These weekly debates about injurious hits and the predictions about what supplemental punishment they should or should not receive -- and according to Bob McKenzie of TSN, Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins is the next to be strapped to the Wheel of Discipline -- are not primarily the fault of reckless players but that of a feckless punitive system in the NHL.

It's something Larry Brooks tried to crystallize in his NY Post column on Sunday:

It's not that there's a double standard when it comes to NHL supplementary discipline, it's that there is no standard whatsoever. To wit: Georges Laraque sticks out his leg in a reflex reaction, injures Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall with a knee-on-knee, and receives a five-game suspension for an unintentional but reckless play. Curtis Glencross on the other hand, intentionally delivers a forearm to Chris Drury's chin, thus concussing the Rangers center though he was nowhere near the puck, and receives a three-game suspension for his intentional and flagrant foul. Knee injury, five games; brain injury, three games.

But as much as we want to blame the NHL's incompetence for this endless cycle of outrage over these plays -- for the record, the League's disciplinary performance in last year's playoffs was as inequitable as it gets -- many of these debates expose something just as inconsistent:

How can we expect the NHL to punish fairly when fans and media can't even agree on what's punishable?

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(No, the first decade of the 21st century doesn't technically end until 2011. Save your bellyaching. But we've had nine NHL seasons and one stolen from us since 1999-2000, and Yahoo! Sports has decided it's time to rank the best and worst of the last "decade." Enjoy, and snark freely in the comments.)

Moments of unjustifiable criminal behavior. Economic despair. Debilitating physical ailments that irrevocably changed the lives of many.

Man, was this a great decade for the NHL or what?

It wasn't all doom, gloom, frustration and desperation. The lowest points for the NHL sometimes led to new heights for the game. But in thinking about the stories that received the most scrutiny, coverage and attention from fans and media over the last decade, there's no question that bad news made the headlines more often than the positive vibes.

Here's a look back at the 10 biggest stories in the NHL over the last decade ...

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In the last 48 hours, Patrick Kaleta of the Buffalo Sabres has kept himself quite busy and it had nothing to do with planning Black Friday shopping strategies.

Things began on Wednesday night when Kaleta took a hit from Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals in the third period and went face first into the boards at Verizon Center. Ovechkin was given a five-minute major for boarding, a 10-minute game misconduct and ejected from the game. (Strangely enough, Ovechkin's only other ejection also came against the Sabres after a late hit on Danny Briere.) 

Capitals beat writer Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post reported today that the NHL spun its "Wheel of Justice" and it landed on "zero games" for Ovechkin. The only punishment doled out to him was the hefty $200 fine given to all players who receive game misconduct penalties.

This afternoon when the Sabres visited the Flyers, Kaleta handed out a controversial hit to Philadelphia rookie Jared Ross:

Kaleta was give a 5-minute major for boarding, a 10-minute misconduct and ejected from the game. Does he deserve supplemental discipline?

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Here are your Puck Headlines: A glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

• The Edmonton Oilers players who twisted in the wind during the Dany Heatley trade drama during the summer (like Andrew Cogliano, pictured angrily above) speak out as the San Jose Sharks visit Alberta this evening ... while the Edmonton media cranks up the rancor: "This is like running into an ex-girfriend (sic) a month after she dumps you - she's holding hands with a Tom Cruise-looking fighter pilot and you're asking if they'd like fries with that." [Edmonton Sun, and CBC Sports]

• Chris Botta talks with Sherry Ross about being the first female play-by-play voice for an NHL team, even if for one night with the New Jersey Devils. (For the record, Cassie Campbell was a color commentator for HNIC back in 2006 -- not play by play.) [FanHouse]

• According to Sportsnet, the Leafs will retire Carlton the Bear. Among the proposed new mascots: Angry the Fist and Ian White. [Sportsnet ... UPDATE: This tweet calls B.S.]

