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Because of the strong response to Bill Ratay's Mellon Arena memories printed in the Q&A recently, similar submissions from other readers interested in sharing their recollections will be posted in the Penguins area of PG-Plus. Those pieces can be sent via the Q&A submission form or to DMolinari@Post-Gazette.com

Q: Why should Sidney Crosby be David Letterman's fool? I'm so glad he didn't go on the show.

Sue Ann O'Donnell, Pittsburgh

MOLINARI: Why Crosby didn't go on Letterman's show when the Penguins were in New York last week is his own business; why someone in the NHL office decided to make a public issue of it -- anonymously, of course --via a New York Post column that described the league as "miffed" that Crosby declined an invitation to appear is far more interesting.

Does anyone really believe that having Crosby read a ten-item list on a television show is going to have a meaningful impact on the NHL's popularity? Are people in Omaha and Amarillo and Albuquerque who never have paid attention to hockey suddenly going to start tuning in because they saw Crosby on a late-night TV? (Especially when they either just passed on a chance to watch him play for two weeks during the Olympics, or weren't affected by doing so.)

And if the idea is that an appearance on the Letterman show would be just one brick in the wall of building the game's following, well, Crosby has been responsible for far more of that construction than anyone else in the league since he entered the NHL in 2005.

Crosby has, for years, promoted his game, league and franchise far more than anyone could reasonably expect. It really is perplexing that someone in the league office came to the conclusion that blindsiding him over the Letterman non-appearance was a shrewd move that would work to the benefit of the NHL and its member clubs.

Q: While I understand that Marc-Andre Fleury not posting any shutouts this season could be concerning, don't you think it's a bit overboard? Semyon Varlamov has posted two, yet the Capitals have a nice stranglehold on the No. 1 spot in the conference. Goalies like Thomas Vokoun and Steve Mason each have at least four shutouts, and their teams are struggling to even be in contention for a playoff spot. I would rather have a team that is playing good hockey with no shutouts than the team with a handful of shutouts, but is potentially not going to see any playoff action.

Steve, Mt. Washington

MOLINARI: It's not an either-or proposition; having shutouts and being in playoff contention aren't mutually exclusive.

And even Fleury's critics -- a largely and extremely outspoken group, if submissions to this Q&A are any indication -- haven't cited the lack of a shutout as one of his major failings (and rest assured, those people have no trouble coming up with a long list of them). What's more, Fleury has raised the subject a few times himself lately, and it's clear that he'd like to get one, if only to get off the schneid.

Then again, if Fleury doesn't get a shutout during the regular season but the Penguins manage to win another Stanley Cup, most fans aren't going to worry much about what did or didn't happen during the first 82 games. (Except, presumably, for those folks who just doesn't see how Fleury ever got a job tending goal in the NHL in the first place.)

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