Bruce MacLeod’s got some good thoughts on the Crosby/Lidstrom thing. Some of his points echo my own views on the matter.
Basically, I feel like for Crosby it’s too much success, too soon, and that winning the Cup now after just four years really messes up any chances the guy has of ever reaching real maturity in this League. It’s not about him winnning a Cup at all, it’s the timing. I could have stood to see him go through a few more years of adversity and hardening before reaching the pinnacle of the sport.
If nothing else, I think it would have made a more compelling storyline than what happened: 1 year of not making the playoffs, 1 year of early elimination and 1 year of Finals disappointment before finally overcoming all that “adversity.” As Kyle wrote the other day, that’’s “like a movie ending in its third scene.” Or a SparkNotes version of the standard “young punk to HHoF material” story.
He’s still very immature, and this handshake controversy is just another piece of evidence in the case aganist him having such a high-profile leadership role. What he should have done is to make a point of leading his team through the line shaking all the Wings’ hands (Fixed.), and when he didn’t, he should have had the decency to apologize to one of the League’s few truly great players still suiting up.
It’s not the end of the world, but it does offer a view of the problem behind putting the guy on such a high pedestal so early in his career. So what if he’s made good on the hype if he can’t honor to a “t” one of the few aspects of hockey that are respected across the sports world.
I don’t want to dislike Crosby, but it’s hard not to when he’s becoming bigger than the game.
“make a point of leading his team through the line”
You do know that Lidstrom didn’t lead the Wings through the handshake line last year after the Finals, he was towards the back - check the pictures…and this is probably because it’s a lot easier to get organized and do that when you’re the team that lost and you’re all standing on one side of the ice waiting to shake hands and get off. I think this particular point of the “controversy” is overstated (the captain leading the handshake). I’ve seen a lot of post-series handshakes, and 1) I’ve never held them as soo sacred as they have all of a sudden become and 2) I don’t recall it being of the upmost importance for a captain to lead the line. It isn’t something celebrating captains have tripped over their teammates to do…
“He’s still very immature, and this handshake controversy is just another piece of evidence in the case aganist him having such a high-profile leadership role.”
Since when do fans of other teams care about who the captain is of another team? It’s great you don’t think he deserves the ‘C’, but his teammates feel otherwise and this would be quite obvious if you saw any postgame interviews from his teammates. He’s not going to lose the ‘C’, even if Wings blogs keep this non-story alive all summer long. I’m no fan of the Flyers, but I don’t dwell on Mike Richards being their captain or something…
“he should have had the decency to apologize to one of the League’s few truly great players still suiting up.”
Who knows, maybe he called up Lidstrom and already did this. Or maybe he will at the NHL Awards tomorrow night assuming they are both planning to appear in person. It might not be leaked directly to the press as a photo op and headline story, but I wouldn’t assume it hasn’t happened or won’t happen. And it doesn’t sound like Lidstrom is stressing out about all this like some people are just because it’s a chance to get after Crosby.
Correction: Lidstrom wasn’t near the back like I said but Osgood definitely led the line. Sort of felt like I misstated it after I posted that. Still, I was partially right.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57UIOO-v9p0
Brian,
I’ll concede the point about leading. I’ve adjusted my language above. I do still think Crosby should have made a point of getting to the line, wherever he was in it, and shaking the hands of everyone on the team.
I’m not accusing Crosby of purposely spiting Lidstrom. It’s that it was accidental that’s the issue. It’s about priorities, and in that situation, paying respect to your opponent is basically first on the list. Getting lost in an over-long pre-Cup presentation celebration is not.
I also don’t think the handshake is suddenly being held sacred. As long as I’ve been a fan, it’s been a big deal. It’s certainly something held up by traditional outlets such as CBC, and it’s one of the few things I hear fans of other sports cite as a positive thing about hockey. It’s not something you want marquee players skipping or making mistakes on.
It matters because if the NHL Marketing department is going to hold Crosby up as some kind of paragon of leadership, the Best Player Currently Playing If Not Ever (Short of Gretzky/Lemieux) and the Face of the League, he’s going to be held to a higher standard by those of us being fed those lines outside his personal fan circle.
