Lidstrom hurt in privates and public

Good heavens, it sure is getting testy out there.

And we're not just talking about what happened (wince) to poor Nicklas Lidstrom, either. Summertime is supposed to be easy, but that doesn't mean temperatures aren't rising, at least given the instances of sniping in the sports universe.

First, there was the Great Handshake Snub involving Sidney Crosby and the no-longer-defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. While Sidney and his Pittsburgh Penguins were busy congratulating themselves on winning the hardware, great offence was taken by several Red Wings players waiting for the traditional shaking of the hands.

(First reaction: Where was that great offence when the Detroit really needed it? We're lookin' at you, Marian Hossa.)

Wings veteran Kris Draper, in particular, was infuriated that Crosby didn't drop everything, Cup included, and shake the paw of the aforementioned Wings captain, Lidstrom. Turns out, it wasn't the only indignity suffered by Lidstrom during the playoffs, but we'll get to that later.

"Nick was waiting and waiting, and Crosby didn't come over to shake his hand," Draper fumed to reporters. "That's ridiculous, especially as their captain, and make sure you write that I said that."

Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg called Crosby's actions "ridiculous."

Really? According to a Detroit newspaper, it took Crosby about three minutes -- including a few television interviews -- to fall into line. He shook the hands of most Wings players, including Detroit coach Mike Babcock.

So who was the poor sport here, anyway? Did Lidstrom have a bus to catch? Did he leave the stove on? Look, no one likes to lose, let alone in your own building. So three minutes might have felt like an eternity to the Wings. But we'll give young Sid a mulligan.

As for Lidstrom, that brings us to feud No. 2, this one involving a couple of Canadian sports columnists. You see, it turns out Lidstrom was speared in the testicles by Chicago Blackhawks forward Andrew Sharp in the Western Conference final. The injury required some emergency surgery, and doctors told Lidstrom they couldn't promise he'd wake from anesthesia with two testicles.

"He said he didn't know until he actually went in there and looked," Lidstrom told reporters in Detroit, the day after the season ended.

Regardless, details of Lidstrom's "lower body injury" were slow to leak to the public domain.

Hence Globe and Mail media columnist Bruce Dowbiggin chided the "embedded" journalists covering the Cup final for being complicit in covering up Lidstrom's sensitive groin issues. They weren't on the ball, so to speak.

However, the suggestion of a cover-up was greeted with much disdain from Toronto Star columnist Damien Cox, who in his blog said the accusation "is about as insulting to a journalist as you can get."

Cox then noted that the Star did, indeed, report the particulars of Lidstrom's injury the previous week, and concluded: "Seems you might need to read all the media reports out there -- or actually attend the sporting event in question -- before calling others in the business hacks."

Ouch.

Speaking of private versus public, any list of sniping would be incomplete without Brian Burke, who is to feuds what Donald Trump is to the comb-over -- the king.

In fact, it was a bit of a feud within a feud that got Burke, the Toronto Maple Leafs' new GM, to tee off on disgruntled Ottawa Senators forward Dany Heatley, who now desperately wants out of the nation's capital.

According to Burke, Heatley should have kept his yap shut.

"He's a good player, but I have certain guidelines about how players ask for trades," Burke said on NHL Network radio. "I think players are entitled to do it in a quiet, professional way which gives the team a fighting chance, but we are not interested in that particular transaction."

Of course, Burke didn't seem to mind it a few years back when, as GM of the Anaheim Ducks, Chris Pronger fell into his lap after a very public campaign to get out of Edmonton.

So what's the moral of this column? Well, let's see.

You can be excused of over-zealousness as long as you're having a ball. Unless you've almost lost one, in which case you might just want a bit of privacy.

At least, when it comes to any news about your privates, which you don't want to make public. Naturally.

But you have to be careful about what you make public or what you keep private. Or the next thing you know, Brian Burke is on the radio busting your....

Well, you know.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 19, 2009 C2