Who's Hot Who's Not

WHO'S Hot

Alex Ovechkin
Four multigoal performances in seven games—including a hat trick against Ottawa—returned the Capitals' left wing to his rightful place as the league's leading goal-scorer. Not even a crash into the boards that briefly forced him out of a match against Boston took a toll. He was back and beating Detroit in the next game.

Gary Russell
Lost in the sea of memorable Super Bowl XLIII moments was a one-yard TD run by the Steelers second-year fullback. What improbable joy for a guy who flunked out of Minnesota, went undrafted and had two yards on six carries in the entire playoffs.

Bruce Smith
With his NFL record 200 sacks, the former Bills end is headed to the Hall of Fame—voted in as soon as he was eligible. At a tearful press conference in Tampa the big guy gave the news a Shakespearean heft: He wept, he explained dabbing at his eyes, from thoughts of his deceased father, and "because I am a man."

Kenny Perry
By sinking a birdie putt from 22 feet (ain't easy, even for a pro), he clinched the FBR Open and became, at 48, the oldest player to win in the 74 years of the event (it used to be the Phoenix Open). Said Perry after his playoff victory, "I don't back down to anyone."

WHO'S Not

Chris Osgood
A painful season—he missed about three weeks with a groin injury—is starting to hurt even more for the Red Wings' veteran. Last year's Cup-winning goalie was 1--4 in his last five starts through Sunday, giving up four goals a game and getting pulled last Thursday. And that .880 save percentage this season? The worst of his career.

Nicanor
The full brother and look-alike of the vaunted and fatally injured 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro has "got big shoes to fill," said jockey Edgar Prado before riding Nicanor in the 3-year-old's debut. He finished 10th in a one-mile maiden race at Gulfstream.?

Steve Kerr
The former three-point sharpshooter, in his second season as Phoenix G.M., saw his Suns lose seven of 10 despite a star-laden roster ( Steve Nash, Amar'e Stoudemire, Shaq). The players are grumbling, coach Terry Porter says the team looks like "we're not together" and, in Kerr's words, "if the pieces don't fit, that's on me."

Andrew Bynum
Midway through his best pro season the fourth-year Lakers center is out for up to 12 weeks with a knee injury. If it feels like you've read this before it's because midway through his best pro season last year, he was declared out for up to 12 weeks with a knee injury (and missed the rest of the year).