Whatever Pens fans may think, he isn’t just theirs. He’s been made the NHL’s, so he’s going to be subject to the scrutiny of other NHL fans and that means being held to a higher standard than players on other teams might face. Obviously, since it’s just the fans, it doesn’t matter from his perspective, but if some of those players polls from during the season are any indication, it’s becoming a player matter too.
For my part, it’s my attempt at showing Crosby can’t possibly live up to every bit of the storyline being weaved around him by Marketing and their cohorts the media. The guy is a very, very good player, but he isn’t everything, and he certainly isn’t perfect. This isn’t Crosby bashing so much as it’s correcting the Crosby Myth.
If he’d called Lidstrom, we would have heard about it, if for no other reason than Crosby’s fans in the media would want to shut this talk down. Those people, including the traditionlists who would publically execute any other big-ish name player who committed a similar mistake, are already giving him a free pass, and would love to be able to completely forget about it.
There may be some kind of reconciliation at the Awards, but after Crosby’s inability to admit any wrongdoing thus far in the media and the lack of any real media pressure, it may not even get addressed.
Is it the end of the world that he didn’t shake Lidstrom’s hand? Obviously not. But it is disappointing.
Lidstrom’s obviously been extremely classy about this, but similarly classy guys like Draper and Zetterberg have commented, and that’s why it’s sticking around the blogs. This story aside, I can’t think of a single controversial thing either of those two players have ever said. Zetterberg comments are usually about as exciting as warm pudding they’re so cliche-ridden, and Draper’s not much better.
Those guys aren’t just saying it out of spite for having lost. I know it’s a common myth in Penguin fan circles (not lumping you in that group), as well as among other fans, that the Wings are whiny (a case of their fans’ reputation clouding over the team), but the Wings do not go after people in the media. This is an an axceptional occurance.
“I do still think Crosby should have made a point of getting to the line, wherever he was in it, and shaking the hands of everyone on the team.”
Totally agree and I wish he had. I think there was some screenshot someone took where it shows the handshake line and then it shows Sid being pulled into an interview or surrounded by cameras. I think the takeaway from this should be that the media/cameras/family members have to stay off the ice until after the handshake so certain guys who everyone wants a piece of aren’t put in the position of missing anyone.
“The guy is a very, very good player, but he isn’t everything, and he certainly isn’t perfect. This isn’t Crosby bashing so much as it’s correcting the Crosby Myth.”
I think most Pens fans have already accepted he isn’t perfect. Heck, we’ve been chanting “MVP” for Malkin this season, and as much as we hate to say it, Ovechkin is the best goal scorer in the league without any arguments. I think Sid is a top five forward in the league, and the difference between the top five is so small that I don’t see the point in sorting beyond that.
It was unfortunate that Gretzky basically dubbed him as the ‘Next One’ when he was 16 because that’s what made the expectations what they were. I don’t think the NHL has specifically/directly promoted him as the next Gretzky or anything (if they did in an ad, I must not have seen it) but sure they do market him a lot. I wouldn’t mind if they chose Ovechkin as the face of the league, because maybe then I wouldn’t have to put up with soo many NBC games with Pierre McGuire during the regula season. But that’s unlikely to happen after this Finals…
And no doubt Sid has plenty of room to grow as a captain, but looking down the roster on the Pens, I don’t see another player who could take that role other than maybe a Gonchar. But he’s way too shy and quiet and wouldn’t want to deal with the press.
Brian,
and this is probably because it’s a lot easier to get organized and do that when you’re the team that lost and you’re all standing on one side of the ice waiting to shake hands and get off
If you watch the video more closely, you’ll see that Crosby didn’t lead his team when they lost either. Again, he was near the back of the line. What’s your excuse here?
It might not be leaked directly to the press as a photo op and headline story,
Lidstrom said in an interview a few days ago, can’t remember where, that if Sid did say anything to him he would tell them.
