The 2004-2005 NHL Lockout was the first time a complete season was canceled in any major North American sport. It was the first time the Stanley Cup was not handed out since 1919. It also forced some of the games' best from the last two decades to retire a season or two before they had hoped, including recent Hall of Fame inductees Mark Messier, Scott Stevens, and Al MacInnis. See, for the most part, these guys were still fit and able to play another season in 2004-05, and could possibly have played another beyond that. But because they had an entire season off, it would have been way too difficult to get back into the game the following year. The Lockout is also guilty of seeing the casual NHL fan move on an find another sport to focus on, then realizing they never missed hockey when it wasn?t being played.
But the Lockout, although a major reason, wasn?t the only reason the NHL was struggling to become relevant anywhere outside of Canada. The league was stuck in sort of a ?limbo? in regards to its star power. Gretzky had long since retired; Lemieux was barely playing, if at all; Yzerman was aging and playing through numerous injuries; Joe Sakic, Mats Sundin, Jaromir Jagr, Markus Naslund, and Martin Brodeur are all getting up there in age, too (though their play wasn?t showing it). As evidence, here are the top-10 scoring leaders, in order, for the 2003-04 NHL season: Martin St. Louis, Ilya Kovalchuk, Joe Sakic, Markus Naslund, Marian Hossa, Patrick Elias, Daniel Alfredsson, Cory Stillman, Robert Lang, Brad Richards. How many sure-fire Hall of Famers are on that list? I count Sakic as a for sure; Kovalchuk will be if he continues his current pace; and Alfredsson as a possibility. With all due respect to Stillman and Richards, good players in their own right, that list sure doesn?t read like the 90?s when you had Gretzky, Lemieux, Jagr, Yzerman, Sakic, Federov, Robitaille, Hull, etc. Also, the leading point getter St. Louis, only had 94 points. The leading goal-scorers only had 41. And that is reason number 3: the clutching, grabbing, and trap style of play that is no longer seen with the post-lockout rules, also known as The New NHL, wasn?t very pleasing to watch from a fan standpoint.
Many have argued that there still aren?t enough goals as the league?s goals per game average hasn?t had the significant rise that many envisioned. However, the first post-lockout season had 7 players with 100 or more points and two with over 120. Heck, Joe Thorton had more assists that season (96) than St. Louis had points in 03-04 (94). The better offensive players are getting more points than the previous 5 seasons or so, and the regular Joes who relied on power and the ?old NHL? rules weren?t getting as many as they were at the beginning of the decade. What many don?t seem to consider, as well, is that the goalies are far bigger than they used to be. There aren't any more 5?9? Mike Vernons out there or 5?11? Grant Fuhrs manning the pipes. Instead you have a 6?3? Roberto Luongo, 6?1? Rick DiPietro, J.S. Giguere, and Henrik Lundqvist, or 6?2? Ryan Miller. And let?s not even talk about the size of the equipment they are wearing?It is just harder to score on goalies these days. Why else do you think they considered making the net bigger? Just because the goals per game didn?t skyrocket, doesn?t mean the game isn?t more exciting ? it is. Its faster, and there are far more scoring chances end to end, and the fact that goals are harder to come by just makes it more exciting to watch.
So about the star power? I am not sure the league has been in a better position with young talent than it is right now. Currently 15 of the top 20 point getters this season are under the age of 30. Eight of those 20 are 25 years old or younger. The top-2 are aged 22 (Alexander Ovechkin) and 21 (Evgeni Malkin).
Speaking of which, I know the league is touting Sidney Crosby as the future of the sport, and he may very well be, but are there anymore more exciting to watch in the league today than Ovechkin? I have never seen a player enjoy the game more than him, whether it?s his third shift in the fifth game of the year, a shift in overtime, or the NHL Skills Competition. He is also a fantastic goal scorer (as seen by his recent 4-goal game vs. Montreal), can throw punishing body checks, and plays the game at a very high speed all the time. And everyone knew Malkin was a very good young player as he was picked 2nd behind Ovechkin in the 2004 Draft, but with Crosby injuried he has stepped up his game to an entirely different level (15 points in his last 5 games), putting the Penguins on his shoulders to keep them in the top teir of the East.
Crosby, of course, is no slouch either becoming the first ever teenage scoring champion in any sport last year and earning the MVP. He had 63 points in 46 games before his injury this season, and many considered it to be a post-MVP slump. Slump? Many players would love to have 63 point seasons, let alone half-seasons. But he is 20 years old, and the sky is the absolute limit. Living with Mario Lemieux has only made his transition from young phenom to NHL Poster Boy that much easier, and I for one am impressed everyday with the ease he seems to display handling the pressure and popularity he faces not shying away at all of the huge responsibility Gary Bettman and the rest of the league have handed him to ?save? the NHL.
There are plenty of other young stars: Zetterberg and Datsyuk in Detroit; Spezza and Heatley in Ottawa; Joe Thornton is still only 28 and Vincent Lecavalier only 27; Kovalchuk is one of the most dynamic goal scorers in the league, although he could work on his passing and defense; Eric Staal is only 23 and already regarded as one of the top young players in the league, and his brothers Jordan and Marc aren?t bad either; young phenoms are starting to blossom in Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards, and Ryan Getzlaf; and other under-30 guys are starting to become big time players in the league like Mike Ribiero, Tomas Plekanec, and Shawn Horcoff. There is a good crop of young defenseman like Dion Phaneuf, Niklas Kronwall, Jay Bouwmeester, Andrej Meszaros, Brian Campbell, Paul Ranger, 23-year old Tobias Enstrom in Atlanta, and the top goal scoring defenseman this season 22-year old Mike Green of Washington. That doesn?t even count those still considered prospects like Eric and Jack Johnson and Cam Barker. Let?s not forget the goalies: Lundqvist (25), DiPietro (26), Miller (27), Cam Ward (23), and Pascal Leclaire (25) are ensuring that it wont get any easier to score goals for the next decade unless you are an elite player.
Speaking of prospects, there is a nice supporting article about some of the
game's best, many of whom are already in the NHL plying their trade. The two Blackhawks' rookies have been widely talked about this year, with Toews already being named an assistant captain before his injury. Nicklas Backstrom just keeps getting better and better thanks in large part to Ovechkin. Backstrom became the first rookie ever to have back-to-back games with 4 assists. Edmonton rookie Sam Gagner will be a joy to watch for years to come, especially in shootouts.
That is an exhaustive list of young players that have the NHL breathing easy as it ventures into a new era. There are plenty of good reasons to watch and plenty of good reasons to convert you into a fan if you aren?t one already (as it converted our very own
Andrew Perna. It should be easy to see why the future is bright for the NHL.
Comments are always welcome: nickobergan@hotmail.com