The hockey world is upside-down. Boston and Chicago don’t suck. Only six teams are below .500. And Sidney Crosby is on pace to score 110 points this year, down from 120 last year.

The flattening of the NHL standings throws the field of potential award winners wide open. Tampa Bay’s Vincent Lecavalier leads the league with 51 points and is carrying the injured Bolts on his back; the Hart Trophy should be his if voting were held today.

Chris Osgood’s Lazarus impersonation will earn him the Vezina if he keeps things rolling in Detroit. Teammate Nicklas Lidstrom is so good on defense (27 points, plus-17 in 32 games) that they should rename the Norris after him. The Calder will be a tough pick between Chicago’s Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who may split the Blackhawk vote and allow Atlanta defenseman Tobias Enstrom to take home the hardware. But Kane plus Toews does equal Jack Adams for Denis Savard.

With the NHL 2008 entry draft 6 months away in Ottawa people are already trying to figure out who the top prospects will be. Here’s a short list of my top 15 picks.

No. 1: Drew Doughty; D, Guelph Storm
As a defenseman Doughty possesses all of the tools you would want in a franchise blueliner. He’s a great skater with tremendous offensive skills and has the ability to shut down the other team’s top players. He also has tremendous leadership qualities that will make him a huge hit in whatever city gets him in June.

No. 2: Steven Stamkos; C, Sarnia Sting
As the guy who’s receiving the most buzz he deserves it. He is an offensive machine that could produce goals at an NHL level almost immediately. His vision, ability to distribute the puck and finish opportunities is unparalleled in this draft and is on par with last year’s top pick, Patrick Kane.

No. 3: Alex Pietrangelo; D, Niagara IceDogs
Pietrangelo has a lot of the skills Doughty has, but adds a frame that will top out at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds. His game isn’t refined quite yet but I wouldn’t be surprised by the end of the season to be the first overall selection because he continues to get better every night at both ends of the ice.

No. 4: Nikita Filatov; RW, CSKA Moscow
Filatov shows a vast array of skills. Although he isn’t the biggest kid in the world he combines lightning quickness with tremendous vision and a creativity that has been lacking in the Russians for a while. He certainly has the skills and tools to become a star in the NHL.

No. 5: Zac Bogosian; D, Peterborough
Bogosian’s development has been astounding. His physical play and ability to punish opponents is remarkable and he still contributes on the offensive end. I’m sure his long and decorated NHL career will make him and his team very happy.

My next 10 picks:
No. 6: Colten Teubert; D, Regina Pats
No. 7: Kyle Beach; LW, Everett Silvertips
No. 8: Kiril Petrov; LW; Ak Bars Kazan
No. 9: Colin Wilson; C, Boston University
No. 10: Michael Del Zotto; D, Oshawa Generals
No. 11: Tyler Cuma; D, Ottawa 67’s
No. 12: Cody Hodgson; C, Brampton Battalion
No. 13: Luke Schenn; D, Kelowna Rockets
No. 14: Michael Bodker; RW, Kitchener Rangers
No. 15: Yann Sauve; D, Saint John Seadogs

Forget it. Vincent Lecavalier may just be leaving Crosby in the dust as you read this.

The Tampa Bay Lightning centre has 45 points in 29 games and is showing no signs of easing off.
“Once you start scoring, it seems like you can really see the net,” Lecavalier said on an NHL conference call. “But, you know, if you go three, four, five games (without scoring), you get to squeezing your stick a little bit, obviously you see the goalie a lot bigger. It kind of goes both ways.”

So far Lecavalier has been able to hold off defending Art Ross Trophy winner and Pittsburgh phenom, Sydney Crosby, as well as Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings.

The kid can scrap too. Earlier this year Lecavalier made hockey headlines when he dropped the gloves in back-to-back games- something Gretzky could only of fantasized about.

When an athlete becomes the best player his sport has ever seen, everyone wants to anoint a successor. The NBA hopes LeBron James will be the “new” Michael Jordan; NHL fans herald Sidney Crosby as their latest Next One to assume the throne once held by The Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky.

Talk about high expectations. Gretzky won nine Hart Trophies and four Stanley Cups while obliterating nearly every scoring record in the book. And he did it with iconic flair, taking both Hollywood and Broadway by storm.

Crosby is well on his way. In a league where scoring is at a premium compared to 20 years ago, “Sid the Kid” topped the 100-point mark in each of his first two seasons and won the Hart as a sophomore. Now all he has to do to match Gretzky is stay at the top of his game for another decade and lead a Pittsburgh Penguins dynasty. Piece of cake.

The Ottawa Senators have gone on a six-game slide, dropping over 10 units on the moneyline. They still have the best record in the Eastern Conference at 16-7-2. But we can’t in good conscience include them in our Top 5 NHL Power Rankings.