As far as last year’s handshake, I went back and watched the celebration to see what happened last year, and how long the Wings took. They also took a long time celebrating, but the Penguins took a long time to line up as well. As soon as Pittsburgh did start to line up, the Wings went over and shook every one of their hands. In my opinion, it’s a matter of knowing the other team will want to get off the ice and being respectful of when they want to leave. Also, every other Penguin managed to get through the whole line. Even the young kids, so everyone can stop using Sid’s age as an excuse. Again, this whole thing would just go away if he would show any indication that he regrets what happened. He doesn’t even have to admit any wrongdoing, just say that he regrets that he did not have the opportunity to shake Lidstrom’s hand, that he did not mean to offend anyone, and that he respects Lidstrom. But because of his immaturity, his first reaction is to blame somebody, anybody, else. That’s my major problem with the situation how it is.
And have you ever wondered why fans of other teams are so quick to find fault with him? It’s because we’re sick of having him shoved down our throats! Wing fans were pissed off that all the commercials of last year’s Finals featured the Penguins and Crosby. If you didn’t watch, you would think they won it! I’m sick of the league pushing that one franchise so much and virtually ignoring the other 29, as I’m sure other fans are. So naturally, we are going to react badly toward Crosby. If he wasn’t such an immature, big-headed creep, it wouldn’t even be his fault. He could be the most lovable guy in the world, and most of the fans of the league would still hate him.
I wouldn’t mind if they chose Ovechkin as the face of the league
Having one guy as the face of the NHL just doesn’t work. It’s not realistic. Say someone in New Mexico sees a commerical with Crosby and is intrigued. Maybe they decide they want to check this kid out. But they can’t, because his team is on the other side of the country and would rarely be on tv. Meanwhile, Phoenix is just one state over, but they may have no clue there’s even a team there. All they know is that there’s a team in Pittsburgh with some kid that they can’t watch.
A more realistic marketing strategy is taking the stars of each individual team and marketing them in that area or region. In Texas, market Modano, Morrow, etc. In Michigan, market Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Lidstrom. Each team has its own stars. These are the guys that are gonna be available for people to watch on local cable channels.
I agree. It did seem like there was a excessive number of people on the ice, though apparently the only media were those from the three broadcast networks. Can’t really deny those guys first interviews, but surely the lockerroom folks can get held back.
I’d like to see a wide angle real-time video of the whole thing just to see how it all timed out and who was where when.
That may be true, but the League marketeers are still pushing to have Sid be the one name guy non-hockey fans know if they know any hockey player at all.
That’s certainly fair, but in terms of sheer numbers, I’m guessing your viewpoint is in the minority among Pens fans. Trying to compare Datsyuk or Zetterberg to him generally seems to get pretty rabid reactions.
I don’t think the NHL has specifically/directly promoted him as the next Gretzky or anything
Maybe not the NHL (content with Face of the NHL), but the media sure likes that storyline, as evidenced this playoffs with the whole Islanders/Oilers storyline they touted.
Haha, yeah. But I’m with Megan, and would rather there not be a “face” of the game, but “faces” instead. Market more regionally instead of focusing so much on one guy, especially when they lack a really good national TV deal. Seems smarter to me, but I don’t have a marketing degree.
That’s all I want to see from him. I just hope that early success doesn’t stunt that growth. It took time for a guy like Yzerman to become a real leader, and the same goes for a guy like Messier, who won early in his career. With all the media and marketing pressure on Crosby, he almost seems doomed to not growing. I’d rather they leave him alone, stop making him seem bigger than the game to fans outside Pittsburgh, and let him just be the captain of the Penguins and the face of hockey in western Pennsylvania.
I’m dissapointed as a Wings fan to see that this “controversy” is still being discussed. I’m no fan of Crosby; I think his composure on the ice, point tally and +/- in the finals all show that he still has some ways to go before being compared to the all-time greats (although his playoff pts total is impressive). On the other hand, I just can’t bring myself to get worked up about the hand shakes, or lack there of. He did shake half the team’s hands, including Zetterberg’s. If the situation was reversed, I doubt we would be talking, a week later, about how little class Lidstrom had shown. The Pens left the Wing’s hand-shake line waiting slightly longer than the Wings did last year, the difference being less than a minute (according to somebody with more time than I). I’m fairly new to this blog specifically, so I’m curious, was there as much outrage shown here when Chelios refused to shake anyone’s hands a few years ago? (I am aware that Chelios has never been the face of the Wings, or the league).
