The NHL's Ups and Downs: Bad Marketing, Montreal's Great Show, and Overreactions

As you may or may not know, the NHL isn't exactly in its glory days.

It's been four years since the dreaded '04-05 NHL lockout, and I'd like to think that the league has done a great job rising up from its deepest downfall.

Has it really, though?

While some of the greatest hockey memories I own have occurred during those four years, there are a few things I'll never forget—a few devastating memories of the "new" NHL.

Let me just start off huge: Sidney Crosby. You either love him, or hate him (i.e. you're either a Pens fan, or you're not).

Gary Bettman's dream. "Sid the Kid", "The Next One", or as Bettman likes to call him, "My ladder to get the NHL out of this hole."

Before I go on a tirade, let me just say that I think he's a good player, it's a great feat for anybody to enter the league and produce like he does in the NHL at his age. Good for him.

But I don't like him, and I haven't met anyone ( mentally stable) that does.

He's a goal scorer, a set up man, and the next Olympic high diver. I've thought of making a drinking game out of Pittsburgh games by taking a shot every time one of Crosby's knees touch the ice, but I don't want to die of alcohol poisoning at such a young age.

Okay, okay, enough Crosby bashing for now. On to why I think he's part of today problems with the NHL.

He's way overhyped. Can anybody deny that he wasn't hyped just to get some fans back to the NHL? Bettman knew the NHL reached its peak during Gretzky's prime. Gretzky did for hockey what Jordan did for the NBA and what Tiger does for golf. He drew in people that normally wouldn't watch the sport, just to see what this guy was all about. It worked.

People were awe-struck at what Wayne did, his vision, his passing, and his passion. Great. Now you're telling me this kid's gonna do that? As my good friend Jon Shaw puts it... "He's not even the best player on his line, let alone the whole league", and he's right. Gretzky dominated the sport, the league, and everyone on the ice.  Crosby just blindly throws pucks around and picks up assists while Malkin and friends fire away.

Don't get me wrong, Crosby gets the job done, he's just not going to draw in fans like Gretzky, Jordan, or Tiger until he shows that nobody else can compete with him. People are hearing about this kid, watching his games, and either concluding that the NHL is still boring to them, or that this kid is the best player in the NHL because the TV said so.

He's drawing in fake fans, and they're not going to help the NHL in the long run. At least Ovechkin has the ability to get a non-fan out of their seat, proclaiming "How'd he do that?!?!" along with the die hard, NHL faithful. Using Crosby as your marketing tool may have worked the first few years, Gary, but it's starting to backfire on you now.

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