• Kevin Allen reports that the NHL is only experiencing an attendance decrease of less than 2 percent this season. Which is what happens when a business protects its popularity by allowing franchises to paper arenas with free or steeply discounted tickets while reporting gate numbers based on tickets distributed rather than turnstile counts. Anyone with functioning retina knows attendance is down more than 2 percent this season. It's not the NHL's fault, necessarily; the economy is just not one in which the purchase of hockey tickets in October or November is a priority. But that's reality -- not the number in the box score. [USA Today]

• With Hossa in and that win over the Sharks, the Chicago Blackhawks are now being called an elite team and a measuring stick for the rest of the NHL. [Between The Circles]

• That being said, is every team on which Marian Hossa plays doomed for failure? [THN]

• Hockey Wilderness called for Alex Ovechkin to be suspended for his hit on Patrick Kaleta of the Buffalo Sabres Wednesday night, but Tarik El-Bashir said there's no supplemental discipline coming his way for the hit. HW is right and wrong: The NHL made the right call here, but that's not saying Ovechkin doesn't get away with more borderline calls than most physical players. Because he does. [Hockey Wilderness]

• Boy, imagine how sexy these women would be if they weren't wearing Habs gear? [Eyes On the Prize ... indeed]

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A few of these T-shirts were spotted after a recent Washington Capitals home game, as fans are obviously swelling with pride over Alex Ovechkin.

"Do you have a strange, pseudo-sexual devotion to a Russian professional athlete playing in your town or are you just happy to see me?"

Well, never let it be said the Capitals fans are ashamed to stand up and be counted, although clearly this "Rock the Red" thing has been taken to new heights. Perhaps the most surprising thing about these "Erection for Ovechkin" shirts is that they were available at Bleacher Shirts before Leonsis could trademark the term for his official team store ...

Alas, we were unable to locate any "Turgid for Turco" or "Engorged for Gorges" casual wear, but that isn't to say there aren't a ton of creative T-shirts floating around e-retailers onthe Web.

Here's a sampling of them in our unofficial Black Friday holiday hockey shirt buying guide, for the puckheads you love (or, of course, for yourself, you selfish jerk).

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(No, the first decade of the 21st century doesn't technically end until 2011. Save your bellyaching. But we've had nine NHL seasons and one stolen from us since 1999-2000, and Yahoo! Sports has decided it's time to rank the best and worst of the last "decade." The following is written by Ryan "Two-Line Pass" Lambert, author of our ‘What We Learned' and College Hockey 101 columns. Enjoy, and snark freely in the comments.)

Let's face it, you and I are always going to love hockey. If we've suffered through a lockout, Gary Bettman's antics and a Red Wings dynasty, then we're going to suffer through anything. And the NHL knows that.

They can add 30 more franchises, all of which are south of the Mason-Dixon line. They can make every NHL game feature not just a shootout, but also a speed skating and hardest shot competition. They can even go so far as to replace the Avalanche with a team of skating bears. And we'd still watch. That's what makes the NHL the dichotomous professional sports league in North America.

In the past few weeks, we at Puck Daddy have given you nothing but Top 10 lists, but it would be unfair to put the 10 decisions, good or bad, by the NHL into one list. To rank just the bad would be to ignore some really positive things that the League has done, and to rank just the good would be to ignore the dizzying depths of its lack of foresight and hypocrisy.

So here we go: The five best and worst NHL decisions this decade:

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No. 1 star: Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks

The highly anticipated debut of Hossa was not a disappointment for the Blackhawks and their fans. A 7-2 rout of the San Jose Sharks included three consecutive shorthanded goals chasing Evgeni Nabokov after the second period. Hossa scored twice with one of his tallies coming shorthanded. It was the second time in the past week that Chicago has scored seven goals in a game. 

No. 2 star: Ondrej Pavelec, Atlanta Thrashers

Thrashers fans are quickly forgetting about injured-goaltender Kari Lehtonen with every stunning performance by Pavelec. Stopping 40 Detroit shots, Pavelec blanked the Red Wings 2-0 for his seventh win of the season. It was the ninth time this season that Atlanta has allowed 35 or more shots with Pavelec in goal. Almost ruining the shutout was Henrik Zetterberg who came close to taking advantage of a Pavelec turnover before being robbed. 

