FanHouse

I think most of the hockey world had already anticipated that after leading the NHL this year in both goals and points, that Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals was the presumptive winner of the Hart Tropy as the league's Most Valuable Player. And I write that with all due respect to fellow nominees Evgeni Malkin and Jarome Iginla.

But that doesn't mean that folks don't like to be kept in suspense. Unless of course, you work for NHL.com. Over the past few weeks they've been accidentally putting merchandise on sale before things more or less get official when it comes to actually winning stuff.

First it was declaring the Penguins Eastern Conference Champs a couple of days before they actually eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers. Then it was seeing 2008 Stanley Cup Champs gear in Red Wings colors only a couple of hours before Pittsburgh's riveting victory in Game Five of the Stanley Cup Finals. As my friend Sean Leahy has written before, the hockey gods normally frown on such blasphemy.

Which of course means they've gone and done it again. The NHL Awards Show isn't until June 12, but as far as Shop.NHL.com is concerned, you might as well already load up on your Alexander Ovechkin 2008 Hart Trophy T-Shirts. Click here to buy. I'm told by reliable sources that they're already accepting orders.

One last thing: Congratulations Alex! Be sure to act surprised next week in Toronto. As for Malkin and Iginla, I think they could be forgiven if they skipped the show knowing that they're not going to win.

Major stick tap: Japers' Rink.

UPDATE: The NHL has issued an official statement that Puck Daddy got hold of:

In an effort to offer our fans the merchandise they want in a timely manner following an event such as the NHL Awards, our licensees prepare product for all possible outcomes. In this situation, the link for one of the possible products became live early through an error by our e-commerce provider. We regret the error and have since taken steps to amend.

Hmmm. We'll see now, won't we?