Star Power Is Alive on the NHL Ice

There's growing chatter from many sports columnists that the NHL is suffering from a star crisis.

They believe the NHL lacks true superstars.

But it certainly didn't seem that way at Sunday's All-Star game in Ottawa.

From Evgeni Malkin to Pavel Datsyuk to Marian Hossa, the game's top talent showcased amazing skills and athleticism. All three of players were vying for the league's scoring title at the break.

Sidney Crosby has been wearing
a different type of suit this year.

But the league's two "household" names did not play. Sidney Crosby's career has been derailed by concussions, while Alex Ovechkin is having his worst season in his career and sat home amid a suspension.

Often the only measuring stick used when gauging greatness is titles, and that's where today's stars come up short.

The salary cap put into place in 2005 to help hockey leveled the playing field. In the six years of the post-NHL lockout, 10 different teams have played for Lord Stanley's Cup and there have been six champions.

That's a far cry from the dominance of the Montreal Canadiens in the 70's, the New York Islanders and Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers in the 80's and the Detroit Red Wings in the 90's.

This topic probably would not even being discussed if the NHL got even a smidgen of coverage from ESPN, the 800-pound gorilla of sports media.

From the week of Jan. 7-16, ESPN covered the NHL less than Major League Baseball which is in the deep doldrums of the off-season. And all of most mentioned athletes were from either the NFL and NBA.

ESPN just ignores hockey and its stars, it is as simple as that. Without the Worldwide Leader constantly promoting its athletes, causal fans don't have a player and team to tune in for.

The NHL is a niche league, and for its diehard fans there is no star shortage.

Thanks for the Memories, Igloo

In this modern day of sports arenas, anything that's been around a decade is old. Any building five decades old is essentially the equivalent of the Egyptian Pyramids.

That's why the iconic Civic Arena, more affectionately known as the Igloo, is coming down piece by piece in Pittsburgh.

The arena opened in 1961 and the Penguins took ownership of the dome when they joined the NHL six years later.

Demolition of Civic Arena has been ongoing for sometime, but with the insides gutted, crews took a bigger step on Saturday. One of the many roof panels was demolished.



If the weather holds up, KDKA in Pittsburgh reports the remaining steel structure will come down in a month.

The Igloo was really the house Mario Lemieux built. In fact it's address was 66 Mario Lemieux Place. Now as owner, Lemieux helped orchestrate the building of the Pen's new home, the Consol Energy Center.

Three championship banners were raised in the building, but the only time the Stanley Cup was lifted, it was when Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom hoisted it above his head.

It's sad to see an icon fall, but thanks for all the memories.

Humana, Clinton Bring New Life to the 'Hope'

A year ago, I walked the Palmer Private course at PGA West during the Bob Hope Classic and the atmosphere was stale. The crowd was old and there was no buzz on the course.

Greg Norman and President Bill Clinton joke
around (Jim Edwards/Patch.com)

Something had to change and it did.

The PGA commissioner and a man from Hope, Ark. stepped in and save to the Hope.

Former President Bill Clinton lent his personality to the La Quinta golf tournament made famous by an even bigger personality, the aforementioned comedian Bob Hope.

In walking around the same course this weekend at the new Humana Challenge the buzz was back. The crowd was bigger and a bit younger.

President Clinton helped bring in a Hall of Famer, Greg Norman, one of the biggest names on the Tour, Phil Mickelson, and even a top 10 player, Dustin Johnson, come to a Tour stop that was normally skipped over.

Before gusty winds stopped play on Saturday, there was a massive gallery following Mickelson around the course, while the former President and Norman had an even larger following.

The Humana Challenge still has work to do to make this the must see Tour stop it once was, but President Clinton laid a strong foundation.

Tebow Takes Media Mantle from Favre

Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is the new Brett Favre of the NFL.

Favre was either loved or hated, much like Tebow is now. And No. 4 was also unconventional, choosing to throw into triple coverage over the easy target, making the big plays and big mistakes.

Favre used to be the go-to name in pro-sports, there was even an entire summer ESPN camped out in Hattiesburg, Miss., but now its Tebow's turn.

It's hard to explain the Tim Tebow phenomenon, but a scene from the television show "Friday Night Lights" comes to mind.

