I don’t think he’s talking smack, honestly. He’s saying Sid’s a great player but he’s a quiet player. As someone who was chosen to be the face of the NHL, Crosby is a quite guy outside his own market. JR has a valid complainant in that regard.

Crosby, whether he wants it or not, is being pushed as THE GUY for the NHL. He needs to be a bit more lively to really fill that roll. Not because he lacks skill (he oozes it) but because a) people have a lot of misconceptions about him and b) the new fans they’d like him to attract want something flashier. Sad but true. That’s why so many people love Ovechkin. He’s out there, he’s a showman, and he’s someone you feel like you know and could hang out with. Sid seems shy and withdrawn sometimes. I’m sure he’s a nice guy, most players are, but he comes across as standoffish sometimes when odds are he’s just the keep to himself type. That seems to turn some folks off.

That’s all JR is trying to get at, I think.

(in the interest of full discretion, I like Ovie and JR too )

not every in this world can have a killer personality. I totally agree with this article when it talks about how much crosby gets cheap-shot, he’s the best player in the league like him or hate him it’s not going to bother him.

cheap shot twit … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wqR17KrLKw

it’s funny how all the people who commented on that blog are all up in arms about how roenick is washed up and no one realized he wasn’t already retired – I think a lot of people around here are likely to disagree

JR should be taken the same way Don Cherry is/should be. I think Cherry is a full of it, but he has a right to say what he says and I have the right to ignore it, agree with it, or be annoyed by it with varying degrees of vehemence.

sidney crosby

I’m not sure if its just his youth or what but I’ve seen few players to attempt to force plays and fail as this guy. I guess you have to try to succeed but on “The Quiz” last night they were saying that Zack Parise was better than him this season. A guy who gets absolutely no media attention whatsoever. I’d take Ovechkin or Malkin over Crosby any day of the week. I think that both of them would easily be more hyped if they weren’t Russian but instead pretty boy Canadians.

I think what JR said was taken out of context. He just basically said that the “face of the NHL” should be more lively.

Than the article said:

So the question is: are we talking about hockey?
Since when do a player’s interview skills have an impact on his game?
Hockey is played on the ice with physical skills, not through the media with verbal skills

All JR wants Crosby to be more “fun” or so to make the NHL look better or something like that.

Than:

Then again, for the aging and declining Roenick, his interviews seem to be the only way he can remain in the spotlight.

In other words, he wants to hear himself talk, and he wants to be heard – since few even realize he still plays the game.

He wants to hear himself talk?!? This was in an interview. People want to know his opinion. And insulting JR for his play as of right now is just unfair. I could call out the author of that article saying he has never played pro hockey before, what does he know!! (see that’s an unfair argument)

Than the article talks about how good Crosby is (I’m not sayin he’s bad) and how much better he is than JR. All of that came from JR just saying he would want the “face of the NHL” to be more fun