Ducks Turn Dirty. And Why Wouldn't They?

Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson has emerged as the deserving favorite for the 2007 Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. But if you're looking for a dark horse candidate, you could do worse than the "butt presence" in Detroit, Tomas Holmstrom.

Holmstrom bolstered his case Tuesday night, scoring twice to seal the Red Wings' easy victory over Anaheim. Not long after his second goal, a pair of Ducks combined to mash his head into the glass. Rob Niedermayer was punished with a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct, though Chris Pronger appeared to inflict the most damage.

Watching Holmstrom leave the ice woozy and bleeding, an Anaheim fan might have thought, "good play." Though he's far from the most talented Wing, Holmstrom is a catalyst. Detroit is not the same team without him. With the Ducks down 4-0, Tuesday's battle was already lost. So if you can take him out - maybe for the next game, maybe longer - who cares if somebody gets five-and-a-game? That's a good trade.

It's a stretch to assume Niedermayer or Pronger would make that calculation, and in any case it didn't work: Holmstrom returned to set up another goal, and Pronger could yet end up with a suspension. But when you boil it down to a cold-blooded assessment of risk versus reward, it's easy to see why head-hunting often lurks as a potential tactic in a hockey game.

Update, May 16: The NHL has handed Pronger a one-game suspension for the hit on Holmstrom.