It's no secret that the 2007-08 NHL season didn't end the way New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur wanted it to. As if seeing his team flushed out of the playoffs in just five games wasn't enough, Brodeur also got to endure a public beatdown at the hands of winger Sean Avery. No, Avery never laid a glove on Brodeur. Instead, he did something far worse: Avery shamed him with his antics, something that Brodeur only compounded as he refused to shake Avery's hand at the end of the series.

It's also no secret that Brodeur is closer to the end of his career than even he wants to admit, but if he has his way in a meeting with some fellow players and general managers in a few weeks, he'll be sure to have a significant influence on the game for many years after he's gone.

What am I talking about? This morning, the NHL and NHLPA announced the formation of the Goalie Equipment Working Group, a body consisting of five players and four general managers. According to a statement from the NHLPA, the group will "examine the configuration and dimensions of goaltender equipment with respect to safety and performance."

"If the working group decides alterations to the rules governing goaltender equipment are warranted, and will not jeopardize the safety of the goalies, these recommendations will be forwarded to the Competition Committee for consideration," the statement said.

In other words, if there's any way this group can figure out a way to shrink the equipment in order to increase goal scoring without jeopardizing the life and health of goaltenders, they'll do it. Then again, taking a look at the members of the group, my guess is we won't be seeing any dramatic changes after that June 11 meeting.

For years, critics of hockey have loved to tweak fans by asking a very simple question: Who's the one hockey player than an average American can name? For somewhere North of 25 years now, the answer has always been Wayne Gretzky.

And, as the game's critics have enjoyed pointing out, that's not only a tribute to Gretzky's greatness, but also to the NHL's subsequent failure to capture the imagination of more than a small but dedicated slice of American sports fandom.

But here's another question: Is the game really better off if the answer to the first question becomes Sean Avery?

It's not an idle threat. Thanks to a combination of Avery's recent innovation in screening the goalie that he displayed during the first round playoff series between his New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils, and his assiduous courting of attention at the highest level of New York's fashion world -- the recent announcement of Avery's plan to spend part of the Summer as an intern at Vogue is just the latest in a string of stories positioning him as a hip and sophisticated Manhattanite -- Avery's profile has been elevated above all others, at least when it comes to certain circles on the outside looking in.

As for the league, it can be argued that, like everyone else, they'd prefer to have their cake and eat it too. Case in point, a report this morning from Larry Brooks that while the league was chastising Avery for flipping the bird to a New York camera crew with one hand, it was working with the NHLPA to create a t-shirt to help cash in on his new found fame with the other.

Then again, I'm sure that some of the folks working at NHL HQ would probably like to remind me that you have to "dance with the one who brung you," and these days it isn't Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin who are drawing interest from publications like The New Yorker and The Huffington Post. And when you look at it that way, the choice may be pumping Avery, or just nothing at all.

While there may be no contest for the Norris Trophy, as Jes Golbez informed us of earlier, the race for the Vezina is much closer. Nick Lidstrom isn't involved, so we might actually have something to debate. If the Norris race is a John Wayne western where you know exactly who is going to be left standing at the end, this trophy race is more like the ending to The Departed when everyone is lying on the ground in a bloody mess and you have no freaking clue what just happened. There are goalies who weren't nominated who can make a good case for themselves and the ones that were nominated are separated by about this much.

Here's a breakdown of the nominees, in no particular order.

Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
Statline: 77 starts, 44-27-6, 2.17 GAA, .920 SV%, 4 SO
What stands out: Won three of the last four Vezinas awarded and the only one on this list to have won the trophy.
His case: You can basically make the argument that this guy kept the Devils up high in the standings all season long. This team isn't nearly like the won that won a few titles in the last decade, but this is certainly still the same Marty Brodeur. He was also forced to put up with Sean Avery for an extra week and a half after helping his team make the playoffs, which is good for some pity points in my book.

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

I'll admit something, here.

I'm a Sean Avery fan. I'm not a Rangers fan. Just Sean Avery.

Yes, Sean Avery is a pest and an agitator. He also has a rule (unofficially) named after him now. And Martin Brodeur hates his guts.

This isn't the first personal rivalry in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I'm guessing that most of the 1996 Red Wings weren't fans of Claude Lemieux. Even though they had a more legitimate reason to hate Lemieux (see: "Draper, Kris"), the Wings lined up at the end of the series and shook Lemieux's hand.

(Note: Dino Ciccarelli is still mad about doing it.)

What does this have to do with Sean Avery and Martin Brodeur? Well, the Rangers eliminated Marty and the New Jersey Devils last night, winning 5-3 to take the series in five games. As we all know, the tradition is for the teams to line up for a handshake after the end of a series.

