Last week the NHL rejected the New Jeresy Devils 17 year, 102 million dollar contract offer to Ilya Kovalchuk. They said the last four years were added on for the sole purpose of driving their salary cap figure down. Now the NHL Players Association has filed a grievance with the league. But the length of these contracts is what gets me. How can you lock a player in for over a decade is beyond me.

The People of Chicago are going crazy because of one man Dustin Byfuglien! Big Buff, as he is known, single-handedly beat the San Jose Sharks by scoring three game winning goals, and thereby sending the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 18 years. The kid sure has delivered after being promoted to Chicagos top line.

The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs showed a 25 percent increase from last year, and they were the best in almost a decade. Still, less than one million people are watching the average NHL playoff game. That would be different if the league were willing to push back their season so the playoffs started in June. Then they would only be competing with baseball on a nightly basis, and ESPN would gladly air their games.

Tuesday will be the first game seven of the NHLs Playoffs and as we all know, theres nothing more exciting than a game seven of a hockey series. Despite all the action, though, theres one thought I cant get out of my mind What the hell is Barry Melrose doing with his hair?

What’s the deal with the Boston Bruins and Detroit red Wings? Last year these were two of the most polific scoring teams in the NHL… but this year, they’re both dead last in their respective conferences.

Goal Tending and Defense has been decent, so they both have a chance to get their acts together and make a run for the playoffs. Hope the Olympic break doesn’t mess up their continuity. Then again, the way they’ve been playing, that might not be such a bad thing!