Crosby/Ovechkin Rivalry Could Save NHL

By Brian Fitzsimmons: SPM N.J. Columnist
Posted Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Here's to hoping Philadelphia doesn't drink too much of the Cinderella Kool-Aid.

Nothing against the sixth-seeded Flyers, but if they find a way to oust Washington from the playoffs this weekend it would rob NHL fans from witnessing the birth of a rivalry that could save their sport from the disgustingly deliberate isolation to mainstream sports.

Alex Ovechkin against Sidney Crosby. It needs to happen.

Obviously, hockey has suffered greatly over the past few years. It has been put on the backburner of the sports world and even its most intriguing playoff match-ups have been doomed to the outskirts of Versus, a channel available to significantly fewer television households than ESPN or ESPN2 around the country. People look at the poor ratings and scorn the sport for losing its luster. For concrete evidence, hockey is below NASCAR and both men and women's college basketball on the pull-down link of the ESPN.com sports toolbar.

It's sad, but it's also hard to ignore one simple truth� a product as marketable as a Crosby vs. Ovechkin rivalry could change that very crisis.

The Worldwide Leader passed up on matching the Outdoor Life Network's (now Versus) offer of $200 million for the NHL's U.S. cable television rights in 2005. This past January, Versus and the NHL extended their deal through the 2010-11season. Maybe when that window of time closes, a new door will open. What if the Penguins and Capitals become the most storied rivalry� courtesy of the team�s young stars� to hit the ice in recent memory? I don't see ESPN letting a potential, or guaranteed, moneymaker such as that slip through its tentacles. Even if that scenario doesn't present itself, there's room for growth in regards to the popularity of Versus.

Why do you think ESPN thrives on the NBA soap opera involving Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant come playoff time?

Anyway, hockey fans are stuck between a rock and hard place, crossing their fingers for a saving grace to bring hockey back to the paramount of the sports universe. For the next four years, at the very least, they will need to suffer because even the most illustrious storylines generate so little hype.

Sure, a face-off between Crosby and Ovechkin's respective teams beginning next week would be exciting, but not many would be able to see it. At best, one of the middle games of a possible seven-game series would air on the Sunday afternoon NBC slot and it's a shame.

What happens when the most prevalent sports promoter refuses to promote a product? More times than not, it will be a ghost in the headlines and a short segment towards the end of a highlight broadcast, such as "SportsCenter."

Oddly enough, it looks like Crosby and Ovechkin have a lot more weight on their shoulders than most originally thought.

So how does all this tie into the warped, yet booming, world of fantasy sports? According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, between 15 and 18 million people engage in owning some sort of fantasy team, and the number of participants rose 7 to 10 percent in each of the three years prior to 2006.

An alarming rate of 85 percent of fantasy geeks played football, but you don't need to be Albert Einstein to infer the pool of fantasy hockey players is much shallower. Fantasy sports allow the average fan to get closer to the game and ultimately, force them to pay more attention to the league.

It's simple math: a Crosby and Ovechkin heated playoff rivalry brings about more interest. More awareness will produce more fantasy owners. More fantasy owners will cause an increase in the sport's lucrative value. More money equals more exposure.

It's the precious cycle commissioner Gary Bettman should be hoping for, and there's no better duo to produce the desperately needed wave of renaissance.

It could begin as soon as this week. Crosby did his part by putting the final nail in Ottawa's coffin on Wednesday. It was as if he wanted to begin the vigil for a birth of the ultimate playoff feud. Now, Alex the Great has to do his.

If that happens, the rest will take care of itself.