The Crosby Lottery
It all started with Ben Wright of The Net Files. Jes G?lbez gave it a go, as did Eric McErlain, PJ Swenson and James Mirtle.
Ben asked: “What’s the best team for Sidney Crosby to play for (to help the NHL)?”
Most have two teams on the top of their lists: the NY Rangers and LA Kings.
The thought process is similar for most too: the NHL soars in popularity when the Rangers do well. Crosby could help the Rangers and become a huge sports star in NY. The media would soak him up and Crosby highlights would be all over the place.
Hockey bloggers, and most of the media, aren’t the only ones thinking NY is the best fit for Crosby. Jeremy Roenick says scrap the lottery and just give the pick to the Rangers:
“I say throw the balls away,” Roenick said during an appearance on the TV show “Off The Record” on Canadian network TSN. “The Rangers haven’t made the playoffs in seven years…. You have the most acclaimed kid coming into hockey since Mario Lemieux. Don’t make a big mistake with this kid.
“Put him in the biggest market - the biggest media market - especially to a team that has to make the playoffs or they’ll lose all their fans. And let Sidney Crosby come to the game and make it better because everyone is going to see him in New York.”
I can’t say I disagree with many about NY. The team needs it, the league needs exposure and a new superstar. Crosby seems to be able to handle the media well, and NY could turn him into a real name (in the US, as he’s basically a real name in Canada already).
However, I don’t see Crosby going to LA reviving hockey there. Crosby needs to become a superstar elsewhere first and then go to LA to get a buzz going. Wayne Gretzky might have put butts in the seats there but it wasn’t just because he was great, it was because he was already great and having him play somewhere else first generated a ton of buzz when he was traded. The same could happen with Crosby if he played somewhere else first, but he needs to be established already to make an impact in a market like LA.
Toronto or any other Canadian team: basically a waste (in terms of using him to try and increase hockey’s popularity). Hockey’s popular in Canada no matter what and putting him on a team like Toronto, which is going to have an enormous following and media exposure no matter what, is basically like saying A-Rod coming to NY would have any impact on Yankees coverage or baseball popularity (in case you don’t realize: it didn’t).
The only benefit to Crosby going to a Canadian market could be from a long-term view: Crosby is comfortable in Canada, turns into a superstar (at least in the hockey world) and then moves down into a decent-size US market when he becomes a free agent (or is traded to one the season before that). This would be the real Gretzky Effect.
Outside of NY, I think the second best place for Crosby to go is Chicago. The city is a great hockey city and proves that by supporting the AHL’s Wolves just as much (and sometimes more) than the Blackhawks. As others have said Bill Wirtz doesn’t deserve Crosby, but it’s not about Wirtz - it’s about Chicago, and that city definitely deserves Crosby. They also deserve to have all games televised. If Chicago somehow winds up with Crosby I hope the NHL puts some real pressure on Wirtz to finally have home games televised, and maybe give him a good supporting cast. Oh, and Matt Barnaby would deserve some ice time with him too (just thought I’d throw that out there).
Besides the Rangers, the teams with the best chances of landing Crosby are Buffalo, Columbus and Pittsburgh.
Buffalo - I’m not sure it helps anyone but Buffalo, which is ok, of course, but it probably won’t help the NHL too much. The media is small in Buffalo, and while the TO media can get there easily, it doesn’t help coverage here in the States.
Columbus - The Blue Jackets are building a solid fan base without Crosby and have an up and coming team as well. While I’m sure Jackets fans would love to have Crosby, they don’t really “need” him like other teams and markets do. Again, I’m not sure he would get any real national attention here.
Pittsburgh - Ah, more Mario comparisons - can he save this franchise? After the possible addition of Crosby, and perhaps Marc-Andre Fleury, what else does this team have to look forward to? They need support fast, and one player, no matter how good he may be, may not be able to keep this team in this city (again). The fans and the city need to rally around the Pens fast, Crosby or no Crosby, or they’re probably gone anyway. Mario Lemieux never became the household name Gretzky did, despite possibly being a better player (disclaimer: depends who you ask, of course, just saying Mario should have been up there with Gretz in terms of awareness and he wasn’t). The point of that: Pittsburgh might not be able to attract the national media attention that other cities can.
So, my best 3-ball city: NY Rangers. My best 2-ball city: Chicago.
So, who’s the best 1-ball city? Honestly, I’m not too sure. If you’re looking for Crosby to grab as much media attention as possible you’d have him going to Boston, Detroit, or Philadelphia. It’s hard to want Detroit or Philly to re-stack with Crosby, but it’s also hard to argue against a major market team being able to show him off wherever they go. Boston’s in the worst shape, and may not even be a contender for a few years, so Crosby might have a bit too much pressure there. Also, he’s not really a Boston-style player. Beantown wants Cam Neely back. Joe Thornton‘s close to a Neely-like player for today’s NHL and they’re still not soaking him up as much as one would expect - could Crosby capture Boston hearts?
After those teams - it probably doesn’t matter much, he’ll wind up helping out a franchise, but the PR people would have to do a great job getting him covered as much as he would be in another city.
Some things to think about:
* No matter which network the NHL signs a national television deal with, the big markets will probably have more games broadcast. There’s a reason ESPN would always show Detroit and NY Rangers games - the markets are big and ratings should be better. Crosby going to a big market team has him playing in more nationally broadcast games. Yes, this definitely makes a difference. If the NHL can manage it, they’ll have their broadcast partner hype and show Crosby’s team as much as any big market team (if he doesn’t wind up in a big market).
* Big markets can also lead to bigger endorsement deals. Crosby signing more deals could mean more commercial time, possibly during other sporting events and television shows. Exposure, exposure, exposure.
* Crosby was written 29 times in this post, including the time in this sentence and not including the title. Fun.
Update: From the NHL:
NHL TO SHOW 2005 DRAFT DRAWING RESULTS LIVE
Fans Worldwide Will See Who Gets A Shot At Sidney Crosby
NEW YORK (July 21, 2005)-The much-anticipated results of the Draft Lottery that will determine the Order of Selection for the 2005 Entry Draft will be televised live on Friday, July 22 at 4 p.m., (ET). The Lottery will decide which NHL club will receive the first overall selection and the opportunity to select mega prospect Sidney Crosby at next week’s Draft.
TSN, the League’s Canadian cable partner, will produce and televise the special half-hour show. RDS, the NHL’s exclusive French-language partner, and the NHL Network also will telecast the draft drawing to the rest of Canada. In the U.S., ESPN News will carry national coverage and regional sports networks Altitude (Denver), Comcast Sports Net (Chicago, Mid-Atlantic and Philadelphia) and Madison Square Garden (New York) will telecast in their respective viewing areas. For cyber fans around the world, the drama will unfold live on NHL.com, AOL com and MSN.com.
Following the NHL Board of Governors meeting in New York to ratify the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, Commissioner Gary Bettman will reveal the order of selection one team at a time, from the 30th spot to the first, as the entire hockey world waits to see which club gets a shot at the teen-age phenomenon at the 2005 Entry Draft in Ottawa July 30.
This marks the first time in the history of the NHL’s Entry Draft that each club will have a chance to select first overall. Crosby, from Cole Harbor, Nova Scotia, has rewritten the record books in the Quebec Major Junior League as a member of the Rimouski Oceanic, and is considered one of the most highly regarded NHL prospects ever.
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