A foreword for the forwards

I gotta come clean. I don't really like Sidney Crosby. He's a great scorer and an even better passer, I get that. But I hate his slithery style. I hate how he gets rattled by the smallest hint of physicality, and second assists certainly help his rep. Having Evgeni Malkin basically as his bodyguard and running mate doesn't hurt, either, and Crosby plays in Pittsburgh, which is grounds for me lobbing flaming bags of dog shit at him on its own.

But Crosby has an insatiable habit of kicking his game up several notches when the stakes are highest, and with Alexander Ovechkin and the second-seeded Capitals lining up across the ice, he knows that this series will go a long way (right or wrong) toward determining who's the better superstar.

With that in mind, and with NBC HD in my living room, it's time to get this souped-up playoff series going.


I wouldn't expect too much of that.