Payback is sweet

Four games suspension without pay. That's what Vancouver defenceman Mattias Ohlund got for the slash on Minnesota's Mikko Koivu on Friday. Meanwhile, Koivu, who has been one of Minnesota's best players so far, is out with a broken bone in his leg.

Four games? Could have been more if you ask me. That two-handed baseball swing by Ohlund was vicious and stuff like that does not belong in hockey.

It will be interesting to see how the Wild will respond when the Canucks visit St. Paul on Wednesday. They are sure looking forward to it.

And the most underrated are...

Since I took the trouble of naming three overrated (don't confuse overrated with bad, these are all good players or they at one point used to be) NHL skaters, I should perhaps do the same for the underrated ones. So here it goes.

Jason Smith (Philadelphia Flyers)
I cannot stress enough how much this guy means to the Philadelphia Flyers. The way he plays the game, with heart and determination, sets a standard for the whole team to follow. He is a true leader and all heart on the ice.

Sean Avery (New York Rangers)
I think it is plain to see to everyone how much better the New York Rangers are with Avery in the line-up. He gets the opponents off balance with his gritty in-your-face playing style and also puts up numbers on the scoring board. He is definitely hard to handle, I think most NHL teams will agree.

Matt Stajan (Toronto Maple Leafs)
He has gone from the forth-line to seeing close to 19 minutes a night for the Leafs. He's very tough to knock off the puck and he is only 23 years old. This guy will only get bigger and better.

And just outside of the top-3 are...

Mike Fisher (Ottawa Senators), Mikko Koivu (Minnesota Wild), and Michal Rozsival (New York Rangers).