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Q: My initial reaction to Sidney Crosby's golden goal was that it is exactly what the NHL wanted to see. But after thinking about it -- with Crosby being the perceived face of the NHL -- what does that do, going forward? All of a sudden, is Crosby less marketable in the U.S.? He's the guy who beat the USA in the gold-medal game and he received some negative reaction in Pittsburgh. I'm sure that outside of Pittsburgh, he's become a bit of a villain. Does that hurt the NHL in the U.S.?

Greg, Ross

MOLINARI: Yes, one certainly would hate to see Crosby's popularity dip in places like Philadelphia and Washington, where he is so beloved that people can't resist the urge to chant his name pretty much every time he steps onto the ice.

There's no real precedent for something like this -- no player who was active in the NHL at the time (yes, that includes Peter Forsberg in 1994) has scored an Olympic goal like the one Crosby got in overtime of the gold-medal game -- so there's no way of being certain how his treatment by fans in U.S. cities will change, if it does at all.

The guess here is that the U.S. fans who disliked him before the Olympics will continue to do so, and that those who liked (or, at least, respected) him going into the Games aren't going to have their opinion seriously altered by his championship-clinching goal.

One would like to believe that rational people -- and more than a few fans have proven, with their words and deeds since the Olympics, that their membership in that group has lapsed -- understand that Crosby was representing his country and wanted to do everything possible to help his team win the tournament, just as every guy who pulled on a U.S. sweater did.

If that simple reality is too much for people to grasp, well, that's their problem, not Crosby's or the league's.

Q: What is the NHL's reasoning for not allowing players to play with a broken stick? Is it purely a safety issue, or is there another reason why players must drop a broken stick ASAP?

Eric, Pittsburgh

MOLINARI: That rule that players must discard a broken stick immediately dates to a time when sticks were made of wood, and a broken one had the potential to be a nasty, jagged safety hazard. Allowing players to continue playing with, say, the splintered shaft that remained after a stick broke would have been inviting disaster. (Imagine being a forward moving in on a defenseman wielding a piece of wood with 10 or 15 pointy edges. That would be pretty good incentive to dump the puck in and head to the bench.)

Also, per Rule 10.4, goaltenders are exempt from the rule about playing with a broken stick, and can use whatever remnant they can hold onto to stop pucks thrown toward them.

Q: If Crosby and Alex Ovechkin finish tied in goal-scoring, who will win the Rocket Richard Award?

Kevin, Baldwin

MOLINARI: There is no tiebreaker for the Rocket Richard, so two (or more) guys who end up with the same total would share the award. That happened in 2003-04, when Ilya Kovalchuk, Rick Nash and Jarome Iginla scored 41 each.

Certainly would have the potential for an interesting moment at the podium if Crosby and Ovechkin end up with the same total.

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