This is the definition of a manufactured controversy. I’m even more dissapointed with Draper’s comments, but I’ll give those a pass since he was probably still smarting from the loss. I would give our blogs a pass for the same reason, but plenty of time has passed and they’re still complaining.
Lets show some class, thank the Wings on a great year, congradulate the Pens on a Cup (lets face it, when they win game-seven away after back-to-back elimination games, its hard to say they didn’t earn it), and move on. We’re better fans than this, lets show it.
Andre,
Like I said, it’s not the end of the world. What it does do is open a larger discussion on Crosby, which is all I’m doing here.
Looking back at the Chelios incident, I gave the guy a pass at the time because I bought his excuse (emotion, thought it could be his last game, etc.). I wouldn’t let him off so easy now, but my opinion at the time was colored by a new hatred of Anaheim.
But you’re right, he never was the face of the game, and certainly wasn’t in 2007. Chelios has a career out of being a jerk, but Crosby, as the League’s Marketing focus, doesn’t have that luxury.
Look, the fact that Draper felt it necessary to say something at all makes it an important issue. As I say above, the Wings are not whiny and have been nothing if not ambassadors for the game through keeping what they say non-controversial. Obviously, some post-series emotion on Draper’s part was involved, but one of the great things about this team is its professionalism. That he said anything says something about the on-ice and player-to-player dynamics going on. That makes it worthy of comment by the fans.
I disagree with your statement about the situations being reversed. If Lidstrom (or any other Wing, or any other player from any other team) had done what Crosby did but to Crosby, they’d be dragged through the mud all summer and into next season at least until the next time the players met on the ice.
I don’t want to dwell on it all summer, that’s for sure, but it’s still relevant a week later, especially with Lidstrom and Crosby sharing an auditorium tonight. If anything’s manufactured, I think it’s the free pass Crosby’s getting by the media.
By the way, I did thank the Wings for a great year, and I did congratulatie the Pens on winning the Cup and doing what seemed impossible in winning Game 7 in Detroit. That doesn’t have the be the end of the discussion on the series, and this discussion doesn’t take away from either team’s accomplishment.
I agree with you that, in general, the Wings as a organization servre from the top on down as ambassadors of the game - that does not mean that all Wings are at all times professional, or above reproach. Draper choosing to say something about the handshake situation, is not to me, immediatly proof of its importance. I’m also not putting all of this on Draper, the media is definitely guilty of running with this to a certain extent.
Lets be honest here, for this situation to occur, it first requires the Wings players to leave the ice, no? I can understand the desire to not want to stick around long after such a defeat, I don’t blame the Wings players that didn’t stay longer. It just seems strange to me that Wings players would choose to make a big deal out of this when they are at least as responsible as Crosby.
Since I’ve never heard of an appropriate amount of time between the initial celebreation and entering the hand-shake line, I don’t really know where Crosby stands historically in that regard. In any case, it seems silly to look at the hand-shake incident for proof of his merit (or lack of) re: the league’s marketing focus. I think that his sometimes lack of on-ice composure and lack or production in the finals are much more relevant to that discussion.
Lastly, I didn’t mean to imply that you (Matt) hadn’t thanked the Wings or saluted the Pens, only that it seemed that vocal segment of Wings fans on the various blogs needed, imo, to stop complaining and start accepting. I know that this final was good for me as a fan, having fallen into a sort of over-confidence trap. I know that I’ll appreciate future success much more as a result of this season.
I agree, of course. In this case, however, I feel there’s something more going on. Generally, the Wings’ misteps occur on the ice in the form of stupid/dumb penalties, etc. Or when someone outside the leadership on the team forgets the party line.
Draper and Zetterberg, however, have always handled themselves with class off the ice and, in the vast majority of cases, on it. If someone such as Helm or Abdelkader had said the exact thing Draper said, but no other Wings did, I’d write it off. But Draper and Zetterberg’s word, to me anyway, adds weight.
