The Washington Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin is perhaps the greatest hockey player currently in the game, but the distinction means little without a playoff resume.

Alexander Ovechkin has been named called many things in the span of his short professional career... dynamic, spectacular, insanely talented and, hell, just plain ol' fun to watch. Still, Alexander The Gr8, to cite yet another lableled designation of his (however corny), in leading the National Hockey League in scoring, has his team only on the cusp of a playoff berth. The Capitals, as of March 22nd, find themselves on the outside looking into the playoff picture, trailing the eighth-place Philadelphia Flyers by two points. Thus, all things remaining equal and contrary to many expert opinions, circumstances dictate Ovechkin should not be even considered as one of the three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP.

Reading the fine print, the award is handed down to the player who is deemed most valuable to his team. Ovechkin is clearly the grind to the Capitals' gears. Still, though, the point remains: Where would the New Jersey Devils, now fourth in the Eastern Conference, be without the stellar play of Martin Brodeur? The Devils have scored the second-least amount of goals in the conference, just ahead of the lowly New York Islanders. Their pop-gun offense consists of a career second-liner in Jamie Langenbrunner, an over-the-hill Patrik Elias, a one-year-wonder Brian Gionta, and perhaps one legitimate scoring threat in a young Zach Parise. Truth be told, Brodeur gives the Devils a chance to win the Stanley Cup each and every year and it's no small wonder he isn't an annual candidate (oh, he comes close, though). What makes him a bona-fide nominee for the MVP award this year is the departures of star forward Scott Gomez and power-play quarterback Brian Rafalski in the offseason. The Devils are essentially a skeleton compared to the teams that won the Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2003. Brodeur, though, is the heart that forever keeps hope alive in Jersey.

And, on the subject of keeping hope alive, when Sidney Crosby went down with a high-ankle sprain in January, teammate Evgeni Malkin was quick to pick up the pieces and spare the Pittsburgh Penguins a meltdown of Chernobyl proportions. At one point Malkin was averaging two points a game over the course of the course of the 20 games Crosby, now out of the lineup again to further rehabilitate the injury, was initally placed on injured reserve. Pairing with Petr Sykora,a nod perhaps to their time spent as teammates in Magnitogorsk during the lockout, the duo became the most effective in the league this season, but, without Malkin, Sykora no doubt would have continued to fade into oblivion this season, once going eight games without a point when Crosby was healthy. Now, from the point at which Crosby was injured, he's a point-a-game player. Clearly, Malkin, like Brodeur, has made the Penguins the contenders they are this year.

In the West, Jarome Iginla continues to be the annual spark to the ignition of the Calgary Flames' playoff hopes. Currently fourth in league scoring and third in goals scored, Iginla has led the Flames by example yet again and should make a strong case for the award as well. He may finish a runner-up again, as he did in 2002 to Jose Theodore, but there's no denying he has a better chance of winning the trophy this year. Why? Because the Flames are poised to make the playoffs, something they failed to do six years ago. Iginla, like Ovechkin this year, also led the league in scoring in 2002. And, so, it stands to reason that if an Art Ross title was not enough to secure the Hart for Iginla, the same should be true for Ovechkin. Also, it should be noted, Iginla is just behind Vincent Lecavalier in this year's scoring race, yet no one is even thinking the latter's name in the same physical vicinity of the Hart Trophy, and that's because Lecavalier's team, the Tampa Bay LIghtning, are far and away the worst team in the East and have been out of playoff contention for a long while. It only makes sense that Ovechkin be held to the same standards as everyone else... even if he is so Gr8.