In the pilot episode Taylor Kitsch's character toasts his best friend by saying, "Here's to God. And Football. And in 10 years good friends living large in Texas." Replace Florida, and equally football crazed state, with Texas and that's a taste of the mindset that elevated Tebow from high school star to college star.

Add the fact that Tebow makes many of us believe in the age old sports cliches like "staying positive" and "never giving up" can lead to victories, with good looks and his overt religious belief, and there's the formula for the most popular athlete in sports.

It should be no surprise that when Tebow does something the experts say cannot happen, like beat the vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers defense with one throw in overtime, the Internet explodes.

Helping his legend status, the fact that in the Steelers game Tebow passed for 316 yards, averaging 31.6 yards per pass. That lead to an explosion of people looking up "John 3:16" on Google, because it's one of Tebow's favorite Bible verses and he wore it on his eye black in the '09 BCS Championship game.

Tebow got too much credit for the playoff win, like all football quarterbacks. To borrow from Mark Kiszla, unless MVP means most visible player, Tebow wasn't all that for Denver.

Running back Willis McGahee meant way more to Denver's rise to the playoffs.

Tebow is still very young, with less than 20 NFL starts. There's room to improve and to continue to silence the critics.

Just know we'll hear, tweet and Facebook about every step of that journey, just like Brett Favre.

Tim Tebow is fairly popular. Especially when his passing yards = Bible verses. 

NHL Star Catching Flap for 'Pancakegate'

Professional athletes hurt themselves in a lot of bizarre ways. Like when pitcher John Smoltz scalded himself while ironing a shirt - while he was wearing it.

But a hockey player sat out a game this week may take the cake, the pancake that is.

Los Angeles Kings forward Dustin Penner suffered back spasms while taking a bite of "delicious pancakes." Of course Penner has been the joke of the NHL, even earning a Twitter hashtag: #pennercakes.

Penner wrote a letter about what happened, which was printed in Kings blog Mayors Manor.

"They were vegetarian pancakes," Penner wrote. "The injury happened as I was sitting down to eat, not mid-bite. And yes. I did finish them."

Penner seems to be taking it all in stride. He's actually going to sponsor a 'Pancakes with Penner' charity fundraiser.

Guess in this case, the flapjacks are off the hook.

Tide Swells for a Playoff

Alabama's Trent Richardson celebrates the BCS title (AP Photo)

The Bowl Championship Series has its flaws, but for the first time the system truly failed.

In most years, the BCS has benefited from an undisputed champion winning like in 2001 when Miami beat a Nebraska team who did not win their own conference and jumped two other deserving schools.

The BCS did not get that luxury on Monday.

Despite all the talk of the tough, grueling SEC schedule, the SEC was not great this year. Alabama's path to the championship was untested and despite the dominating effort Monday night they don't have a championship resume.

The Tide played just three games (with just two wins) over teams that finished ranked in the final AP poll. No other BCS champ has played fewer than four games against teams in the final polls.

People took notice of the rematch.

The TV ratings for the LSU-Alabama championship game drew a 13.8 overnight rating, among the worst in the history of BCS title games. It ties the Miami-Nebraska game, previously mentioned for also having a questionable participant.

The one possible benefit to a boring SEC title game, it could be the catalyst for change.

The LSU-Alabama debacle may open the door for a four team playoff, that not only fits into the old bowl system but gives fans a "true" champion.

Honestly, four teams is the ideal number for a playoff. With few exceptions since the BCS started, there haven't been more than four schools with a legitimate case to play for college football's ultimate prize. 

And take this year's I-AA playoffs for instance. The I-AA, or FCS division, actually expanded its playoffs from the "perfect" 16 team field to 20 teams, but it was all about four schools.

The top seeded Sam Houston State, North Dakota State, Georgia Southern and Montana made up your semi-finalists, with the Bisons taking home the prize. To get there, they just had to play two superfluous games.

A four team playoff would likely mean higher quality championship game. This year, LSU had a 37-day layoff and Alabama had 44. Even larger, Ohio State had a 51-day break before it played for the 2006 title, which it badly lost.

Momentum is building for a playoff, albeit a small one. It would be a much needed remedy for a system that's starting to really fail.