In my view, in the immediate aftermath of the game, events are determined by the losing team’s timetable, particularly if the losing team also happens to be the hometeam. The winners are understanably excited, but teams have for decades been able to tear themselves away from the celebration in order to honor tradition. Crosby’s teammates did so, and in a timely fashion.
I can’t speak to Lidstrom’s reasons for leaving the ice when he did, but it doesn’t appear that he hurried in any way. Could he have waited longer? Yes. But why should he? I feel like he’s the one who should have been shown respect, as one of the league’s elder statesmen, and that he should not be expected to wait on the timing of a younger player, particularly if what MacLeod says is true and there really weren’t heavy media demands on Crosby’s attention at the time.
I think this loss hit Nick and the Wings especially hard given the sacrifice in health they made to get that far. I can imagine they just wanted to get out of there after coming so close through the pain only to fall short.
Again, this seems to be flexible, but it’s dependant on the losing team.
Relative to those other things, this is a small item. I suppose it’s the straw that broke the camel’s back. The symbolism of him failing to shake Lidstrom’s hand is also easy to pick up on, making it seem like a larger offense than it otherwise might have been.
For me, it’s hard not to come away from it with a bad, “he’s become bigger than the game” taste in my mouth. Maybe I take the handshake tradition too seriously.
I agree, and I think the same will go for the Wings themselves. It’ll be interesting to first see how the summer plays out from a roster standpoint, but I feel this could have a motivating factor similar to the 2007 loss to Anaheim.
Last year, the Pens (losing/home team) waited patiently on the boards for the Wings to finish celebrating for several minutes. It was Osgood, not Lidstrom who started to head center ice to shake hands. I’m not pointing this out to say that the Wings, or Lidstrom were disrespectful. I don’t think there’s any set protocol. In any case, if we’re going by the standards you just laid out, the Pens were classier than the Wings in this case.
I would guess that its a lot easier to remember all the traditions you are supposed to be living up to when you’ve won four championships. I’m not going to hold it against Crosby for taking a little longer than some of his other teammates. If we’re going to be empathetic to the Wings pain, lets also understand Crosby’s emotions as a Stanley-virgin.
All in all, I don’t like sounding like I’m defending Crosby or indicting the Wings. I just don’t like how long this “contorversy” has lasted, its making the Wing’s fans and blogging community sound like whiny sore losers. I don’t mean to single this blog out, these are just my feelings in general, because I hold us as Wings fans to a higher standard…not that it really matters what I think
True, but I’ll defer to my wife on this (from above):
I guess I should have been more clear. To me, it’s about how much time it takes for the losing team to gather itself. That span can vary widely, but once they do line up, the winning team ought to do the same. That seems to be the protocol. There’s a certain span in which the losing team is generally in shock, but once they get over that enough to move, the handshake generally starts.
He may be a Stanley Cup virgin, but as others have pointed out, he’s no stranger to championships, and the tradition is basically the same across all levels of hockey. Certainly it is where he played.Winning the Cup is far above those other experiences, but that doesn’t clear Crosby entirely.
I do too, which is why I repudiate the message board mentality of so many of our fellow fans.
I’m glad you’ve shared your opinion since it’s definitely caused me to think. I don’t want to carry this any further, really, but aside from a comment in an earlier thread, it was all I’d said about it so far, and I saw an opportunity to do some Crosby myth-busting.
As far as Crosby being the face of the NHL, I understand your frustrations, but understand why they are marketing him as they are.
The players you wish that were regionally marketed, ARE regionally marketed by their local affiliate stations. Watching most Wings games on FSN Detroit, that’s easy to see. It’s all about Lidstrom-Hossa-Zetterberg-Datsyuk, etc. We even get Datsyuk trying to sell us glasses.
Living in a Leafs market, it’s the same here. It’s all Kaberle, Schenn, etc.
But the NHL, on it’s national broadcasts, chooses to market it’s most marketable player. We may not like that he is the NHL’s most marketable player, but he truly is. I personally believe that Zetterberg is the best player in the league, but I have a hard time convincing other Wings fans of this, much less non-Wings fans. Certainly not marketable.
Ovechkin is probably the most marketable, marquee player, but he’s not north american, and I don’t think the NHL wants to try and market anyone but a Canadian or an American (probably preferable, though there isn’t really a suitable one right now).
