After the devastating lockout that forced the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 season, the NHL relaunched with a fresh set of rules and a new batch of superstars. Change was necessary if hockey had any hope of rejoining the mainstream sports landscape.

That journey is still in its early stages and there is certainly no assurance it will ever truly be complete. But powered by players such as Crosby and Ovechkin, the NHL can at least make a case for having its version of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. If only the league can get anyone to notice.

“It makes me feel old. I am 28 years old,” said Tampa Bay Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier, the No. 1 pick in 1998. “I feel young, but at the same time when you see guys coming in at 18, 19 years old ... it’s nice to see new faces. They are young, dynamic players, exciting players to watch. That’s what people want to see. It’s good for the league and it helps the league.

“It was great timing with Sidney Crosby. He is the best player in the league and he’s coming in with new rules, new marketing around the players. It was perfect timing. It’s unbelievable how the last few years so many good guys are coming out. Everything together makes a good product.”

Not only are the “Big 3” making their marks, emerging young talent is energizing teams that haven’t mattered in years.

Suddenly, the Chicago Blackhawks have awakened from a slumber that featured only one playoff appearance since 1998 and none in the past five seasons. That rebirth can be credited to the sudden appearance of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Kane was the rookie of the year last season, Toews was a runner-up.

Kane, the No. 1 overall pick in 2007, is not yet 20. Toews, chosen third a year earlier, won’t turn 21 until the late stages of the upcoming season. If the general public isn’t aware of this dynamic duo yet, Kane and Toews will be on full display on New Year’s Day when the Blackhawks host the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings in the Winter Classic at baseball’s Wrigley Field.

“That’s what makes it fun about the league,” Kane said. “You see guys like Crosby and Ovechkin, it’s so rare that players come in at such a young age and do well, but lately it seems like it’s the new thing. It seems like there are one, two or three guys that come in from the previous draft and have breakout years or become key players on their teams.

Slideshow   The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos

“You want do the same things they’re doing in their second and third years. Hopefully we can do that or do even better.”

Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets certainly fits comfortably in this stable of young talent. At 24, he has 154 goals and 276 points. His next step will be a postseason appearance, and that could be coming soon from the improving Blue Jackets, who are the only NHL team not to have made the playoffs.

Out West, Dion Phaneuf plays in relative obscurity on defense for the Calgary Flames. The hard-hitter is entering his fourth NHL season and already has 54 goals and 159 points at age 23.

“You definitely take on more of a role every year,” Phaneuf said. “With more experience comes more expectation. That hasn’t changed and it’s not going to change. You look around the league, there’s a lot of great, young players coming in and really making a mark. In saying that, there are a lot of great veterans that are still in the game.

“You need some mixture of both. You look at Detroit last year, they had the veterans and they had the young guys that made that mix. With the rules changes and everything since the league started back up from the lost year, everything is going in the direction that everyone wants to see.”