Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Instead of coming up with a semi-accurate, half-hearted definition of what constitutes a superstar, let’s consult a dictionary.  Since it’s 2009, let’s thumb through an on-line edition.

Superstar, according to Merriam-Webster Online:

• Function: noun
• Date: 1924

1 : a star (as in sports or the movies) who is considered extremely talented, has great public appeal, and can usually command a high salary
2 : one that is very prominent or is a prime attraction <a diplomatic superstar>

When the Dany Heatley trade to San Jose was finally completed over the weekend, a number of sports news services identified Heatley as being a superstar.

A superstar?  Really?  Sure, only two other NHL players have scored more goals since the lockout than Heatley, but does he meet all the qualifications required in order to wear the superstar crown?

From my vantage point, a superstar in any milieu transcends their surroundings.  In other words, even your dear Aunt Gertie that doesn’t like sports knows who, say, Alexander Ovechkin is, and probably has an opinion about him.  Don’t get her going on the hot stick celebration.

Following that line of thinking, I propose that there are currently only two NHL players that are bigger than the sport.

Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.  The ying and the yang.  The Beatles and the Stones.  Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky.

Evgeni Malkin should be considered, if only because his on-ice talents are so immense, and only getting stronger, but I haven’t seen any tangible evidence that supports his inclusion into the select club of superstars.  If on-ice talent were the only yardstick being applied, then Pavel Datsyuk or Ilya Kovalchuk, and maybe Dany Heatley, would have to be included.

Where these gentlemen fall short for serious consideration of being called a superstar is this section of the definition:

has great public appeal

Keep-in-mind every individual franchise has a player or two that is held very close to the bosom of the local fanbase, and as such, their respective values are usually inflated.  For instance, Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets can be one of the most exciting players in the league today.  His YouTube-ready goals, where he dekes through half the team, and some of the guys up in the press box, are a beauty to behold, and understandably, the faithful in Ohio would clamour that Nash is a superstar.

The argument is all context.  Within the world of the Blue Jackets, Nash is the face of the franchise, thus he is a superstar.  Within the expanded world of the National Hockey League, Nash is one of the young stars that make the game so exciting to watch.  You could make a credible argument that Nash is an NHL superstar.

You would have to work awfully hard to convince me that Nash, or Heatley or Datsyuk or Roberto Luongo, are true superstars.  They do not transcend the game of hockey.  Within the hockey world, they are larger-than-life.  Outside of those cozy borders, they would be lost, unrecognizable to the average person walking down the street of any American city.  For that matter, the majority of non-hockey fans in Canada wouldn’t recognize them either.

Put Ovechkin or Crosby in downtown Manhattan (without the Zamboni in Ovechkin’s case), or on Manhattan Beach in Southern California, or in surburban St. Louis or at the Steak ‘n Shake in Battle Creek, Michigan, and most likely both of these dudes would be recognized.

For a variety of reasons, Ovechkin and Crosby are currently bigger than the game of hockey.

That doesn’t mean they’re better or smarter.  That doesn’t mean we should all bow down and praise them (though maybe we should for all the attention they bring to the game).  That doesn’t mean that their opinons are sacrosanct.  So before the mouthbreathing bloggers of the cyberworld get their shorts all in a knot, keep this sobering thought in mind.  Most likely your favourite player is a nobody outside of the world of hockey.  That’s not the case with Ovechkin and Crosby.

Why these two?  Well, we’ve already listed awesome on-ice talent as one major factor, but they have to have more than that.  Both young men have been marketed very successfully, in particular Crosby, who became the face of the NHL as it emerged from the 2004-05 lockout.

Ovechkin basically elbowed his way onto the marquee, and his fun-loving flair that he paints everything he touches with cannot be denied.

The camera likes both of these guys, for different reasons.  The media likes both of these guys, for different reasons.  Hockey fans are drawn to these two guys, for different reasons.  Love them or hate them, you’re talking about them.

Thus it comes as no real surprise that the sports media sought out Crosby and Ovechkin to get their opinions on the recent firing of NHLPA head Paul Kelly.  Some hockey fans ridiculed the need to ask these two particular players their personal opinions.  Where did they get off thinking they were bigger and better than the game?

Well, they don’t think that.  Neither player put out a press release saying “come and talk to me about Paul Kelly”.  It was only natural for the media to beat a path to their doors, because when these two young men speak, people listen.