Clearly, there were some Devil players who were less than pleased to be shaking hands with Sean Avery. Maybe they were just mad because he wouldn't engage in trash talk through the media, or that he's not pestering opponents on their behalf. But they all did it, just like every player in the league. It's tradition, and you don't buck that because of personal reasons.

Except Martin Brodeur.

(Still to come: The Ducks try to stay alive, Detroit dominates Nashville everywhere but on the scoreboard, Saturday's schedule, and something random from the wonderful world of YouTube)

Can't believe I didn't see this earlier. Thanks to our buddies at Versus, Mike Rupp of the New Jersey Devils was wearing a microphone during Game Two of the series against the New York Rangers. Like just about every night in the playoffs, there was a bit of a fracas, and Rupp and Rangers defenseman Paul Mara squared off.

Which is when Versus started to listen in (NSFW!):


The NHL Playoffs: Feel the love!

I know Page Six at the New York Post isn't the most reliable of media sources, but fealty to my corporate overlords requires me to pass along the following tidbit that appeared in their pages Wednesday morning:

HAS a New York Ranger captured first daughter Barbara Bush's heart? Fans spotted Bush "dancing, drinking beers and cheering on" the team at Madison Square Garden Sunday night - in addition to sporting "two gold rings on her left ring finger." We're told Bush "recently became a die-hard Rangers fan and befriended a few of the players."

So is it true? Here at FanHouse we endeavor to uncover the heart of every story. Here's what I've found out.

I poked around the archive at Getty Images, and first caught sight of Bush photographed at MSG on March 25 during a game against the Philadelphia Flyers (see above). She was identified as being with a pair of guests on either side of her, a young man on her right and a young woman on her left, both obviously in their 20s. A close examination of other photos from that night seem to show a large ring on the ring finger of Bush's left hand, but it's impossible to identify it as an engagement ring.

You gotta love Sean Avery and I'm sure the folks at NHL HQ are learning to love him too. When it comes to publicity, Avery is the gift that keeps on giving.

The latest example: When a camera crew from WNBC-TV, the local NBC affiliate in New York, came down to Rangers practice yesterday to do a feature in the wake of the league's creation of the Avery Rule ... ok, I'll let the New York Daily News explain:

During practice Tuesday, WNBC-TV cameras caught Avery simulating his Brodeur "face guard" by waving his stick. When Avery realized he was "caught," he shot his middle finger in the direction of the Ch. 4 camera and mouthed something.

That crazy, Sean, there he goes again. Click here to see the clip in question as it originally ran on local TV in New York last night, and thanks to our friends at FanIQ for pointing us at the YouTube scrape from TSN. In any case, I hope the crew from WNBC-TV didn't take it personally. After all, it isn't as if Avery hasn't resorted the flipping the bird at the media before.

After about five months worth of votes, the guys over at Orland Kurtenblog have finally determined a winner in their exhaustive poll to determine the greatest NHL hit of all time. The winner: Scott Stevens' clean and righteous destruction of Slava Kozlov during the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals:



Sitting proudly in the second spot: Brian Campbell's number on R.J. Umberger during the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Click here to check that one out. Thanks to the guys at Kurtenblog for leaving no video evidence unconsidered in what has to be considered the ultimate hit reel.

As for me, well, there's one hit I'll always consider above all others.

Trying to catch up with some sleep last night, I wound up nodding off a few times over the course of the evening, which is why and how I managed to miss this creative interpretation of screening the goalie that Sean Avery of the New York Rangers deployed against Martin Brodeur last night at Madison Square Garden:



Needless to say, that piece of video, which has been shooting around the hockey world since essentially the moment it happened, has raised more than a few hackles -- hackles that the league has been forced to deal with.

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

Just a few minutes into Game Three of the series between the Sharks and the Flames in Calgary it appeared that the hockey world had begun to spin properly on its axis once again. Shifting to Calgary after an unexpected split in San Jose, the Sharks potted three quick first period goals against the Flames to reassert their dominance over the seventh seed in the West.

But the Flames and head coach Mike Keenan had other plans. Busting out the whooping stick, Keenan and the Flames decided to target Sharks captain Patrick Marleau for a physical beating. First, it was Dion Phaneuf who rode him into the boards opening up a cut above his right eye. Then, later in the period, it was Cory Sarich who lined up Marleau as he was firing a breakout pass from the Sharks defensive zone. One power play later, the Flames had cut the deficit to 3-1 before roaring all the way back for a 4-3 victory.

Now the Sharks have their backs against the wall and Ron Wilson's toilet seat doesn't look so funny. Flames lead series, 2-1.