1. Detroit Red Wings: Three wins in a row, and Chris Osgood (.924 save percentage) has taken his job back from Dominik Hasek after all these years.

2. New York Rangers: Gaining ground on the Sens at 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. Aggressive offseason (Scott Gomez, Chris Drury) is paying off.

3. Dallas Stars: Something strange is happening: Brenden Morrow and Mike Ribeiro are working well together.

4. Vancouver Canucks: Three straight shutouts by Roberto Luongo as the Canucks round back into form.

5. St. Louis Blues: Seriously. Manny Legace and Hannu Toivonen have both excelled in goal, and Paul Kariya is still the man. The Blues are 8-1-1 in their past 10 games.

Hockey and fighting are synonymous and while there are it’s (fighting) detractors, there are others still who love a good bout.
Here then is our list of the top 10 NHL enforcers of all time:

1. Bob Probert
2. Dave Brown
3. Behn Wilson
4. Clark Gillies
5. Nick Fotiu
6. Bob Nystrom
7. Larry Playfair
8. John Kordic
9. Joey Kocur
10. Marty McSorley

I’ll leave you with a video tribute to Bob Probert’s fights.

Last winter, The Hockey News polled the league’s players on a wide variety of subjects. When asked who the most hated player in the league is, 66 percent of respondents cursed the name of Sean Avery. A far distant second was Jordin Tootoo at six percent, followed by Darcy Tucker at four percent.

You have to be one hell of a guy to be hated over 16 times as much as Darcy Tucker. Avery went undrafted out of the Ontario Hockey League; after parts of seven seasons with three different teams, the bruising left-winger has 50 goals in 322 games with 913 penalty minutes.

But Avery’s mouth is his most dangerous weapon. He’s offended just about everyone in the NHL at some point, including his own coaches, league officials and commentators. And all the while, he’s been dating the likes of Elisha Cuthbert and, according to TMZ, Mary-Kate Olsen. No wonder everyone hates him.

I’ll leave you with a video of the now classic Avery vs. Tucker fight.

The National Women’s Hockey League is the top senior women’s league in the world. It has top notch players, dedicated volunteer coaches and administrators, and has its very own, newly minted version of the Stanley Cup- the Clarkson Cup.

But like many women’s sports leagues, the NWHL can’t seem to snag corporate sponsorships; the players aren’t paid; and the league has no fan base, financial stability; media attention or big broadcast deals. It hasn’t come close to getting verbal, much less financial support, from the NHL.

Should this stop you from betting on women’s hockey? On the contrary. When a sport or league is starting from the bottom up, slowly gaining momentum, that is the best time to extend your betting fix. Consistently winning and losing teams are easy to identify thus making sure your betting dollar is getting it’s best return. Just think the WNBA. It’s slowly gaining momentum and a loyal fan base and is now one of the best places to bet your basketball dollar. Women’s hockey isn’t far behind.

Scoring is starting to dip in the NHL again and everyone’s looking for something or someone to blame. It may be time to shift some of the blame to the idiots that allowed the composite stick to be brought in a few years ago.

The composite stick made news last week after Sherwood, the largest supplier of hockey sticks in the world, announced they would no longer be producing wood sticks due to decreased demand. If wooden sticks start disappearing from NHL dressing rooms, don’t be shocked if goals continue to drop.

Sure, the composite stick allows even the weakest player to add some extra zip to their shot, but the faster shots aren’t creating more goals. The culprit is that composite sticks are likely causing fewer scoring chances. The same technology that allows played to add a few miles per hour to their shot also makes it more difficult to receive hard passes and control the puck while stick handling. The composites have also further decreased shooting accuracy. What good is a faster shot if you keep missing the net?

They’ve only handed out the Maurice Richard Trophy since the 1998-99 season, but it’s already one of the most coveted awards in the NHL. Last year’s winner was Tampa Bay’s Vincent Lecavalier with 52 goals. Who’ll win this year?

It’s a tight race, as usual. In first place at press time was Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk with 14 goals after 17 games. Behind him with 13 goals apiece were Detroit’s Henrik Zetterberg and Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson. Kovalchuk is the proven sniper of the three; Zetterberg’s top output was 39 goals in 2005-06, the same year Alfredsson potted a career-high 43. Kovalchuk had 52 goals that year.

Kovalchuk also tied for the Richard Trophy in 2003-04, when he, Calgary’s Jarome Iginla and Columbus’ Rick Nash finished with 41 goals and sent the NHL into lockout mode. The big Russian can keep up the scoring pace with the league’s best, even more so with Alfredsson’s former teammate Marian Hossa at his side.