More of This Feature • Part 1: The Maple Leafs Lead the Way. The finger pointing begins in Toronto.

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It seems little Steven got on a bit of a roll last season, racking up 87 points in 25 games. But he was cruelly passed over at the year-end awards banquet, where another young sprite was voted Most Valuable Player. Steven went home in tears. Dad went to a lawyer. Now they're in court, demanding $300,000. They want the trophy, too.

Dad suggests Steven is a victim of ethnic resentment. He's from a French speaking family, playing for a largely Francophone team in a largely Anglophone league. This doesn't explain how Steven managed to win the 70-odd trophies already cluttering up the family rec room. But that's what lawyers are for, right?

If Steven needs a pep talk, he could call Tomi Kallio. The Atlanta Thrashers' defenseman was recently demoted to the American Hockey League. In order to be sent down, Kallio had to clear waivers, meaning any other NHL team could have snapped him up for next to nothing. None did.

Kallio refused to report to the bus league. "I feel like they are trying to blame me for the losses," he told a Finnish newspaper. Granted, every skater in Georgia shares the blame for Atlanta's dismal record: one win in 12 games. But if you sent them all to the minors, who would be left to lose the next game?

"He should realize that he has to contribute," said coach Curt Fraser, who is likely on the verge of losing his own job. "Things weren't getting done. When that happens, you have to go down and work on your game."

Kallio says he thought he was playing well. Now he's demanding a trade. As illustrated by the Shayne Corson story, hockey players have a strange habit of making their most excessive demands when they are playing their worst.

It's worth noting, however, that the Thrashers are looking to deal. The young stars, Ilya Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley, are untouchable. Otherwise, General Manager Don Waddell says he's considering trades that could involve "some of our bigger players." Which sounds great, except that aside from Kovalchuk and Heatley, Atlanta doesn't have any "bigger players."

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