FanHouse GordieHowe

The hockey blogosphere was on fire earlier this week because of a series of events in Sunday's Pittsburgh-Boston game. During the first period of the Penguins 6-4 win, a few observers noticed that Sidney Crosby played a portion of the game without the protective visor he's worn since he entered the league.

I noticed it was gone for a few shifts -- mainly because the Fox Sports Pittsburgh broadcast pointed it out -- but never really gave it much of a thought. Perhaps I should have.

About the only way the 2007-08 NHL season could have ended better for Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin would have been with the Stanley Cup. But with that goal temporarily out of reach, Ovechkin seemed more than pleased to add the Hart and Lester Pearson Trophies to a collection that already included this year's version of the Art Ross and the Richard as well as the 2006 Calder as the league's Rookie of the Year.

But as much as the night belonged to Ovechkin -- the rest of the day in Washington, D.C. will belong to him too with plenty of public celebrations and a dinner-hour party and press event at one of the town's swankiest eateries -- there was plenty of other star power in the audience last night in Toronto for the NHL Awards. One who admitted plenty of surprise at being in the room was Ovechkin's head coach, Bruce Boudreau, who took top honors as winner of the Jack Adams as coach of the year. As it would turn out, the Caps would miss a clean sweep for their nominees when Chicago's Patrick Kane edged out Nicklas Backstrom for the Calder.

When Chris Chelios steps on the ice to participate in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs, it will mark the 22nd time he's made a playoff appearance in his career. That'll be a new record, one that Chelios currently shares with Ray Bourque.

But there's one record that Chelios won't be challenging:

At 45, Chris Chelios is the old man of the NHL, but don't look for the Detroit Red Wings defenceman to match Gordie Howe's record of skating in a playoff series at 52. "I was with Gordie Howe two weeks ago and I promised him I'd quit at 51," Chelios said Wednesday on a conference call. "I don't want that. He's Mr. Hockey."

Which raises a question: Just how long can Chelios keep going? And how much further upward should we adjust our expectations when it comes to the limits of athletic performance?