Crosby a center of great debate

03:15 AM CST on Wednesday, January 24, 2007
By CHUCK CARLTON / The Dallas Morning News

As he has throughout most of his hockey life, Mario Lemieux elegantly made the near-impossible look easy. This week, he found a new description for Pittsburgh wunderkind Sidney Crosby.

“He’s a great babysitter,” said Lemieux, whose mansion is for now Crosby’s home.

Crosby is so many other things, too - so young, so mature, so talented and so much what the NHL needs.

This week in Dallas is as much "all-Crosby" as All-Star. In his first All-Star Game, it's Crosby's debut on a large stage.

So far, the city has seen the public side of Crosby, a thoughtful spokesman at age 19 who has handled questions about being the face of the NHL and his team's uncertain future. Tonight, fans at American Airlines Center and a cable TV audience will see "Sid the Kid," the teen center who has claimed the NHL scoring lead in only his second season.

He has 72 points in 43 games, six more than runner-up Martin St. Louis of Tampa Bay. The Stars will get another look Friday when Pittsburgh makes its first visit to AAC since Crosby joined the team.

"He's been dominating the last couple of months," said Lemieux, the Hall of Famer-turned-Penguins owner. "I haven't seen players in the past who have been able to do that. He's only going to get better. It's pretty scary."

Only one other teenager has ever managed to lead the NHL in scoring at any point in a season – Wayne Gretzky, the league's career scoring leading and irreplaceable ambassador.

People around hockey talk about how ridiculous it is to compare Crosby to Gretzky. Nobody is likely to score 894 career goals or record 215 points in a season again.

But they're still often compared because there really is no other apt measuring stick for Crosby. His uniform No. 87 – derived from Crosby's birth date of 8-7-87 – is doing things only previously achieved by No. 99.

Longtime observers marvel at Crosby's ability to anticipate plays, get to loose pucks, force mistakes and make every teammate around him better. Those were many of the qualities that made Gretzky special starting when he entered the league in 1979, following a season in the ill-fated World Hockey Association.

Both are normal-sized players, unlike superstars such as Lemieux, who is 6-6, or Eric Lindros, who was a tight end on skates when he arrived.

"As for the comparisons, I'll always be the first guy to tell you that there is never going to be another Wayne Gretzky," Crosby said recently. "But it's always been a compliment when the comparison has been there, and it's something that motivates you as a player to do well."

Crosby finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 2005-06 to Washington forward Alexander Ovechkin, who could have been a rookie in 2004-05 if not for the lockout that wiped out the season. Now, the two have become an NHL version of Magic and Bird.

They shared a podium Monday at an All-Star news conference. Asked who should be the league MVP, Ovechkin immediately offered Crosby and then looked over at him.

"I couldn't tell you," Crosby replied, ever diplomatic. "There are too many guys. I mean, the best answer would be Ovechkin right now, right?"

For all his gifts and goals, Ovechkin is the latest talented European winger. He's Pavel Bure 2.0 or Jaromir Jagr with a splash of Teemu Selanne. Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk plays a similar game.

But Crosby has always been unique. Growing up near Halifax, Nova Scotia, he was destined to skate, shoot and dominate older competition. He conducted his first sit-down interview at age 7 and had an agent at 13. He already has major endorsement deals with Reebok and Gatorade, among other companies.

By the time he went No. 1 in the 2005 draft, Crosby was a household name in Canada. He has done his best to justify the hype, becoming the youngest player to record 100 points in an NHL season.

"We had the chance in New Jersey to play him in his first NHL game," said New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur, who tonight will play in his ninth All-Star Game. "Right away, this guy is the real deal. You know he's going to be something different. I think this year he's even better.

"Last year, he had problems with the referees a little bit. He was yapping a lot. Now it seems like he's put everything together."

Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier was a No. 1 overall pick and has already led his team to a Stanley Cup.

"It's weird that he's 19 years old," said Lecavalier, 26. "He's so good. You would think he's a 30-year-old in his prime."

Yet he remains a teenager. Crosby lives with the Lemieux family, more The Fonz staying with the Cunninghams than Dennis Rodman hanging with Mark Cuban.

"He's there; that's the biggest part," Crosby said. "He's there, if I have any questions. He makes that clear."

Some have questioned the NHL's attempt to market Crosby and Ovechkin over a host of other young talents. But the attention will come anyway. Crosby could be the person who introduces another U.S. generation to hockey, like Gretzky.

A search of YouTube revealed 281 video highlights and tributes to Crosby. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league is merely reacting to what Crosby has done.

"Nothing is more important than performance," Bettman said. "The fact you're dealing with somebody who's a good person, who is personable and outgoing, is a real plus, obviously.

"But the performance on the ice is really going to define his career."

E-mail ccarlton@dallasnews.com