Crosby shows he can take care of himself

Superstar more like Howe than Gretzky

Feb 12, 2007 04:30 AM

Garth Woolsey

The Toronto Star

Wherever he skates, Sidney Crosby leaves records in his wake, ripples of hype that eventually will wash up on the shores of hockey history like so many messages in bottles.

Who, for instance, would have imagined that the Air Canada Centre would announce that The Next One's visit to the Centre of the Hockey Universe (patent pending) would result in an attendance record for hockey there – 19,620?

Where did the extra seats come from, anyway? Was there an extra place setting at the old platinum sushi bar? Did they squeeze a folding chair into some distant nook or cranny?

Who's to say for sure that the extra bodies weren't there to see the pride and joy of Lloydminster, Sask., Crosby's teammate Colby Armstrong? Or that the Wade Balk Fan Club was out in extra February force?

That Crosby is extraordinary is undeniable. He's so good that it hurts, sometimes literally, because opponents have to go to extra lengths to prevent him from making them look more foolish than he already will and can.

They foul him, bait him, accuse him of fakery and still he leads the league in scoring, highlights and that brand of boy-next-door, all-Canadian humility that makes him the next Gretzky.

But it is also obvious that he is no Wayne Gretzky when it comes to the physical side of the game. This notion that he needs the constant presence by his side of a modern-day Dave Semenko doesn't take into account the evolution of the game but more importantly it takes away Crosby's own truculent ability to take care of himself.

He's much closer in strength, stature and demeanour to Gordie Howe than Gretzky. (Gretzky idolized Howe but would be the first to admit he couldn't play hockey with the same, when necessary, brutality and nastiness. Gretzky was the master of avoiding contact, not initiating it. Crosby is willing to do just that when required, although rarely recording the famed Howe hat trick of a goal, assist and fight.)

Mario Lemieux was bigger than any of them, but tolerated all sorts of abuse that it would appear Crosby will not.

Sure, Crosby needs back-up, a presence in the lineup of a nuclear threat or two. But he will also remain the oppositions' target for the rest of his career.

When you play the Pens, don't let Crosby beat you. When you play the Colts, get in Peyton Manning's face. When push comes to shove, there's nothing quite so effective as the Hack-a-Shaq approach.

Chris Bosh meet Rasheed Wallace. C'est la superstar vie.

ADRIFT IN DREAMLAND: So you think you can play soccer alongside David Beckham, eh? Prove it. Not that Beckham was actually there, but the Los Angeles Galaxy on the weekend held open tryouts for spots on the roster that he will be joining later on. The MSL team had to cap the candidates at 800 after receiving responses from around the world. Each paid $130 (U.S.), plus their own way to L.A., and included aspirants from a least a dozen countries, including about 50 from England.

Says Alex Lalas, president of the Galaxy, on the American Idol un-reality of it all: "While there are many folks out there who are delusional about their singing skills that we routinely laugh at, there are also plenty of people who are delusional about their ability on the soccer field.''

There's not much separating a delusion from a dream, is there?

DOT, DOT, DOT: Sidney Crosby and the rest of the NHL's young guns have been getting the headlines this season but the old boys have been delivering, too. Ten of the top 21 scorers are over 30, including: Martin St. Louis, Jaromir Jagr, Ray Whitney, Teemu Selanne, Martin Straka, Rod Brind'Amour, Joe Sakic, Michael Nylander, Vyacheslov Kozlov and Paul Kariya. How about a new all-star format: Over 30s, vs. unders? ... Bill Cosby, the comedian, has a Dandi Dinmont terrier named Harry entered in the Westminster Dog Show, the Super Bowl of the competitive canine world. "The dog breeders and owners are like parents who have kids in soccer games," says the Coz, "swim meets, ice skating, etc. Only the breeders are better behaved." Dog-gone true.