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Sidney Crosby turned down an opportunity to appear on The Late Show With David Letterman shortly after the Olympics, and predictably, criticism followed. The New York Post ran an article about it on Sunday under the headline, “Crosby blows NHL’s golden chance.” As usual, a lot of people were participating in the international pastime of bashing Sid.

But today, his General Manager had heard enough. At the NHL’s GM meetings in Boca Raton, Florida, Ray Shero had this to say about the criticism of #87:

“At some point, there’s a responsibility — that he takes very seriously — about being a hockey player and preparing. To me, any criticism for Sidney isn’t warranted. He does so much for the game, so much for the league. He’s trying to do it all, and it’s unfortunate he can’t do it all. But he does a lot.”

Amen, Ray. Amen. There is not a single player in the league who brings the amount of publicity and eyeballs to the NHL that Crosby does, and I’m including Alexander Ovechkin in that discussion. While I agree that an appearance on Letterman would not have hurt, there are a few issues at play here.

Number one is the fact that the Penguins had four games in six days last week. It’s as simple as scheduling. Look at the other Olympians…Ryan Miller got the night off against the Pens; Marc-Andre Fleury got the night off against Buffalo, and he didn’t even play in the Olympics…and Crosby didn’t take a minute off.

Number two is the fact that it is not Crosby’s responsibility to spend every waking moment promoting the NHL when he’s not playing. There are other players in the league, yet all publicity issues seems to fall on Crosby’s shoulders. As Shero said, Crosby does try to do it all. Considering his level of stardom, Sidney is very media-friendly. But no other player in the league bears this burden. Not Ovechkin. Not Malkin. No one.

Crosby’s won a Stanley Cup Game Seven and an Olympic Gold Medal in the past year. He’s constantly on television pitching Reebok gear. He has not and will not get into any unfortunate off-the-ice situations. He is the mature face-of-the-league that any pro sports association could only dream of, the rare instance of the product actually being better than the hype. And to top it all off, he’s only 22. If the reading of a Top 10 list on David Letterman for a few seconds trumps all of that, then criticize away. But it’s my opinion that the NHL will never find another ambassador better than Sidney Crosby, so just enjoy him for what he is – which is pretty spectacular.

Unfair to criticize Crosby: Penguins GM [TSN.ca]