From the late 1970s to the early ’90s, the NBA had the best winter sports rivalry of them all — Larry Bird versus Magic Johnson, Boston Celtics versus Los Angeles Lakers. To the delight of commissioner David Stern and television advertising executives affiliated with the game, the Celtics and Lakers met in the Finals three times and had many other memorable encounters.
The NHL’s answer to the Bird-Magic marketing bonanza was always Wayne Gretzky versus Mario Lemieux. There was only one problem with that: Hockey’s two greatest scorers of their era never faced each other in the playoffs.
It was tough for the NHL to get the marketing machine plugged in when its two biggest household names met a couple of times a year in regular-season games.
Through the 1990s and into this decade, the NBA still had the better marquee matchups. There was Michael Jordan vs. Karl Malone, Shaquille O’Neal vs. Tim Duncan and last year, again, Celtics-Lakers.
Finally, the NHL and commissioner Gary Bettman believes it has the best big-name rivalry going — Sidney Crosby vs. Alexander Ovechkin.
Granted, it’s only a conference semifinal matchup between Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins and Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals. But for the first time in perhaps, well, ever, more casual sports observers south of the Canadian border may be wondering what is happening between Crosby and Ovechkin than anything going on in the NBA right now (no offense, Nuggets).
“Gary Bettman couldn’t have asked for anything more,” former Colorado Rockies coach and current CBC hockey analyst Don Cherry said. “Boy, it’s going to be exciting.”
Game 1 on Saturday wasn’t bad. Crosby and Ovechkin scored goals in the game, won 3-2 by the Capitals. Unlike a February game between the teams, there were not the added theatrics of trash-talking between Crosby and Ovechkin, but give it time. It’s still early.
“The reason why there’s such a great amount of animosity between the two is because they’re always compared to one another. Ovechkin thinks he’s the best and Crosby thinks he’s the best,” NBC and TSN hockey analyst Pierre McGuire said. “They’re not afraid to tell one another. That’s basically what led into that incident in February.”
The personal animosity between the Canadian Crosby and the Russian Ovechkin started at the 2005 World Junior Championship gold-medal game in Grand Forks, N.D. Canada won the game, and Ovechkin suffered an injured shoulder from several big hits — including one from Crosby.
Ovechkin won NHL rookie of the year honors over Crosby in 2005-06, but Crosby led the league in scoring the next season and took his team to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2008.
Crosby has boyish, teen idol looks, while Ovechkin looks like an unmade bed. That only seems to add to the marketing formula. Bird, after all, was the country bumpkin to Magic’s Tinseltown.
“This should be a great rivalry for many years to come,” McGuire said.
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com
