ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Thursday, October 9, 2008
A new DVD marketing Penguins star Sidney Crosby as the face of the NHL gives fans an off-ice look at the 21-year-old during last season's run to the Stanley Cup finals.
Among other tidbits, "On Ice and Beyond" shows Crosby as someone who is polite to a fault, avoids chocolate chip cookies during training camp - even those baked by a fan - and is undaunted by expectations the team faces after falling just short of a Stanley Cup.
Fans "expect us to go far every year, so I don't think (the expectations) change," Crosby told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday.
The DVD mentions the increased expectations for this season, but Crosby said that doesn't intimidate him.
"Individually, I have high expectations for myself and as a team we have high expectations so I don't think the outside expectations will get to us because we expect a lot of ourselves as it is," Crosby said.
The only thing that really bothe rs Crosby about last season's story line is the ending, when the Penguins lost to the Red Wings in six games.
The Penguins got off to a slow start, gelled and went on a winning streak just as Crosby was sidelined for two months with a high-ankle sprain. He returned in the playoffs as the Penguins made their first Stanley Cup final since 1992.
"The NHL followed our team around all last year, and myself, and it turned out really nice," Crosby said of the DVD. "It's kind of a roller coaster year so a lot of different things happened."
The DVD makes much of Pittsburgh's blue-collar past, with shots of its rusted, shuttered steel mills. It also has fun with the Penguins' efforts to market their up-and-coming team filled with other young stars, including Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
One segment shows Crosby delivering season tickets to fans at their homes - something the club has done the past two years. One season ticket holder offers Crosby chocolate chip cookies - which he politely refuses - and marvels that he was polite enough to remove his shoes before coming in.
The fan is also savvy enough to appreciate Crosby's penchant for fitness and offers him a backup batch of cookies: oatmeal, made with whole grain flour.
Penguins fans also will appreciate the fact that Crosby still lives with team owner Mario Lemieux, who once said during his playing career that his offseason training regimen consisted of skipping the French fries on his steak salads once August rolled around.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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