No. 3 star: Semyon Varlamov, Washington Capitals

The Capitals rookie came up big making 25 saves and posting his first career regular-season shutout in the NHL as Washington blanked Buffalo 2-0. Varlamov, who had lost his previous two starts in overtime, improved his record to 9-1-2. Washington remains tied with Pittsburgh atop the Eastern Conference standings with 34 points. 

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Here are your Puck Headlines: A glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

• OMG Jersey Fouls on Wednesday. Should be a chat 1 p.m. EST as well.

• When is Marian Hossa going to learn to stop answering questions about the teams he used to play for? To the Chicago Tribune, about the differences between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings: "The difference is this is one of the youngest groups of guys I've ever played with. It's lots of fun in the dressing room. It's a different crowd than it was in Detroit. It might be a little bit more mature there, but it's fun in the (Hawks') room." [Snapshots]

• The many questions about Marian Hossa finally joining the Blackhawks' lineup this week. [Paint It Blackhawks]

• Buccigross with a column on Brian Burke's son, who is gay. Very interesting, insightful stuff, though we might have structured it a bit differently. (The "imagine you are" device makes is a little clunky.) [ESPN]

• The New York Posts lists the most overrated teams in sports. There's one hockey entry. [NY Post]

• Ottawa Senators goalie Pascal Leclaire will be out for a month after an errant puck struck his cheekbone last night as he sat on the bench nursing another injury. That's, like, the stuff of gypsy curses right there. [Sportsnet]

• Terrific satirical post by View From My Seats on John Tavares's visit to Toronto last night: "The Globe and Mail piece waited until the 1st sentence of the 2nd paragraph before mentioning the name Wayne Gretzky. Don't feel special, they do this to every hotshot prospect that is a native of Ontario." [VFMS]

• Also recommended, as always: Down Goes Brown's reasons why Alex Ovechkin won't light up the Leafs this weekend: "Had heard a rumor that if the game went to a shootout, entire Leafs roster would embarrass themselves with a ridiculously demeaning attempt at rally caps." [DGB]

• Goaltender Vesa Toskala and center John Mitchell head to the IR. [CBC Sports]

• Mike Chen presents Fun With Google Image Search, including some sort of Cheechoo-related Care Bears photo we can't figure out. [Chen]

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(No, the first decade of the 21st century doesn't technically end until 2011. Save your bellyaching. But we've had nine NHL seasons and one stolen from us since 1999-2000, and Yahoo! Sports has decided it's time to rank the best and worst of the last "decade." Enjoy, and snark freely in the comments.)

How you choose to define, or quantify, the "best" player in the NHL over the last decade will determine your level of agreement with this ranking, which is sure to be one of our most controversial End of Decade lists.

Do you judge greatness based on flashy stats? Championship rings and playoff performance? Individual awards? Do you factor in intangibles like leadership or reputation?

We took everything into account for our Player of the Decade countdown, which focuses on NHL achievement rather than bringing international hockey into the equation. Every spot on the list is up for debate, but we feel as though these 10 players defined the 2000s for professional hockey. Keep in mind that the 2000s meant one set of rules, a work-stoppage, and then another set of rules.

Here are the 10 best players of the last decade ...

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Hello, this is a feature that will run through the entire season and aims to recap the weekend's events and boils those events down to one admittedly superficial fact or stupid opinion about each team. Feel free to complain about it.

Prior to the start of the season, everyone was just brimming with optimism. Hockey was, after what felt like a painfully long summer, almost back. The glee was palpable.

As so many pundits do, I made what I called 20 bold predictions (where "bold" usually either meant "sarcastic" or "painfully obvious" but occasionally bordered on "somewhat daring").

Now that every team in the league has played at least 20 games and we're more than a quarter of the way through the season, I figure it's as good a time as any to see how those predictions are coming along.

My guess: Not well. Feel free to hold me accountable.

[Coming up: Your ol' pal Lambert looks at his miserable failures, Anaheim needs to hire new doctors, Kyle Okposo loves him some mediocre AHL players, the best ever fight between two French Canadians, St. Louis will keep but maybe not keep Alex Pietrangelo (I swear), Rick Nash goes on a European Vacation, the top 10 reasons it hurts to watch the Avs, and Evgeni Nabokov doesn't like your line of questioning.]

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