fair and square in Game 7 of the series, but their other three wins were based off questionable calls. As a disclaimer, I hate the Pens even more than the Flyers, however Lemieux earned two Cups, Crosby was handed his. (After faking an injury to draw a penalty and then skating around the ice hoisting the 35 lb. cup like Will Ferrell with Jon Heder in "Blades of Glory.") For the sake of a larger Canadian audience and thus more advertising money than Russia, the Caps-Pens series was given to Crosby and his cronies. For some reason Mike Green is shunned. Maybe he is too far west in Canada.

The other scandal coming out today is that it came out that The Penguin's home network have been withholding video of disputed plays that go against the Pens as evidenced in the recent game between the hated Flyers and the hated cheaters. I wonder how long that kind of thing has been going on? Look, if Crosby is so good let him earn a Cup. Last year's Caps-Pens series was a sham, just like tonight's game. Hopefully the NHL can get a grip on whatever is going on and at least let the playoffs be played on even ice this year. Maybe they will even let the game's best player play. That would be a welcome change.