Much like when a young Wayne Gretzky, after another blowout win over the woeful New Jersey Devils, called the Devils a Mickey Mouse organization.  No truth to the rumour that’s what got Michael Eisner interested in hockey.

Much like when a younger Mario Lemieux, tired of carrying a couple of clutching-and-grabbing defencemen on his back almost every time he broke into the offensive zone, openly questioned the NHL about their lack of enforcement of their own rule book.

The hockey, and sports world, listened.  And yes, some people complained then that Gretzky and Lemieux should just shut up and play the game.  What makes these whippersnappers think they’re bigger than the game?

(There are reactionaries everywhere).

Both players were right. Bang on.  And both were right to speak out.

So when Ovechkin tells espn.com that even if the NHL decides not to participate in the 2014 Winter Olympics, he still plans to go…well folks, that’s news.  Washington Capitals’ owner Ted Leonsis, one of the more progressive owners in the league, did his best to downplay the comments, but the desired effect was already achieved.  It got people, and no doubt the players, thinking about the issue.

Once again, Ovechkin elbowed his way in.

With all due respect, Dany Heatley does not have that same ability.  Nor has he asked for it; if anything, he seems rather happy not to be in the spotlight.  Ovechkin craves it, while Crosby understands he’s been thrust into it since an early age.  Both men handle the spotlight differently, and they handle it well.

Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby are the only two true superstars in the league today.  Now what remains to be seen is if they can transcend North American popular culture.  Arguably, only two NHL players have ever reached those lofty heights.

Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky.

Particularly Wayne Gretzky.  The Great One is still the face of hockey for most of the world.

We tend to throw around words carelessly.  The word great has been mostly stripped of its power.  Anyone that is in the public eye is a star.  In the sports media, we have also devalued the word superstar.  I am trying to reclaim it for those few worthy enough to wear the crown.

Ovechkin and Crosby.

If you don’t like it, deal with it.  You might want to start by shunning all popular media in North America.  No doubt you’ll be seeing the faces of these two men plastered all over television, and magazines, and posters, and websites for the better part of the next decade.

- Mick Kern

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Who knew?

I mean, we should have known.  It’s not like he kept it a secret.

Every time Maxime Talbot would enter that car dealership in Pittsburgh, and talk with the pretty lady, he’d declare that he was a “superstar”.  And every time, watching that TV commercial at home, I would crack up at, well, first the bad acting on everyone’s part, and second, at the thought of Talbot as a superstar, even in the fevered mind of some scriptwriter.

Well, after Game Seven this evening in Detroit, Monsieur Talbot can indeed be treated to superstar treatment wherever he goes all this summer, thanks to two of the biggest goals he’ll ever score during his life.

Don’t know about you, but that was an emotionally draining game to watch, and I don’t root for either team involved.  We all wanted a great Game Seven, well, we got one.  A game for the ages.

Have there been better playoff games?  Heck, yes, including a number during these playoffs.  Have there been better Game Sevens?  Probably, but this one deserves to be somewhere on the list, particularly after time passes, and we all have had a chance to savour what we just witnessed.

None of the three goals were highlight reel material, but then again, none of them were fluky.  Okay, the Penguins got a fortutitous bounce on the first Talbot goal, but that kind of bounce happens in the game of hockey on a regular basis.  The question is, what will you do with such a gift when presented with it.

Talbot tore the wrapping paper off it and lit the lamp.

Sure, Fleury probably would have liked to have had that Detroit goal back, but from a fan’s perspective, the Wings scoring late only served to rachet up the tension to a sublime level.  It was sweet pain.

Many people, including myself, were hoping that this game would be so good that it would have to go into overtime to decide things.  Well, close enough.  Only two previous Stanley Cup Game Seven’s have gone into extra time, and we’ll have to wait for another shot at such an ending.

But Detroit certainly didn’t surrender, despite the clock ticking down on their chance at a second Cup-in-a-row.  With 6.5 seconds remaining in the third, they controlled the puck, and set up a beauty of a chance with, what, a second remaining?  Okay, we didn’t get overtime, but we were treated to Fleury making a heck of a save to preserve the Penguins’ third Cup in team history.  Shades of Patrick Roy, who, according to those quick profiles Hockey Night in Canada does at the end of every Cup clinching game, was one of Fleury’s goaltending heroes growing up; Roy and Martin Brodeuer.

