Reddit Hockey

• Don't stop believing, New Jersey.

• Slovenia would definitely be blue. A Cup win would make Anze Kopitar a rock star over there. [Montreal Gazette]

• In case it wasn't clear that Rick Nash is gone: "One Blue Jackets player, who didn't want to be identified, was asked recently if he had stayed in touch with Nash during the offseason. 'Nope,' he said. Asked whether that was unusual, he picked another one-syllable word. 'Yep,' he said, with a half-hearted smile. [Hockey Journal]

• It was 20 years ago today that the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Pat Burns. [Berger Bytes]

• Could an NHL lockout hurt Detroit's chances of getting a new arena? [MLive]

• Martin Brodeur says he's leaning towards coming back next season: "Coming to the rink was fun, on the road was fun, that's what I was looking for. I didn't have fun last year. I'm not used to losing. That was tough. To me, I really thought this was going to be my last year, but more and more, it was I can still play." [Fire & Ice]

• However, Brodeur also said that, if there's a long lockout, he likely won't be back. [Bruce Arthur]

• Mike Emrick tops SI's spring Media power list. [Sports Illustrated]

• Cool stuff on former Winnipeg Jets' goalie Joe Daley and his 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee hockey card. [Sportsnet]

• The IIHF announced a new format for the Ice Hockey U18 and U20 World Championships. The semifinal bye is gone, as four teams from each group will make the playoffs and play traditional quarter-finals. The relegation system has been changed as well. [IIHF]

Getty ImagesWith four days until Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, you can expect to see a plethora of articles discussing the possible Conn Smythe candidates for both the Los Angeles Kings and the New Jersey Devils. These articles are all going to be fairly similar: Dustin Brown, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jonathan Quick, Martin Brodeur.

The Non-Smythe trophySo let's talk about the guys that won't be on that list, not because they're underrated, but rather, because they're really not playing all that well.

This article is interested in the Non-Smythe candidates, the guys that haven't stood out, even though they probably should have -- the guys that would be on the hot seat right now if their team were doing exit interviews rather than preparing for the Final.

(In case you were wondering what the Non-Smythe trophy looks like, by the way, we made you a mock-up at right. It's a Conn Smythe trophy with a bronze bust of Tomas Kaberle and a green 'participant' ribbon pinned to the front of it. Hope you like it.)

Here is each team's top candidate for the Non-Smythe trophy.

GettyIn case it wasn't clear from the comments coming out of the Phoenix Coyotes' dressing room after their elimination at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings, talking to someone after their team is eliminated from the playoffs is a little like talking to someone after they've eaten a big bag of mushrooms.

People think and act without sense right after postseason ousters. It's why, rather than start in on preparation for the 2012-13 season right away, Vancouver Canucks' GM Mike Gillis insisted on "a cooling-off period" before making any organizational decisions.

It's also why anyone thinking the Washington Capitals should trade Alex Ovechkin needs to sit down until the feeling passes.

Jim Matheson discussed the idea earlier this week, even finding a former NHL coach that didn't dismiss the idea outright. From the Edmonton Journal:

"I think it's possible," said one former NHL coach. "I think it would have to be a New York or maybe even a Montreal with the owner (Geoff Molson) there."

I know the Capitals have so much tied up in Ovechkin; he's the face of their franchise. He's one of the most marketable hockey players in the world. It would be difficult to trade a guy with two Hart trophies, with already more than 300 goals, with nine years left on his contract, and get full value.

But trading Ovechkin is not as farfetched today as it was a few years ago, though.

For what it's worth, putting "one former NHL coach" in front of the statement doesn't mean all that much. After all, Mike Milbury is "one former NHL GM". But still, the mystery coach isn't saying anything new. Calls for an Alex Ovechkin trade are, regrettably, gaining steam.

Ovechkin has faced several criticisms over the last few seasons. He plays a solo game. He can be undisciplined. He looks spent. He can't handle the pressure. He's Russian. (Pro-tip: One of these statements is crazy racist.) Now, after another early spring for the Washington Capitals, some are wondering if it's time for his failings to become someone else's problem.

I'll agree with one criticism against Ovechkin: the pressure is too much. The Capitals' captain has indeed failed to live up to his Messianic expectations. He is not, contrary to popular opinion, the type of player who can singlehandedly lead his team to a Stanley Cup.

But that's because that type of player does not exist. Hockey is not basketball, where having the best player tends to make you the best team. The idea that any one skater is the problem or the answer is pure crap.

Consider the teams in the Stanley Cup Final.

