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With all due respect to my colleague Jes Golbez, I feel the urge to chime in on Ribeiro Slash-gate. With the amount of Pro-Osgood press the story is getting, I'm a little surprised about how quickly everyone has cleared him of any and all charges. Sure, he took a "Chris Simon" right to the midsection, but was it really that bad? Maybe it's my eyesight, but it doesn't look half as painful as Osgood's acting job. After taking a hit that probably wouldn't have hurt my cat, Osgood crumples to the ice like he had just taken a gun shot.

I'm sorry, but this is not soccer. Hockey players are tough or at the very least try and act like it. Osgood crumples to the ice after getting slashed and writhes in pain as the trainer assists him. It looks serious. It looks like a scary incident. Did he bruise a rib? Worse? Nope. As you can see at the 1:43 mark of this video, Osgood doesn't even need any help getting off the ice. He is actually so hurt that he can get right back up and celebrate a Game Two win with his teammates. Give me a break.

One more point needs to be made before we jump all over Ribeiro -- let's remember that Osgood isn't the only victim here. There's another point to be made, one that can't be seen on blurry YouTube videos. If you check out this video from ESPN, you can clearly see Osgood nail Ribeiro in the face with the end of his stick. He even moved it a bit to make sure he caught the Stars forward. Cheap shot? Absolutely. There's no need for that.

Now don't get me wrong, what Ribeiro did was cheap. It was uncalled for. There is no place for it in hockey. What we have here is a case where nobody is right. Osgood was wrong for catching Ribeiro with his stick (you can clearly seem him move it in Ribeiro's direction as he skates by) just as much as Ribeiro is wrong for taking a swing at Osgood (we have enough Chris Simons and Todd Bertuzzis). The old adage goes "two wrongs don't make a right" and in Game Two, that certainly seemed to be the case.

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.

Chris Pronger is a classic hockey conundrum. On the one hand, he's the sort of game-changing defenseman that comes along once or twice in a generation; they just enshrined one of those guys in the Hall of Fame. On the other, he has a propensity for being a boorish goon with a non-diagnosed allergy to integrity. No other player in the NHL can morph as quickly from a Hart Trophy winner to the equivalent of Sean Avery in Wally Szczerbiak's body.

Add Michal Handzus to a Pronger hit list that includes Pat Peake, Jeremy Roenick, Brenden Morrow, Ville Nieminen, Tomas Holmstrom, Dean McAmmond and the City of Edmonton. In last night's 4-3 shootout win by Anaheim over Los Angeles, Pronger pummeled Handzus at the end of overtime, earning an instigator, a fighting major and a game-misconduct. As usual, Pronger was on the defense, speaking with the Los Angeles Times: "He shot the puck after the whistle and I ran into him," said the Duck. "He tried to come back at me and I threw him into the boards. And then he started towards me." Interesting take ... although others claim they saw something dramatically different. (UPDATE after the jump.)

(Coming Up Next: Last Night's Losers, Hull and Avery Puck Headlines, the New All-Star Jerseys, Most Embarrassing Stat Line of the Night, Ovie and Sidney on Oprah, Games You Need To Watch Tonight and Snoopy Does Hockey.)

Now that the Dallas Stars have, once again, failed to advance past the first round of the playoffs during Dave Tippett's tenure as head coach, the media is getting the knives to out to be sharpened.

Does Dave Tippett deserve to be fired? In my opinion, NO!

Look at the Stars roster, which is full of softies like Mike Ribeiro, Eric Lindros, and Darryl Sydor, plus a whole whack of Scandinavian finesse players who don't possess a lot of offensive talent. Despite this rather weak looking roster, the Dallas Stars played an exceptional passive-defensive system and managed to rally and take the Canucks to a 7th game in their series after being down 3-1.

Special Teams? The Stars were 11th on the PK and 7th on the Power Play, which usually is a reflection of good coaching. The Stars were also the 2nd best team (behind Detroit) in shots against, and were extremely tough to score on.

Looking at Tippett's coaching record, he's certainly got an incredible track record ... during the regular season:

YEAR GM W L T OT WIN%  PLAYOFFS
02-03 82 46 17 15 4 0.677 - Lost in round 2
03-04 82 41 26 13 2 0.591 - Lost in round 1
05-06 82 53 23 0 6 0.683 - Lost in round 1
06-07 82 50 25 0 7 0.652 - Lost in round 1 

The Stars have done exceptionally well under Tippett's tenure during the regular season, but have won only one playoff round under his guidance. Given how two of those playoff losses were in a measly five games, one could conclude that Tippett doesn't have the right stuff to win in the playoffs.