Roy has four Cups and free admission anytime into the Hockey Hall-of-Fame.  Brodeur has three Cups and will get that same pass someday soon.  Fleury has one Cup and counting.  No matter what happens during the rest of his career, Marc-Andre Fleury is a Stanley Cup winning goaltender.

Which brings us to the Terrific Two.  Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.

Malkin erased all bad memories of last year’s Final, and had a great playoff, after a great regular season.  He wins the Conn Smythe Trophy, (the first Russian to do so), in the same season that he won the Art Ross Trophy.  Think of what this amazing young player has accomplished after only three seasons in the NHL.  Not too shabby.

Neither was the effort of Penguins’ captain Sidney Crosby, who limped off the ice after being on the receiving end of a terrific hit during the second period.  He came back for the third period, and took a shift, but it was no go.

Didn’t matter.  Crosby did what he had to do earlier on, particularly down the stretch during the regular season and during the first three rounds of the playoffs, including when Pittsburgh were down 2-games-to-none against the Washington Capitals in the second round.

All the Sidney Crosby haters out there, I sincerely hope you choked on the image of 87 lifting the Stanley Cup.

It was beautiful.  One of the true superstars of hockey, accepting the Stanley Cup as captain.  Put aside your petty prejudices and think of what this young man has already accomplished during his four years in the National Hockey League.  With this Cup win, he’s practically done it all.  Oh sure, the likes of Alexander Ovechkin may very well get to this point in the near future (and what a fine moment that will be), but Crosby, and crew, beat him there.  That’s a fact.  Twist it as you will.  Denigrate it on the internet billboards with juvenile talk of league conspiracy, but nothing will change that fact.

Man, there can’t be much better things in the world of sports than waiting to hoist that Cup.  The Conn Smythe was the Christmas stocking; the Cup were the mountains of presents under the tree.  Just rewind your PVR and watch the eyes of the Penguins’ players as that moment arrived.  At that juncture in time, money and injuries meant nothing.  It was all about the win, all about the team, all about the Cup.

And that ends maybe the most enjoyable National Hockey League post-season I have ever watched, and I’ve watched them all since 1971.  The first and second rounds featured some amazingly enjoyable hockey.  The third round dipped a bit, but it set up a fantastic seven-game Stanley Cup Final between the Red Wings and the Penguins.  One for the ages.

The King, ahem, the Wing is dead.  Long live the King Penguin.

- Mick Kern

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Before they dropped the puck for Game Seven on Wednesday evening between the Penguins and the Capitals, NHL.com had been running a poll, asking fans to choose the greatest seven-game playoff series in NHL history.

The 2009 Pens and Caps were leading, by a considerable margin, over the Red Wings and Avalanche brawl earlier this decade.  All the seven-game classics that occurred before the year 2000 received less and less of the vote as they got smaller in the rear-view mirror.  Guess most of us oldtimers either don’t know how to switch on a computer, or were too busy being six feet under (personally, I voted for the Boston Bruins-Montreal Canadiens series from 1979, the infamous Too Many Men On The Ice series.  That entire series was top-notch hockey).

Well, casting a vote for the current Pens-Caps series before Game Seven was even played was like opening your Christmas presents early.  Not on December 24th, but on December 19th.

In order for this to truly be considered the “Greatest Seven-Game Series in NHL History”, it had to deliver when it mattered most…Game Seven.

Well, so much for that.

What a let-down, unless, of course, you bleed Penguin blue, or whatever it is Penguins bleed.  A 6-2 romp by Pittsburgh in the deciding game immediately puts this series near the bottom of the five or six previous series that were in that NHL.com poll.

Yes, it was a great buildup, through the first six games, thanks to high-tempo play and three overtimes, and lead changes, and Crosby and Ovechkin, and the young goaltenders, and the history of hate between these two franchises.

But it was, in the end, not to be.  The Ron McLean’s and Don Cherry’s can whine on and on about the slashing call on Shaone Morrisonn that led to the powerplay that led to the first Pittsburgh goal, but here’s the thing boys.

Whether you personally like it or not, the officials have been calling that call all season. No, not every time.  But that’s the tricky thing about the NHL.  By now, the players know that it might be called a penalty, so they can’t plead ignorance of the law when it is called.  You take a chance delivering a slash.  No matter how light, no matter how seemingly inconsequential, you take your chances.  And tonight, the Caps got burned.

