Penguins Win The Cup: Aftermath

I am not surprised that last Friday's Stanley Cup Final Game 7 was the most watched hockey game. It's viewership surpassed Game 6 of the 1973 Final between Montreal and Chicago. At the same time, I am thinking to myself, "The 1973 Finals! Are you kidding me!?!" I don't want to rob the Canadiens of their win, with such a strong team (Mahvolich brothers, La Fleur, Dryden, Henri Richard), but hockey has changed and so has the American population since then.

To look at hockey viewership in general, it is safe to say that the colder the climate the greater the support for the Canadian game is. Phoenix cannot survive in that market because many people (many of whom are probably displaced Northerners) don't care, rather, never cared for the game. It was nice, they thought, that there was a new form of entertainment. They bought a few tickets and did not come back. Who is a Coyote fan? Why would you be one? You go to Detroit, people grow up on Red Wings hockey. In Buffalo it's almost criminal to not support the local team, especially since they have come the closest to a title in the last decade. People don't support hockey in many places in America because they don't know the game or didn't actually see it.

The NHL knows this. The creation of western teams based off Disney movies (which are so lacking in proper rules or realism to the game), third jerseys and yes, even that glowing puck tried to create buzz and establish new fans. At the same time, the left wing lock, dumping the puck to create offense and settling for a tie were drawing fans away... the game was boring!

Then there was two work stoppages (one which left the Cup blank for a year) and the rules were changing, but not before a new star would rise.

Ever since Wayne Douglas Gretzky donned a Oilers jersey and stepped onto the merged NHL and destroyed all of the scoring records set by man, the NHL needed the "next one". The NBA is still suffering from the same complex. The NHL tried to pump up Eric Lindros, Alexandre Daigle and Vincent Lecavalier as the new Gretz and failed.

This would be bestowed upon Sydney Crosby. It can be argued that it was forced. While Crosby has the entire NHL backing him and praying, hoping, wishing he would win the Cup and break records, he has to carry the greatest weight. Syd is not a kid, but a young man being compared to legends that carry so much weight in the game I never think he could surpass.

By winning his first Stanley Cup on Friday (Malkin was a huge reason for that win), he merely passed on small milestone on the marathon of his expected potential. He played a strong game but with a much stronger and surprisingly defeated Detroit squad, Crosby had to rely on his friends for the wins. The next question will be, "Can he win one all by himself?"

You know that's the next question, because he cannot win one and leave the game, he needs five, six, no seven, he needs to beat Wayne. Which is unfair because those Oiler teams from the 1980's were loaded and that just from the goalie position.

Detroit was boasting about how it was the franchise to be, well Crosby is the player every franchise wants. But with it comes the hate, people hate Pittsburgh. Crosby gets all the calls his way. He doesn't score more goals than Ovechkin. He hasn't (correction, has won only one Cup. It's an endless list of complaints.

The truth is none of this will bother Sydney. The kid is 21 and has his name on the greatest trophy in sports, it's there forever. I know someday I'll take my kids to see the Cup and say, "There is Crosby, one of the best players on the team." He gets the attention when he criticizes players (like Ovechkin) but that's because the NHL wants so much focus on him. Alexander Ovechkin is on easy street because he is a Russian and the league needs a North American to be the face of the league. Why? Because it sells more tickets and bigger TV contracts.

When the Penguins shocked the world and beat Detroit, they were not the only winners, the NHL won too.

ROC SPORTS NET 2009