I would assume that if the NHL advertises in Russia, it probably uses Ovechkin and Malkin, maybe even Datsyuk. In Russia, Lidstrom and Zetterberg. But in North America, it’s Crosby all the way.
What we need to remember, is that the reason we feel Crosby is being shoved down our throats is that we are watching ALL of this coverage. We are the fans that aren’t going anywhere. I don’t know where you, the Salers, or you, Andre are located, but I am in Canada, and I fit that super-stereotypical Canadian hockey fan, as most Canadians do. We complained like crazy during the lockout, but I remember clearly watching the first exhibition game afterward, between two teams I couldn’t have cared less about (Columbus and Minnesota, when they didn’t have much to watch) with an anticipation rivaled by little.
We are the fans the NHL loves, because they know they don’t need to pay attention to us. We whine and complain about the tiniest of things, the smallest of details, and yet, there we are, every game. The NHL has no fear of losing me, and they’re right - they won’t. I love the game too much.
So, we are already tired of seeing Crosby everywhere, all the time (even more so, being Wings fans), and we fear that happening ten-fold next year, but if it happens (and it will) we will see it all, because we’re already hooked.
The NHL knows what Gretzky did for the casual or non-fan in the early eighties, and have hyped Crosby to that point, hoping that it will spark the same interest. Those are the folks that they are after, and it’s working. Hockey is gaining more interest in the States all the time, and game 7’s ratings were a perfect indicator of that, a thirty-some year high.
So, I’m not saying don’t complain about it, but get used to it, because you don’t matter.
As far as the original issue at hand, I’m less upset that Crosby didn’t shake hands than I am at his refusal to apologise for it. That was a bit classless, in my opinion. Even if he didn’t feel that he should, it would have diffused the inevitable storm that the whole thing has created. I wish Draper and Zetterberg would have let it go, too, for the same reasons.
I’ve rambled here, a bit, and I’m sorry.
I will finish with saying that I really enjoy your blog, and I thank you greatly for doing it. Keep up the good work.
Above, when I mentioned where Lidstrom and Zetterberg were most marketed, I of course meant Sweden, not Russia.
Matt,
Great points throughout.
I still think the League could do NHL-produced marketing for local players (rather than wholly defering to the local stations), but I get what you’re saying.
For the purposes of national-level marketing, I think they could go with someone with a better personality (Crosby’s pretty dry) such as Ovechkin, even if it means a language barrier. Get the guy in some English classes and brush him up a bit. The personality’s there, even if the language skills aren’t there yet.
An alternate (and to my biased mind, better) plan would be to market a few players at a national level, rather than just one in order to appeal to fans from a broad spectrum of locations. Crosby/Ovechkin for the East, Zetterberg/Kane for the Midwest, Ryan/Stastny in the West, for example. Some of these guys do get time already, but nothing compared to Crosby. It should be closer to equal.
Good insight. Seems obvious now… I’m reminded of the old Hockey Rules stuff on ESPN, which basically made me feel like I wasa stuck in a remedial class as they would explain rules I already knew.
Yeah, that’s a pick-me-up. True, but very unfortunate.
Honestly, I think that’s where a lot of my “outrage” comes from, too. Even accidental mistakes call for apologies, and it’s his refusal to admit anything wrong is annoying.
An interesting statistic, I think, would be to look at how many people are fans of any give player, in any given market, after said markets team players.
Hard to find out, of course. Jerseys sold would give some idea, but I don’t have those numbers.
I would venture a guess that in most, or maybe even all markets, that the number one selling jersey, after any player’s jersey of that market’s team, is a Crosby jersey. And, there are probably more Crosby jerseys sold than the jersey of most players on the team of that market. For instance, I’ll bet there are more Crosby jerseys sold in Detroit than the jerseys of Hudler, Samuellsson, Lebda, Stuart, etc., etc.
All I’m saying is, Gretzky may have lit the fire, and the NHL may have fuelled it, but it’s working, and if it’s working, there is no reason why the NHL should stop it.