What really sunk their boat was the second goal only eight seconds after the first.   The Craig Adams shot the kid should have had.

Still, the fire-wagon Capitals, the most exciting team in hockey, as we’re told over and over and over again, had plenty of time to respond, and failed to do so.  Sure, the team they were facing are a very good, and deep team.  It wasn’t going to be easy.  But here’s where legends are born, forged from the fire of adversity.

All that was forged were the bad cheques that promised that this was the greatest series ever.

You can’t hang this series loss on Varlamov.  Without his goaltending, the Capitals don’t get this far.  Probably they lose, in five, to the stinkin’ New York Rangers.  Sure, the kid should have had at least that second goal, but he picked up the Caps a number of times in the past month.  It was time for his teammates to return that favour.

So whine all you want about the officiating.  Chant “Crosby Sucks” until you’re rockin’ the red in the face.  The fact remains, the better team won.

And, for now, Crosby got the better of Ovechkin.  Both are world class players.  Both are already superstars at such an early age.  Both performed, for the most part, at an elevated level throughout this series, which was the number one reason why it was a delight to watch.  Yet, to me, Crosby delivered a bit more than Ovechkin.  That may be the result of the team systems employed, but Crosby always looked like he’d plow through a wall, the goaltender, the Zamboni and his grandmother to score a goal.

Crosby at times looks like the world’s most skilled and determined plumber.  Ovechkin is a painter of immense talent, a true artist.  Both possess rare skills that can be breathtaking to behold.  Yet, so far, Crosby has gone further in the playoffs than Ovechkin.  And until one of these dudes hoists the big mug, you can have all your Art Ross and Hart Trophies.  They are nice, but it’s the playoffs that truly matter, probably something that might be lost on the non-hockey sports journalists that suddenly found themselves covering the Capitals this spring.

Until the Capitals win the Stanley Cup, and with their two young goaltenders only getting better all the time, that is a distinct possibility in the next few years, I’ll take Sidney Crosby over Alexander Ovechkin.

Though really, no-one loses with either selection.

- Mick Kern

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

WG Authentic – the official company of Wayne Gretzky memorabilia – announces the launch of its new online store on Gretzky.com, located at www.gretzky.com/shop. This updated store features unique and limited edition autographed memorabilia from Wayne, plus other legends of hockey, including Gordie Howe, Guy Lafleur, Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux, with much more to come.

Items currently available for sale include framed photos and high definition canvas prints capturing moments from the storied careers of some of the game’s all-time greats. Additional collectables are also available and more products are being added each week, including signed Gretzky jerseys and items autographed by top athletes throughout the world of sports and legends of their respective games, such as Steve Nash, Sidney Crosby and Muhammad Ali.

Gretzky.com/shop has been designed to better serve our customers with an easy to navigate interface. Additionally, online accounts can be created that will allow customers to personalize their Gretzky.com/shop experience by creating wish lists and being among the first to learn about new items and exclusive offers. Shipping is easy from Gretzky.com/shop and the new store will allow customers to track the progress of their order.

For more information, please visit www.gretzky.com/shop or contact WG Authentic at (480) 778-1899.

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

The first NBC Game-of-the-Week this season featured the Penguins and the Rangers.  During the second period, Sidney Crosby was hooked from behind, negating a good scoring opportunity.  The referee gestures towards centre ice.  There’s gonna be a showdown in Steel City.

Sidney Crosby one-on-one against Henrik Lundqvist.  Two marquee players face-to-face.  And on U.S. network television.  This is what you want.

Or do you?

If one looks at it from a marketing angle, the answer is a resounding yes.  Crosby is one of the young superstars of the National Hockey League.  Lundqvist is one of the top goaltenders.

Often called “The Most Exciting Play In Hockey”, the penalty shot has lost some of its lustre with the implementation of the shootout.  Even so, it’s still a relatively rare moment when a penalty shot is called.

In all the NHL games I’ve attended, it has only occurred twice.  The first one was at Madison Square Garden, as the Rangers hosted the Detroit Red Wings in February 1987.  Petr Klima took the shot against John Vanbiesbrouck.  The joint was rocking as Klima lined up all alone at centre ice.  It was hockey theatre at its finest.  The decibel level rose even higher when The Beezer stoned Klima.

