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Q: Do you think Sidney Crosby is overrated? Yes, he is a great player. However, in my opinion, he is not even close to being the player Mario Lemieux, at any age, was. I don't even think he is the best player in the world, as of now.

Paul, Pittsburgh

MOLINARI: Whether Crosby is overrated depends on who is doing the rating, and what he is depicted as being capable of doing. If there are people touting him as mankind's last great hope, the key to eliminating worldwide hunger and bringing peace to the planet then, yeah, they're overrating him. Conversely, if they're simply portraying him as the finest hockey player on the planet, well, the belief here is that that isn't terribly out of line.

It's reasonable to suggest that Crosby has not been at his very best for much of this season but, if anything, that probably bolsters the argument of those who regard as hockey's premier talent, because he still has managed to put up more points (48) than all but three other NHL players. If he had really been on top of his game for most of the first three dozen games, league officials probably could have sent his second Art Ross Trophy to the engravers by now.

Selecting the world's top player is thoroughly subjective, and every opinion is pretty much as valid as the next. One way to formulate an answer, though, is to reflect on which player you would want to build a team around, if given the choice of everyone in the game. Not everyone would select Crosby, of course, and there are some flaws inherent in the premise -- if the best player in the world was, say, a 35-year-old, it still would make more sense to build around a 20-year-old like Crosby -- but it's at least a first step toward ranking the game's elite talents.

Finally, to say that Crosby is "not even close" to matching Lemieux isn't exactly a putdown, because the number of guys who were anywhere near Lemieux's equal could commute to the Hall of Fame in a minivan -- and leave the rear row of seats open to carry all the individual and team trophies they earned. It's kind of like accusing a brilliant playwright of not really reaching the standard set by Shakespeare.

And while Crosby does not have Lemieux's innate talents, he does possess a work ethic, commitment and focus that Lemieux rarely showed during his career, particularly before his first retirement. If Lemieux, now 42, had shared Crosby's passion for conditioning and tireless drive to improve, it's just a bit of a reach to suggest that the is-Crosby-the-best issue might never have come up, because that distinction still would belong to Lemieux. And his name would appear in the record book so many times it would read like a biography.

Q: During a shootout, if the goalie slides back into the net and it is dislodged, but the puck follows the goalie into the net, crossing the goal line after the net was moved, does the goal count?

Paul Morosin, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

MOLINARI: Per Rule 63.6, which deals with awarded goals, it should.

That rule reads, in part: "In the event that the goalpost is displaced, either deliberately or accidentally, by a defending player or goalkeeper, prior to the puck crossing the goal like between the normal position of the goalposts, the referee may award a goal. In order to award a goal in this situation, the goalpost must have been displaced by the actions of a defending player or goalkeeper, the puck must have been shot (or the player in the act of shooting) at the goal prior to the goalpost being displaced and it must be determined that the puck would have entered the net between the normal position of the goalposts."