DETROIT--During the spotty reign of Gary Bettman, this is the third time the NHL has stepped to the plate, hoping to hit a memorable home run. The first swing came in 1994 when the New York Rangers claimed the Stanley Cup and the profile of the NHL appeared poised to soar to new levels.
Instead, it descended into labour chaos accompanied by a nearly unwatchable brand of hockey.
Still, a second opportunity appeared to arrive in the spring of 1997 when the player anointed to be the new face of the game, Hart Trophy winner Eric Lindros, led the Legion of Doom and the Philadelphia Flyers into the Cup final against the supposedly underachieving and overmatched Red Wings.
Instead, the Wings swept the "choking" Flyers, Lindros' star soon dipped due to injuries and infighting and another opportunity to grasp the greater consciousness of the North American sports fan fizzled.
Now, 11 years later, comes another opportunity. Again, it includes the Red Wings, probably the NHL team with the most fans spread throughout the continental U.S., a squad filled with talent and skill.
On the other bench sit the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team led by phenom Sidney Crosby, the player many believe can do what Lindros could not, namely become a household name throughout the U.S. and lift the NHL to new heights.
Detroit defenceman Chris Chelios, now 46, has seen a few of these so-called saviours come and go and he's not sure the promised land is around the corner.
"I mean, how big is Pittsburgh?" he said with a smile. "Look, all I know is that with the way the league has promoted Crosby, (Evgeni) Malkin and their young stars, it's not a letdown they're in the final. It only helps the league."
Yesterday, there was precious little hard news, only an expectant sense of opportunity that the NHL might have a chance to make a special splash courtesy of Crosby's first appearance in a Cup final.
Ken Holland, the Detroit GM, worked with Crosby two years ago at the world championship and came away with a powerful impression.
"He's got an aura, a persona," Holland said. "There's something about him that wins you over. He's got that appeal people gravitate to. He's aware of his image and he respects the game."
Still, Holland isn't sure how much can be accomplished in one playoff series.
"Look, I'm biased. I think we've got the greatest game in the world and the most exciting sport to watch live," he said. "How do we translate that to the American public? Well, 20 years from now, I think there will be a lot more TV interest in hockey because so many more young kids are playing today.
"But, right now, we've got the next Gretzky to work with."
TV ratings have improved from laughable to decent in the U.S. these days and, for the Eastern Conference final, more eyeballs were tuned in to games carried on Versus than were trained on games broadcast by Hockey Night In Canada. For the Winter Classic in Buffalo featuring Crosby, NBC drew a respectable 2.6 share, much better than it enjoyed for last year's Stanley Cup final between Anaheim and Ottawa.
If this Pittsburgh-Detroit series takes off – a Game 7 would be ideal – there's enormous hopes that a big TV number is in the offing that will catapult the NHL into a new stratosphere, particularly if it convinces NBC to put a little promotional energy into the sport.
"I have no idea about that," Crosby said during his press conference yesterday when asked about the opportunities at hand. "It depends on a lot of things. As a player, you don't worry about that a whole lot. But if that's the case, it's great for the game."
So here we go again. Another chance for Bettman's NHL to take a stab at converting the great unwashed, this time with a 20-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., carrying the banner.
Poster Comment:
Sid the Kid vs Zetterberg; Fleury vs Ozzie; youthful energy vs experience. This is a hockey series for the ages.