Kevin Dupont

We now get to see the Sidney Crosby follow-up act, year No. 3 for the phenomenal, sensational Pittsburgh center. A new NHL season underway, the 20-year-old with the angelic looks, killer wheels and devilish skills returns as the defending scoring champion and Hart (MVP) winner.

In other words, there really is no following up for Crosby, not in the sense that he needs to show more, or better, or bigger, or shinier. He has delivered as advertised. He's the package, the bomb, already with a maturity and consistency in his game that there is every reason to believe he could match Gretzky's treasure trove of nine MVPs before he packs up and returns for good to his Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, environs.

Sid the Kid.

He came.

He delivered.

No reason, good or bad, to think he won't keep bringing it for a long, long time.

Ah, but the game will want more, of course. Or perhaps better to say, those who watch the game, and want more from it, will want more from Crosby. The folks around the NHL — the owners, the management, the agents, the marketers, the fans ... heck, even the stickboys and Zamboni drivers — will want more from him.

Why? Because, sadly, that's just the way hockey is, at least in America.

That's not to discount the Canadian viewpoint here, which I often think is more realistic and, frankly, far easier on the stomach.

Canadians believe hockey is their game, their heritage, and therefore they are fine with it. They're beyond fine. They actually like the game the way it is. Some of them even stay home Saturday nights just to watch it on the family room TV. They don't think it has to be better, bigger, more appealing, more television-worthy, more anything. They freely acknowledge its warts and its humble standing at No. 4 on the North America's sports totem pole, and they somehow go about their lives able to eat O.K. and get a good night's rest.

Ain't that totally awesome?

Admit it, you'd like to pack up and move to Cole Harbour, too, especially now that the Polar Ice Cap is receding and the Cole Harbour DPW is probably putting palm trees and beach umbrellas outside every rink in town.

No doubt that some of that overall good naturedness and sense of well being up north comes from the fact that Bobby Bonds plays in San Francisco, Michael Vick soon will play in the backyard of a penitentiary, and that Steve Nash plays in Phoenix.

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Since Nash is Canadian, via Johannesburg, he no doubt feels compelled to keep a key under his doormat as an informal invite for any of the 33 million Canadians to come visit any time they want. He also knows that there aren't 33 people in Canada how care about basketball, which makes that invite a bit of a red herring. But, still, he's Canadian, eh?

Crosby, as good as he is, and as many points as he'll put up, is not going to be the NHL's savior. And again, in his home country, the obvious follow here would be, ''Uh, saved.....from what, you hoser?''

SN's Ray Slover on the NHL Capitalizing on Crosby New MVP cements status as face of the league, so what's next?

Well, contrary to all the hype that preceded his arrival following the 2004-'05 lockout, he is not going to carry the NHL to a new day. And that's O.K.

Gretzky, the greatest scorer in league history, didn't do it.

Crosby's boss in Pittsburgh, Mario ''Magnifique'' Lemieux, didn't do it.

Special feature How Crosby compares to past phenoms

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who helped design and implement the league's expansion of the '90s, didn't do it. In fact, the NHL may be the sports world's best example that bigger definitely is not always better. The Original 30 NHL has challenges galore in a number of American markets, some old and some new, one of which was Pittsburgh until Sid the Kid showed up. If only there were a dozen or more Crosbys to go around, none of Bettman's franchises would have an issue, but that would be the equal of the Titanic counting on an empty tanker to cruise by in its time of need.

Crosby is incredibly sturdy on his skates. That foundation, which he began to construct in his days of youth hockey, is central to his on-ice being and success.

It's a coaching handbook cliche that everything, all success, comes from skating. But what's a cliche without the underlying truth? Gretzky was an incredible skater. Ditto for Lemieux. Rocket Richard, too. If you can't get there, then there is no there to get to...there is no there there. A booming shot is nothing if the boomer can't get to the spot where that shot will mean something.

As strong as Crosby's legs are, however, those twin pistons are not carrying the NHL to a new day. The Penguins, yes, without a doubt In fact, he's already carried them there, which is great news for a western-Pennsylvania fandom that got a little spoiled with their skating superstars in the early-'90s (see: back-to-back Stanley Cups, '91 and '92).

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