Vancouver hospitals were not overrun by injuries caused by people falling off the Canucks bandwagon, but plenty of people had to have their hearts restarted at one point in last night's 4-1 Canucks victory.

After the first period, when the Stars led 1-0, I was all but set to write the eulogy for the Canucks season. The Canucks couldn't score, and seemed afraid to lose.

Whatever coach Alain Vigneault said during the first intermission worked wonders, because the Canucks were a completely different team for the next two periods. It was as if Vigneault threatened to break their legs if they lost the game.

Thanks to the Canucks speed and aggressive style, they out-shot the Stars 26-11 in the final two frames, drew 10(!) penalties from the Stars, and actually scored on the Power Play ... TWICE!

I think I suffered some sort of heart attack when Mike Modano's 3rd period one-timer hit the crossbar and stayed out. You know he'll be seeing that image in his dreams all summer long.

Trevor Linden showed his true colours, scoring points 11 and 12 in the ninth Game Seven of his career. His deflection goal gave the Canucks a lead they would never lose, and now Trevor leads the Canucks in playoff scoring. Not bad for a 37-year old.

"As usual I was so nervous right up until the puck drops, just literally sick", said Linden, who added an assist on Bryan Smolinski's empty-net goal in the final minute, passing up the chance for an easy second goal.

Now, it's time for a little duck hunting. *quack*

There are reports of 1000s of Canucks fans checking into Vancouver area hospitals, suffering from anxiety and panic attacks after Dallas took Game Six by a 2-0 score.

This is feeling eerily similar to the 3-1 series lead the Canucks choked back to Minnesota before the lockout. It's kind of hard to win when YOU CAN'T FRICKIN' SCORE!

Just how pathetic is the Canucks offense right now?

The Swedish Twins, Daniel and Henrik Sedin, have not scored a point since Game One! Both have just two points in the series. Neither twin got a shot on goal in Game Six, which would also make it hard to score goals.

Markus Naslund, the Canucks well-compensated captain, has just a lone goal and an assist to his name. Six million bucks a season for this? Who is he, Alexei Yashin?

Brendan Morrison, once a great play-making producer, has just one lone assist. As Tony Gallagher wrote in today's Vancouver Province:"Since Game One, it appears Brendan Morrison's jersey has been filled by Alexander Semak, once described in a scouting report as 'a feeble little forward'."

The Power-less Play is now ZERO for it's last 23, and has just one goal in 28 attempts this series. For a team with this much talent, such a pathetic total is inexcusable. It's not just that the Canucks can't score, but they don't appear to be even the least bit dangerous with the man advantage. The Stars allow the Canucks to cycle on the outside, and basically wait for the Canucks to attempt one of their three predictable set plays.

Kevin Bieksa? 0 points in 6 games and 18 penalty minutes. Bieksa has spent more time in the penalty box and scowling at referees than producing any offensive chances. It's time for Vigneault to put Brent Sopel in the #1 PP slot and give Bieksa a break.

Suffice it to say, the Stars have all the momentum heading into Game Seven, and the Canucks just seem to have no confidence or drive when they have the puck. As good as Turco has been, the Canucks have been just as bad when trying to produce quality scoring chances.

*oof*

Well, that was a real kick to the crotch!!! Brendan Morrow just got a lucky deflection to give the Dallas Stars a 1-0 OT win, prolonging the series back to Dallas, and preventing the Canucks from moving onto the next round.

As a Canucks fan, this brings back bad memories of the 3-1 series lead that the Canucks blew against the Minnesota Wild a few years back. Until the Canucks can bury the Stars, there is always going to be a feeling of uneasiness in this city. We've seen too much hockey tragedy (1994, anyone?) to not expect the worst to happen at times.

The game had a nice flow to it, with only seven minor penalties called and the Stars obviously looking like a desperate team. Like most games in the series, both teams seemed quite comfortable to play 'last goal wins', with both goaltenders in their respective zones.

Eric Lindros made a surprise return and played on a line with pesky Steve Ott and Joel Lundqvist. Lindros finished with 9:46 of ice time and two shots on goal. While Eric looked slow and sluggish, he did make a bit of an impact until he was practically benched later in the game. It could be bad news for the Canucks if Lindros feels comfortable enough to play a bigger role in Game Six.