It would be an interesting debate as to whether creating a fan of any given team is more profitable than creating a fan for their local team. I mean, of course, ticket sales do create revenue, but nowhere near as much as tv revenues or merchandise revenues. For instance, I don’t live in a Wings market, but I didn’t miss a single game this year.
Would the NHL really care if a person living in, say, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan was a Wings fan or a Penguins fan, as long as they were watching hockey, and spending money on it somehow.
As I said before, we are already established Wings fans, and that’s why it upsets us that our players, our favourite players are not more frequently marketed. We want to see Lidstrom/Zetterberg/Datsyuk, etc., because they are our favourite players from our favourite team, and, really, it’s self serving. We feel good when we see it, and we feel slighted when other players are highlighted over ours.
But, to the NHL, it doesn’t matter what we want. We are already here, and we’re not going anywhere. It doesn’t matter to them if a non-hockey fan in the Detroit area becomes a Wings fan, they just want them to become a hockey fan. Period. And Crosby is the one player in the NHL right now that can trans-geographically fulfill that desire most sufficiently, despite there being more exciting and skilled players in the NHL. He is also a name that is more and more recongnizable with non-hockey fans, whether due to his skill/success, the media or both, much like Gretzky was in the eighties. That is free advertising that the NHL can latch onto and run with.
One more thing (and boy, I’m on a roll tonight):
“For the purposes of national-level marketing, I think they could go with someone with a better personality (Crosby’s pretty dry) such as Ovechkin, even if it means a language barrier. Get the guy in some English classes and brush him up a bit. The personality’s there, even if the language skills aren’t there yet.”
Not good enough, because he’s not a home boy.
I agree, Ovechkin is the most marketable, a hockey player with personality (what?) that is supremely skilled.
But he’s from Europe, specifically (and even worse) Russia.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t buy into this country thing. When the Olympics begin next year, I’ll cheer feverishly for Canada, but in the NHL, a player is a player, despite his nationality. Judging a player based on where he is born is akin to judging a person based on his skin colour.
Unfortunately, overall, that attitude has not been accepted as racism as of yet, and Canadians believe Canadians are the best players in the world, and will always accept a home boy over a Russian, even if that Russian is more talented. Don “The Idiot” Cherry has brainwashed the majority of people here.
So, that still leaves Crosby as the most marketable player in North America.
What about Zach Parise?
Good morning!
But we’re just grasping at straws now, trying to find any answer that would move Crosby out of his postion as ‘Face of the NHL’. I know you don’t honestly believe that Parise would do for the NHL what Crosby has.
Zach Parise is great, but could you imagine the NHL, right now, deciding to drop the Crosby thing, and focus all of its attention on Parise. He would never gain the status that Crosby has, and he could never be the biggest star on a team that boasts Martin Brodeur. Also, New Jersey still carries the stygma as a defense first team. Everyone still remembers that New Jersey introduced and perfected the trap in the NHL, and that is NOT what the NHL wants to market. With Crosby, you get a young, good looking kid, who is expected to be amazing, surrounded by a bunch of young, super-talented kids, that are expected to be amazing for a long time. That is so easily marketable, the NHL couldn’t have written it better. Having Mario Lemieux as the team owner, and houser of Crosby doesn’t hurt either. I wonder what the case would be if Crosby happened to be drafted by Jersey. I’m willing to bet that the NHL hates that Tavares is most likely going to the Islanders.
But the thing is, Crosby was the face of the NHL before he ever got here.
It’s like in Harry Potter. Voldemort marked Harry as his equal, and therefore it could only ever be Harry Potter. Voldemort wasn’t neccessarily right, and could have chosen Neville, but he didn’t. He chose Harry, and that meant that Harry would forever be ‘The boy who defeated You Know Who’ and would ultimately be the person who had to fight Voldemort in the end.
Gretzky ‘marked’ Crosby as ‘The Next One’. This meant the NHL would build Crosby to where he is right now, no matter what, because the NHL desparately wanted another Gretzky. Crosby will forever be known as the one Greatzky ‘marked’ as his equal, and therefore ultimately would have to be the one that saved the NHL from it’s finacial durress.
