GOOD
Sidney Crosby
Any time people start throwing your name into a sentence alongside Wayne Gretzky, you know you must be doing something right. In actuality, since the calendar flipped over to 2010, the Penguins' captain has done little wrong, from showing his Midas touch in Vancouver to firing his way to a share of the regular-season goal-scoring title. Now, with 13 points through five playoff games, fans are wondering if he could top the Great One's record 47-point haul in a single postseason. A stretch, maybe, but it will be fun to watch him try.
Dominik Hasek
While Father Time may finally be gaining on 38-year-old Martin Brodeur - in high-pressure situations like playoffs and Olympics, anyway - his one-time annual rival for the Vézina Trophy looks to have found a new lease on life. The Dominator has seemingly been back to his best in the Czech Republic, leading his hometown club HC Eaton Pardubice to a 4-0 sweep of the final to capture the Czech championship. Given that he did it at 45, it almost makes you wonder what Brodeur's excuse is.
Sam Bradford
"Son, the good news is we're going to take you with the first overall pick. The bad news is you're going to have to join a team that's won only six games in the last three years, plays on an artificial surface that's going to do your surgically repaired throwing shoulder no favours, and has its ownership situation in a state of flux. Other than that, welcome to the Rams." While that may not have been the speech GM Billy Devaney gave the young quarterback, he will surely give fans something to cheer for in what's sure to be another sorry season in St. Louis.
BAD
Ben Roethlisberger
Pittsburgh Steelers fans have been put through the wringer lately. First they saw former Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes traded to the Jets after a series of legal troubles, and now their star quarterback has been suspended conditionally for the first six games of next season for violating the NFL's code of personal conduct. But things could be worse, and when you share a city with baseball's Pirates - beaten 20-0 by the Brewers this week for their worst loss in 124 years - it's easy to see how.
Edinson Volquez
Looking for more pop in his bat, the Reds' right-hander decided to take some performance-enhancing drugs to help his and his wife's quest to start a family. Unfortunately, his medication also contained banned substances, and Major League Baseball handed down a 50-game suspension as a result. Still, the suspension won't exactly affect him, with Volquez out after undergoing ligament-transplant surgery last August, giving him lots of time to work on his swing.
Franck Ribery
Those French soccer players just can't keep their hands to themselves. While the furor over Thierry Henry's handball that got France into this summer's World Cup finals has just about died down, the prospects of their best player taking part in the tournament are under threat with authorities investigating allegations he and other teammates slept with an underage prostitute. His week didn't get any better when he was sent off in the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday, but with a child prostitution offence carrying a jail term of up to three years, a one- or two-game ban is the least of his worries.