The Canucks Power Play also continued to be more flaccid than a Florida retiree, going 0-for-3 on the night and now sits at 1-for-24 on the series. The Canucks really lack somebody who will go to the net and create havoc, with the Sedins too content to cycle the puck on the outside and make the predictable Henrik-to-Daniel play. If the Canucks do fall in this series, you can blame the horrible PP unit for their demise.

One of my co-workers took Eric Lindros in our annual office pool, hoping to cash in on an extremely risky pick in the hopes Eric might decide to go retro and score 70-80 points. The Dallas Stars, when they signed Lindros to a contract, were also hoping to catch the same lightning in a bottle.

I laughed at both parties, knowing Lindros was likely to be a big bust. They didn't listen, though, as they thought they were smarter than everyone else who knew better.

Coming off of a mediocre season with his hometown (of sorts) Leafs, where he scored just 22 points in 33 games, there were doubts that Lindros could even play half of a season's worth of games. The Stars were obviously quite desperate to expect Lindros to provide something positive, while skilled players like Yanic Perrault sat at home unsigned. It was the hockey equivalent of spending $100,000 on scratch-and-win tickets instead of investing in government bonds.

Things started off well for Lindros (and my co-worker) as "The Big Ego" started the season with one goal and four assists in his first three games with the club! Lindros had seemingly re-found his scoring touch, and brought some life to the moribund Stars power play. Still, I knew Humpty Dumpty would fall from the wall when the clock struck midnight, and all of the Los Angeles Kings' men couldn't put him back together again.

It didn't take long for an acolyte of the Hockey Gods to come and smack him with a +4 Rod of Reality, causing Lindros to go dry with just three points in his next eight games. The oft-concussed Lindros suffered a wrist injury, and was so afraid of suffering another big blow that he continued to play on the periphery like a big scaredy cat.

Another Stars/Canucks game, and another 2-1 Canucks victory. This isn't a recording!

The newly formed line of Taylor Pyatt-Bryan Smolinski-Trevor Linden accounted for Game 3's OT winner, and also both of the Canucks' goals tonight as the Canucks took a commanding 3-1 series lead by sweeping the two games in Dallas.

It would almost a tale of two separate games as the first two periods were full of weak penalty calls, misfiring Power Plays (15 penalties in all) and many disjointed offensive efforts that lead to nary a goal.

The third period featured just one penalty, called at the end of regular to Roberto Luongo, and plenty of intense forechecking with quality chances at both ends. It's as if the NHL's head office called the refs during the intermission and told them to smarten up.

To open the offensive festivities, Mattias Ohlund potted his second of the playoffs as he wired a rebound, from a Smolinski shot bouncing off of the back boards, passed a flopping Marty Turco. The Stars answered back quickly, with a tally by Darryl Sydor (an uncredited assist to Markus Naslund on a bad giveaway). Just two minutes later, Linden put the Canucks back up for good with his first of the playoffs, banging in the puck in his usual blue-collar millionaire style.

Not all great plays produce goals, however. Willie Mitchell (pictured), not an offensive powerhouse, did his best work by saving a would-be Mike Ribeiro goal that would have made it 2-2.

When the replay slowed down on the overhead scoreboard and the Dallas Stars' home fans loudly registered their opinion, everyone on the Vancouver Canucks' bench paid no attention.

Defenseman Willie Mitchell said it didn't go in. And his word was good enough for them.

Officials agreed, too, ruling that Mitchell swept a trickling puck off the goal line with 2:33 left, preserving a 2-1 Vancouver victory Tuesday night and a 3-1 lead in this first-round series.

"Willie came to the bench and said it wasn't in," Canucks center Trevor Linden said. "You always ask the guy who made the play. He's not going to lie to you."

"He's a pretty honest guy," added Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault. "So I believed him."

Yeah, as if Mitchell would have just said, "Yeah, it went in. Don't even bother checking the video replay!"

Luongo, of course, was excellent stopping 26 of 27 shots. Suffice it to say, this game was quite similar to most Canucks games this year, save for the offensive struggles of the cycling Sedins.

Of note was the continued invisibility of Mike Modano and Brendan Morrow, who were shut off of the score-sheet yet again. Modano has just one lone assist in the series and has not looked dangerous in the last three contests. Morrow has not been his usual pesky self, either, and seems to have acquired Alexei Yashin disease along with Modano.