Second penalty shot I witnessed live was at Maple Leaf Gardens in the mid 90’s during a Leafs-Canadiens exhibition game.  Joe Sacco took the shot, and I can’t recall who was in net for the Habs.  Hey, it was an exhibition game.  From what I do remember of that sleepy affair, the penalty shot was the highlight of the evening.  Oh, Sacco didn’t score.

Last season, there were 64 penalty shots.  Only 19 of them found the back of the net.  Valterri Filppula of Detroit scored twice in a week; the first goal on Nashville’s Dan Ellis, the second against Florida’s Tomas Vokoun.  Vincent Lecavalier also converted two penalty shots last season, albeit four-and-a-half months apart.  Eric Staal also scored twice.

Lundqvist faced three penalty shots in the 2007-08 campaign, stopping Jordan Staal, but yielding goals to Lecavalier and Sergei Kostitsyn.  He got the better of Crosby on this day, getting Sid the Kid to shoot the puck into his chest.

The Rangers were trailing 2-0 at the time of the penalty shot; could this have been a turning point?  Not this time.  The Penguins would score the next goal, and won the game 3-0.

Regardless, a penalty shot featuring two marquee players is notable.  If Crosby had scored, the clip may even have made a few sports shows that don’t usually linger on hockey.  The penalty shot is one of the signature events of the game of hockey.  Unlike soccer, the goaltender has a reasonable shot at stopping the shot.

So it was intriguing when Pierre McGuire, working on the NBC telecast, suggested that coaches should have the option to decline the penalty shot, and take a two-minute powerplay instead.  The reasoning was something to the effect that the penalty shot is only one chance, and as earlier discussed, arguably the odds favour the goaltender.  If a team were to decline the shot, and take the powerplay, odds are that they would get more than one chance at a quality shot.

Then again, the argument the other way is also convincing.  Many times, a team fails to generate a quality scoring opportunity on the powerplay.  Sometimes it looks at though the team with the man advantage is trying too harder to set up the perfect tic-tac-toe goal.  Why surrender the clear cut scoring opportunity that a penalty shot provides?  Like they say in football, never take points off the board.  The equivalent in hockey being, never deny yourself a scoring chance.

McGuire maintains that the option to choose should be there; let the head coach make that decision.  While I see this point, I still think the penalty shot as it is now should stand.

If Michel Therrien had elected to decline the penalty shot, and went instead with the two-minute powerplay, a number of things would have changed.

First and foremost, hockey fans would have been denied the Crosby-Lundqvist matchup.  Depending on which team you’re pulling for, the result was either wonderful, or a disappointment.  But that’s not how to judge the moment.  The anticipation was wonderful, something a two-minute powerplay rarely generates.  It was perfect for television.

Second, the fact the penalty shot featured one of the young guns of the league allows sports media outlets to isolate this moment, as opposed to just another powerplay.

Third, the Penguns were pretty much guaranteed a good scoring chance, unless the player taking the shot loses control of the puck, or falls.  (Even then, that play would have lived in infamy for years).  If the Pens had taken the two-minute powerplay, they may have never generated a similar scoring opportunity.  Sure, you take your chances; Pittsburgh might have manufactured a half-dozen good chances.

Or, they could have had their power-play time cut by being called for their own penalty.  So many variables, some good, many not so good.  By taking the penalty shot, you’re pretty much guaranteed one stellar scoring opportunity, which is what it’s all about.  Giving back to the player the scoring chance the defence illegally took away.

Keep the penalty shot the way it is.

- Mick Kern

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

I hate doing this. I really do. But, in fairness, it has been done to me so many times in my career, that I just sort of accept that it happens. It’s the law of the land.

So, with that, in case you are wondering what feature stories might run in the Pittsburgh papers tomorrow as it relates to, oh, I don’t know, say Sidney Crosby at this point in his career, compared to say, umm, Wayne Gretzky…..well, listen in!

Click to hear:

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I’d say I’m sorry. But I’m not really. And at least I didn’t steal the content and call it my own! I’d better quite while I am ahead.

See you in HD on Fox Sports Arizona tonight starting at 6:30 with Coyotes LIVE!

- Todd

Looking to find more offense, Coach Gretzky has juggled all four lines for Thursday’s home game vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Listen to his comments from practice today in Phoenix.

Click to hear:

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- Todd