I mean no disrespect to the NHL or hockey in general. In fact, hockey is one of my favorite sports. I watch at least a couple of games a week, and come playoff time I hardly ever leave the couch. But the NHL All-Star Game is so freakin lame, you just can’t get excited about it. If a serious fan like me had no idea the game would be on January 29 until about January 22, how earth does the NHL think they’re going to attract any casual fans?

And the thing is, the NHL doesn’t need this silly nonsense. Take it away, and I guarantee no one would miss it. So I think it’s time they put an end to the whole thing and let us all move on with our lives.

But just in case you’re not sold yet on the idea of scrapping the NHL All-Star Game, here are 9 reasons why the league needs to pull the plug.

It is feats like that which have helped make these two “Penguin Strangers” the “perfect” combination. And now they have their very own theme song, thanks to the people at Benstonium.

Check it out.

Hat Tip – [Benstonium]

Here are the results. They are pretty impressive, and I suspect they’ll be even better next year. So keep up the good work, guys.

That was likely on the mind of 29 teams in the NHL when Sidney Crosby recorded two goals and two assists in his return to the Penguins’ line-up on November 20th, and it seems to have been on the mind of DJ Steve Porter when he was creating his “Sidney Crosby Comeback Remix” for CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada telecast this past weekend.

Crosby has become known for his rather dull press conferences an interviews with the media, with many believing that he often holds back in an effort to avoid any bad publicity.  Perhaps he could use the services of DJ Steve Porter to make all of his interviews with the media a little more entertaining.  It seemed to work well with these otherwise dull audio clips.

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby just spent the last ten months battling post-concussion symptoms—an absence so long that some were beginning to wonder whether his hockey career might be in jeopardy. However, last night Sid the Kid finally made his highly anticipated 2011-12 season debut, and once again all is right in the world of hockey.

So in honor of Crosby’s triumphant return—4 points on 2 goals and 2 assists is “triumphant,” right?—we thought it would be nice to take a tour of #87’s career highlights thus far. The guy may only be 24 years old, but you’d never know it by having a look at these amazing feats.

9. Becomes the youngest team captain in NHL history

In his first NHL season (the 2005-06 campaign), an 18-year-old Sidney was named an alternate captain. Then, immediately following his second NHL season (in which the Penguins went from last to 5th in the Eastern Conference), a 19-year-old Sidney was made the teams’s captain.

At 19 years, 9 months, 24 days, Crosby was the youngest NHL team captain in team history. Many wondered whether such a young and supposedly inexperienced player could really lead a hockey team. But it didn’t take long for Crosby to validate the faith Penguins team officials placed in him, and to show people that he was not a typical 19-year-old.

8. Gretzky-like assists against the Sens in 2010 Playoffs

And then this one:

At the very beginning of his NHL career, Crosby was constantly compared to Wayne Gretzky. That’s because no player since Gretzky had proven to be such a complete player at such a young age.

And almost immediately, Crosby put up points like a seasoned veteran. Sure, he didn’t score as much as Gretzky, but the two players are from different eras. In 1981-82, the average NHL team scored 321 goals. By contrast, last season, teams averaged only 229—an astronomical difference.

When you look at it this way (and I think you have to when comparing players from different eras), it’s clear that, relative to the league, Sid scores at about the same pace as Gretzky did early in his career.

But aside from a similar ability to score points, Sidney has shown in his career that he has a Gretzky-like spatial awareness and knack for setting up goals. The two highlight-reel assists above are perfect examples. And they’re from just one playoff game.

7. Sid puts it top-shelf backhander while falling down backwards

If any other player in the league scored a goal like this one against the Coyotes, you’d say it was just luck. But with Sidney Crosby you know it’s not luck. Or at least, it’s not entirely luck. That’s because he tends to score goals like this fairly often. (Okay sure, not every day. But there’s definitely a pattern.)

6. Dances past four New York Rangers to score a beauty

It was really hard to choose just one example from the plethora of Crosby’s amazing virtuoso efforts, but in the end I went with this one. Sid takes gets the puck in the neutral zone, turns on his turbo boosters, flies past four Rangers players, and puts the puck in the net. You know, no big deal.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I was also considering going with this one:

5. The Lacrosse Goal

Hardcore hockey fans are probably familiar with this Sid the Kid highlight. Sure, it’s from his days in the QMJHL (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League), but I think it still qualifies as a career highlight. I mean, the QMJHL isn’t exactly a soft league; probably a third of the NHL’s top prospects come from there. And people don’t just score goals like this every day.