One of the tactics used by the Dallas Stars in their series against the Canucks is to take a run or two at goaltender Roberto Luongo. Whether it be to make a little contact, introduce themselves, and just make Luongo feel uncomfortable, the Dallas Stars are certainly taking advantage of the refs looking the other way.

The Canucks, especially Luongo himself, are obviously sick of the lack of goaltender interference penalties being called against the Stars, and have filed an official complaint with the NHL.

Kevin Bieksa, for one, is not pleased at how the Stars are touching his goalie:

"It's tough when you see a guy bumping your goalie. The guys [who have] been bumping our goalie have been their little guys.... So those guys aren't really going to [fight] back. So you give them a shot or something. You have to be very careful. You definitely don't want to take a penalty."

It's not uncommon for teams to try and put great goaltenders off of their game and make some incidental contact. The Stars are obviously pushing the boundaries and getting away with quite a bit. Ladislav Nagy hit Roberto Luongo in the elbow with his knee as he made a very poor attempt to stop his skating motion. Roberto was laying on the ice, and the refs didn't appear to be at all concerned. What are the Canucks to do?

Fellow Canucks fan 'Zanstorm' feels my frustration, but defends the blind mice in striped shirts:

It's a tough scenario for the refs I'm sure. You want to make the interference call sometimes, but Luongo for one sells it anytime someone touches him. And you know what refs do when a player embellishes often: they stop calling infractions against the player.

I'm not sure if any other team has complained about the same thing this post season. One thing is for sure: it's happening in every series. How about Colby Armstrong's treatment of Ray Emery? Full on contact!

Unfortunately, the Canucks can't retaliate and beat Nagy into a pulp, or even give him a warning shot, because the refs would call the Canucks for a cheap penalty.

Perhaps the league needs to make a point, league-wide, about goaltenders getting bumped into while they are trying to do their jobs. Unless the goalie is completely out of his crease, he shouldn't be allowed to be bumped hard and interfered with.

The Stars aren't shining brightly in Dallas, but the role players are.

Jan Bulis, Stu Barnes, and Taylor Pyatt were the goal scorers as the Canucks took Game Three by a 2-1 count in overtime. Markus Naslund, the Sedins, Mike Modano? They were nowhere to be found on the score sheet.

The phrase "Fast-paced low-scoring hockey game" might not sound right, but it perfectly describes last night's tilt, which was the complete opposite of a very boring Game Two. The two teams combined for 67 shots, and provided plenty of good offensive chances at both ends of the ice.

Both teams were showing the great speed they are known for, hustling hard, and rushing back and forth up the ice with vigour. I was tired just watching these teams skate back and forth! Both team's Power Plays have been nullified by the superior penalty killing units of both clubs, where both teams use their great speed to play very aggresive penalty killing styles.

The main difference between the two teams is that Vancouver likes to hit, while Dallas prefers to sit back and lull opponents to sleep. The Stars are very much a passive team, and it showed when the Canucks forechecked hard in the 3rd period, and the Stars were on their high heels.

"When we scored, we could tell they looked scared," said Jan Bulis, who scored Vancouver's first goal. "It was like they didn't want to win it in regulation, they wanted to get it into overtime. They never found their rhythm and it was up to us to take it."

For Taylor Pyatt, the OT goal was his first ever playoff goal in 17 games. He was taken off of his usual spot with the Sedins, but found instant chemistry with the hard-working duo of Linden and Smolinski.

Jannik Hansen also continued his Cinderella story, and earned himself another shot in Game Four. With increased ice time (15:27), Hansen fired four shots on goal, one of which led to Jan Bulis' opening tally. Hansen continued to display a great package of speed and enthusiasm, and hardly looked like a 21-year old rookie playing in just his second NHL tilt.

As for the Stars' stars, they have been well neutralized by Willie Mitchell and Roberto Luongo. Mike Modano has just one lone assist in this series, and was hard to notice on the ice last night. Mike Ribeiro, the Stars' regular season scoring leader, has been softer than a duck-down pillow and has just one lone point, himself.

Stu Barnes, of all people, leads the Stars with three points in three games. If the Canucks continue to neutralize the few weapons that pop-gun Stars' offence has, then no amount of Marty Turco heroics is going to help Dallas overcome Vancouver's balanced attack.