There seems to be an outbreak of young, cocky players in the NHL, and a lot of the stern veterans don’t seem to like it. First, P.K. Subban of the Canadiens was benched for his aggressive, take-no-crap-from-anybody style of play combined with the fact that he actually has thoughts inside his hockey player head that he’s willing to share. Now, Edmonton’s Linus Omark – a Swedish phenom – made his NHL debut against Tampa Bay on Friday night, and won the game by using a spin-a-rama move to throw off the goalie before netting the winning goal in a shootout.

Did Omark do anything wrong by using the unconventional move in this situation? Of course he did, if you think the way the NHL does about players with personalities. Omark simply said that that’s his game and doesn’t think he should stop, but if Subban’s temporary banishment is any indication, Omark may want to give up the antics before anybody notices that this 23-year-old might actually be exciting to watch. We can’t have that in the NHL.

For some reason, the NHL loves to promote the heck out of its young superstars, just as long as they do and say exactly what the NHL wants them to. When have you ever heard Sidney Crosby say anything revealing? You’ll find more controversy in an episode of “Wheel of Fortune” before you hear something unexpected or shocking come out of Wayne Gretzky’s mouth, and people have been interviewing him since he was eight years old.

As long as the young players know that they “it’s not about them, it’s for the team,” they’ll get along just fine. But that’s the issue. Nobody will notice them unless they score 50 goals in a season, or have a 2.50 goals against average, or something else that the NHL deems acceptable. When a player starts to show signs that he enjoys playing in the NHL, the league comes down with a strong hand to put the player back in line. Omark – and the fans – will enjoy a few games of fun and laughter, but after that, it’s business as usual in the NHL.