4. Wins the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2007

After posting 120 points on 36 goals and 84 assists during the 2006-07 NHL campaign—only his second season—Sidney Crosby won the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player. At only 19 years old, he was the second-youngest MVP in league history. Who was the youngest player to win the MVP? If you can’t guess, you haven’t been paying attention. (It was Wayne Gretzky.)

3. Scores 50 goals and wins the Rocket Richard Trophy

Crosby was never really known as a pure goal scorer. But one of his most incredible qualities is his ability to make himself into any type of player his team needs him to be. And in 2009-2010, his team needed goals. So Sid stepped up and netted a league-high 51, earning his first (and probably not his last) Rocket Richard Trophy. Now, practically the only individual awards Sid has left to win are the Norris trophy for best defenseman and the Vezina trophy for best goalie. And honestly, I could kind of see him switching to D and winning the Norris.

2. The Golden Goal

Sidney Crosby was certainly not responsible for Team Canada winning the gold in men’s hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics. He was surrounded by NHL all-stars. But you can’t argue with the facts. And the facts are that Crosby scored the goal that won the game and sent an entire nation into a frenzy. Was it a highlight reel goal? Nope. But when you’re a kid and you’re playing hockey (or any sport) in your backyard, it’s always the best player on the team (i.e. you) who wins the big game. So this moment was pretty surreal.

1. Sid hoists hockey’s Holy Grail

It didn’t take long for Sidney Crosby to attain the ultimate hockey prize. In 2008-09, Sid the Kid captained his Pittsburgh Penguins to a Stanley Cup victory in only his 4th NHL season. At 21 years, 10 months, and 5 days, he was the youngest NHL captain to ever hoist the Cup.

What had you accomplished by the time you were that age?

After sitting out nearly a full year with a concussion, Sidney Crosby returned to the ice for his much anticipated debut this season and it appeared as though he hasn’t missed a beat.  In fact, the extra adrenaline rush he must have received from the raucous crowd and all of the build-up surrounding the game actually seemed to make Crosby even more dangerous on the ice than he was at any point prior to his injury.

Right from his first shift, Crosby began to assert himself in the offensive zone, finding open teammates for scoring chances, while manufacturing a few of his own as well.  Then the moment finally came.  Just over five minutes into the game, Sid took a pass in the neutral zone, sped around the Islanders defense and roofed a backhand shot over the shoulder of Anders Nilsson for his first goal of the season.  He would add a second later on, as well as two assists, as his four points helped lead the Penguins to a dominating 5-0 victory.

Approximately 11 years ago, Mario Lemieux made an incredible comeback of his own, recording a goal and two assists in his first game back following a 44-month layoff.  Crosby did him one better last night with his four point effort, and it earned him “The Stat Line of the Night” for Monday, November 21, 2011.

The Penguins’ savior has risen!

But unlike Jesus Christ, who according to the Catholics took three days to rise from the dead, Sidney Crosby required a little more than one weekend to return to action.  In fact, it took the Penguins’ captain nearly one full year to recover from a concussion he sustained last season after taking hits to the head in consecutive games in early January.

After undergoing numerous tests and answering thousands of questions regarding the possibility of his return to the ice, the NHL will finally have their biggest star back in action when the Penguins take on the New York Islanders at the Consol Energy Center tonight.

We should mention that the Penguins have put together a respectable 11-6-3 record without their savior in the lineup this season.  Regardless of that fact, we still can’t wait to see what Crosby has planned for his first miracle upon his return.

Now we bring you a look at 16 other athletes and their interesting costume choices.

Among the things Crosby did mention was that he is still getting headaches and he will not return to action until he is 100% healthy and clear of any symptoms.  According to himself and the doctors he has been working with, Crosby isn’t quite ready to take the next step and engage in contact drills, and that time may not come for a while.  At the moment, they will continue to monitor his progress, and only when they feel he is 100% will they test his ability to initiate and receive contact and play at game-speed.

When asked if there was a chance that he would never play another game in the NHL, Crosby responded by saying that it was a “very slight chance” and that he “wouldn’t bet on it.”

One thing that Crosby failed to mention during his press conference was whether or not he was gay.  As a result, I would assume the prank-caller from the clip below was left feeling as though there are still some questions that need to be answered.

NHL Players As Kids has helped bring back memories from the childhood of several of the league’s biggest stars with their archive of images.  There are plenty of pictures to check out on their site, but for now we bring you ten of the best.

Check them out below, then visit NHL Players As Kids.

10. Tyler Seguin

9. Jarome Iginla

8. Alex Ovechkin

7. Brad Marchand

6. Jonathan Toews

5. Logan Couture

4. Milan Lucic

3. Steven Stamkos

2. Sidney Crosby

1. Nicklas Lidstrom