The early buzz for the Hart Trophy is on Sidney Crosby and Roberto Luongo, with Nicklas Lidstrom thrown in for good measure. But there’s a guy out there named Vinny Lecavalier who just can’t seem to get his due.

In 2006-07, Lecavalier led the Tampa Bay Lightning and the league with 52 goals. But Crosby won the Hart after winning the Art Ross Trophy with 120 points (36 goals, 84 assists). Alan Ryder’s Player Contribution rankings had Lecavalier first at 135, while Crosby was in sixth place at 123.

Lecavalier is having yet another brilliant season in Tampa. At press time, he was two points ahead of Crosby for first place in scoring at 63 – that’s after just 45 games. But the Lightning are buried on the back pages and desperate for some goaltending. Crosby is getting the star treatment; he should eventually eclipse Lecavalier on the ice, but for now, don’t believe the hype.

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.

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.