We can sit here, and pick a million other players that we think the NHL could promote above Crosby, but once again, it’s because we are hockey fans, and in the know.
If a casual or non-fan starts watching hockey, and then realizes that Crosby’s not that great, and says, “I’m a Parise/Devils fan now,” the NHL doesn’t care, because they are now a hockey fan, spending money, and it was Crosby that got them there.
I’m off to work folks, have a great day. Really enjoying this discussion.
In my opinion, Zach Parise has much more personality than Crosby and just as much skill. He’s a Devil, that is unfortunate. That place is like a black hole for stars. The point, however, is that there are other guys out there (American, Canadian, European) that are just as marketable and sometimes have more skill. Almost always they have more personality. For a guy that’s dealt with the media since he was twelve, he sure sucks at it.
You also missed my point entirely about Crosby being ineffective in places people cannot watch him. People near Phoenix but not in Arizona might want to watch hockey because of him, but they can’t watch pittsburgh and might not know Phoenix is there.
I understand the league wanting a Canadian to please Canadians, but come on. They’re going to watch no matter what. What about those of us who resent Canadian fans and their ‘better-than-thou’ attitude (generalizing here, not all are like that). Why would we want a Canadian player shoved down our throats who also has a ‘better-than-thou’ attitude? It’s like the league trying to prove that Canadians are right about them being the best, when facts don’t support it. If we’re trying to grow the sport in America, not Canada, why use a Canadian? Americans don’t have the same misgivings about the Europeans that a lot of Canadians do, and we tend the like things more “exoctic.”
Crosby might get more fans, but I don’t think it’s his unique gift. I think there are a lot of guys in the NHL capable of that. It’s the strength of the marketing. So give that marketing to more players, including a Russian and maybe even a Swede (Ovie and Hank).
The major problem with the Crosby campaign is that they’re pissing off the fans they already have. They’re even changing the game to be more appealing to people who aren’t yet fans, and thus pissing off the fans they already have. We are the ones that are keeping the league going, giving them a chance to try to expand, and they are consistantly setting fires to bridges. The only reason the league hasn’t failed tremendously is because we love the game and in America, this is where you find it. For me and all the hockey people I know, the Crosby campaign and everything else the league has done since the lockout has just made it more frustrating to watch the game we love. When does it all become too much?
Megan -
I think you hit on the problem with Crosby when it comes to many Americans - he comes across, whether he is or not, like a prima donna who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and never had to work for anything, because it was all handed to him. He seems to have all the connections that other (harder-working) people do not, and gets the benefit of the doubt when he doesn’t deserve it because of his connections. He also, in the way he always faithfully follows the party line (I’m thinking here of how he was pretty quick to get his butt to the all-star game when he got a personal call from the commish) comes across as a brown-noser and seems to be sucking up to authority. This is based on conversations I’ve had with people who are various levels of hockey fans, but have gotten tired of the Crosby-mania already. In a couple cases they have really grown to like the game and would know when one was on television, but if they saw the Penguins were playing they turned it off right away and didn’t bother watching. Any other team, they would watch, but they had grown to hate Crosby.
It’s very unfortunate in his case, but he could alleviate a lot of the distaste by developing a personality. He can’t necessarily become something other than bland vanilla, but he can learn to deal a bit more effectively with the public. I’m also surprised that he has the PR skills of a rock. All he had to do was say “I’m sorry is missed Lidstrom, I didn’t mean it” and that would have been the end of it. Clearly he never listened to his mom when she told him that - as all moms do.
In any case, the Penguins overload has made me think something that would have been unthinkable one or two years ago - if the Anaheim Ducks were playing the Pittsburgh Penguins, I would cheer for the Ducks - even with Chris Pronger.
Baroque, you and seem to be consistantly of one mind. I love watching the Wings, but I’ll watch other hockey. Unless it the Penguins. I’ll even watch Anaheim, because then I can cheer for whoever they’re playing. It’s not even worth that with the Penguins. Because, first of all, I don’t want to watch that team. Second, if I watch the Penguins, I will inevitably have to listen to some idiot announcer talking about how awesome that little punk is, while Crosby’s busy diving and whining. It’s disgusting.