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No. 1 Star: Ilya Kovalchuk, New Jersey Devils

This time last year, Kovalchuk was a punchline, a cautionary tale of what happens when you spend an untold fortune on one guy. Now, he looks like he's worth it. Kovalchuk had a game-high 6 shots, he scored a beautiful powerplay goal, and he picked up an assist on Adam Henrique's game-winner in a 3-2 Game 6 victory over the New York Rangers, sending the Devils to the Stanley Cup Final.

No. 2 Star: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils

Brodeaur kicked it old-school Friday night, looking like the difference-maker he once was in the Devils' victory. He made 33 saves in the win. This one was my favourite:

No. 3 Star: Adam Henrique, New Jersey Devils

Henrique scored his second series winner of these playoffs, banging home a rebound just 1:03 into overtime. He also added 3 blocked shots.

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It was all so familiar.

The New Jersey Devils' 3-2 overtime victory over the New York Rangers was like watching a clip show. The entire affair looked stitched together from old memories.

First, there was that 2-goal cushion, as the Devils took a commanding lead in the first period of Game 6, just as they had in Games 4 and 5. Ryan Carter opened the scoring, continuing the strong play of the Devils' fourth line by banging home a rebound on a 3-on-1 at the 10-minute mark. Then, 4 minutes later, Ilya Kovalchuk finished off one of the smoothest, sexiest power-play passing plays you're ever going to see to make it 2-0.

(Seriously, the goal was a sultry sax riff away from being something you can't show during primetime. When it was done, everybody spooned.)

But any fans with a recollection of 1994 were holding their breath. The Devils led 2-0 in Game 6 then too, people said. This one was retracing the tracks of the past far too eerily for anyone's comfort.

[Nicholas J. Cotsonika: New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur writes another special chapter in storybook career]

Sure enough, just as they had in 1994, the Rangers turned the game around and clawed their way back. The second period was a mirror image of the first, with New York matching New Jersey's two first period goals, almost right down to the time they were scored. Ruslan Fedotenko cut the lead in half at the 10-minute mark; Ryan Callahan eradicated the lead 4 minutes later.

And the Rangers kept coming. They controlled the final 40 minutes of this game, outshooting the Devils 21 to 12. It seemed as though it was only a matter of time before they broke through and scored that third goal.

But Martin Brodeur could not be stopped. He looked like the best goaltender in the world.

It was all so familiar.

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Preview: New York Rangers at New Jersey Devils, 8 p.m. ET

The Rangers and Devils head back to Newark for Game 6. Will the Rangers stave off elimination, just as they did in 1994? Here's the key: Michael Del Zotto (above, punching Alexei Ponikarovsky in the beak). The offensive defenceman is a minus-5 in this series, going even in 3 of them, and minus-2 and minus-3 in the Game 2 and Game 5 losses, respectively. The Rangers' top pairing looks to be slowing down -- totally natural considering the minutes they've played all year -- and if Del Zotto can't eat up some quality minutes behind them, the Rangers could be done tonight.

Evening reading:

• Alain Vigneault went on a French-language radio show earlier this week and confirmed that Roberto Luongo had requested a trade. Friday, Mike Gillis established that "he didn't mean what he said." Right. Got it. [Vancouver Sun]

• The definitive guide to playoff facial hair. [Five Minutes for Fighting]

• As it turns out, Hal Gill played the entire

Kings

Conan O'Brien is an Easterner through and through. He was born in Massachusetts, and established himself with a late-night talk show filmed in New York. But, in June of 2009, when Conan took over for Jay Leno as the host of the Tonight Show, he packed up and moved to Los Angeles. The adjustment has been awkward at times. The man is still a New Yorker at heart.

But now we have definitive proof that he's beginning to think like LA media: his most recent tweet shows that he knows nothing about the Los Angeles Kings.

The @LAKings are playing the @PhoenixCoyotes? I wonder which city that shouldn't have a hockey team will win.

— Conan O'Brien (@ConanOBrien) May 25, 2012

Not a bad tweet, except for one small hiccup: the series has been over for days. Brad Doty, Slamson and the rest of the Sacramento Kings are just resting up now, awaiting their Stanley Cup Final opponent. None of this went unnoticed by the LA Kings' Conn Smythe-calibre Twitter account, which took the opportunity to make chump meat out of the maestro, zinging O'Brien on the fact that his humour doesn't translate to earlier timeslots:

@conanobrien Clearly, that joke wasn't meant for prime time. — LA Kings (@LAKings) May 25, 2012

The only thing that would have made this tweet better is if it were hashtagged with #hahaifoundanerror.

Then Bailey, the Kings' mascot, chimed in.