By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Call them souvenirs lost.
When Sidney Crosby scored for Canada against the United States in overtime of the Olympic hockey final Sunday in Vancouver, he swooped behind the net, reached for his mouth guard, then threw that, his gloves and his stick to the heavens.
"When they cleared the ice, I never got my stick or gloves," Mr. Crosby said Tuesday after rejoining his Penguins teammates. "Of all the things, I got my mouth guard back. I don't know where [the other equipment] is. It's one of those things that I don't know how it got away or where it ended up. If I get it back one day, great. If not, someone's got it somewhere."
Matt Freed/Post-Gazette
Sidney Crosby, right, acknowledges the crowd next to teammate Sergei Gonchar as they are introduced as Olympians before the start of the game against Buffalo Tuesday night.
Other than the molded plastic mouth guard, Mr. Crosby didn't exactly come back empty-handed.
There was that gold medal, the most recent symbol of his latest larger-than-life accomplishment.
Mr. Crosby, who became the youngest NHL captain to lift the Stanley Cup last summer, brought his gold medal to Mellon Arena Tuesday morning to show the Penguins as they gathered for their morning skate.
Asked what could possibly be next after winning a Cup and a gold before his 23rd birthday, Mr. Crosby thought for a second, shrugged slightly and said softly, "Another one."
Whether he will aim for another gold medal in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, is in question -- not because he has any hesitation in playing for Team Canada again, but because the NHL has not committed to continued cooperation with the Olympics.
Mr. Crosby wouldn't go as far as some of the Russian NHL players in vowing to participate in 2014, even if that means defying the league or his pro team.
"I'd love to be there," he said. "You look at the experience I had, everybody had. It was an amazing event. It was great for hockey. The fact that it was Canada-U.S. was awesome. It was watched everywhere. I think all hockey fans in general enjoyed it.
"I can't see them not going. I really don't know what's going to happen, but, after what we experienced and I think what the fans experienced, I don't see any reason why we wouldn't go."
Success seems to follow Mr. Crosby, but he's not sure that's how he wants people to view him. Nevertheless, he's not complaining about the results.
"You want to be a winner, for sure," he said. "I think there are other things that define people besides championships. But, as a player, that's what you play for. That's what you work toward. You put everything you can into working hard so you can have those opportunities."
The next opportunity would be to help the Penguins attempt to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. That march began quickly on the heels of the Olympics, with a home game Tuesday night against Buffalo.
That means Mr. Crosby and other NHL players who had long runs in the Olympics have little time to put that tournament into perspective.
"The whole experience was great," said Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik, who was on the losing end of that 3-2 game Sunday and earned a silver medal. "Obviously, not the outcome we wanted. We get going here in Pittsburgh right away, so it probably won't happen until after the season when the dust settles that I think about it."
They got a rousing reminder when the Penguins honored the Olympians from both teams before the game last night. For the Penguins, that included Mr. Crosby, Mr. Orpik, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who was the third-string goaltender for Canada, and Russia's Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar, along with Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller (U.S.), coach Lindy Ruff (Canadian assistant), Henrik Tallinder (Sweden), Toni Lydman (Finland, bronze medal), Andrej Sekera (Slovakia) and Jochen Hecht (Germany).
The only smudge was a smattering of boos mixed with cheers when a clip of Mr. Crosby scoring to beat the U.S. was shown on the video board.
Mr. Miller, the Olympic tournament MVP, got one of the loudest ovations for a visiting player you would ever hear, and, at the end of the introductions, there was a short chant of "USA, USA" from the crowd.
"That would be a first," Mr. Miller said earlier in the day when asked about the possibility of a warm reception. "I usually hear my name in other ways.
"It is nice that the Olympics can help bring that out in the crowds here in the NHL because, especially out on the East Coast, you hear [taunting] a lot, and up in Canada, they like to give you a hard time. It would be nice to have a crowd appreciate your effort when you're on the road.
"But I think that's what's good about hockey fans-- they enjoy a good hockey game. It's not just about one team all the time. It's about the sport. It's nice that the U.S. really tuned in for it."
Mr. Ruff took more notice of what the quality of play in the Olympics said about the NHL, which supplied all the players for the gold-medal game.
"The two-week experience -- the hockey that was played, how great the games were, how exciting it turned out, how tight the last game was -- it just tells what a tight league we have," he said. "You look at the U.S.-Canada matchup, there's not lot of difference there."
Mr. Ruff was one of the seemingly few people in North America who didn't watch the puck cross the goal line in overtime Sunday.
"I didn't see the goal live," he said. "I was getting ready to get two [defensemen] on the ice. It just all of a sudden was in. When I saw a pair of gloves go up, I knew he had scored, but I didn't really see the goal."
Maybe one day, Mr. Crosby will get those gloves back.
on the web
For video from Sidney Crosby's news conference yesterday, visit post-gazette.com
Shelly Anderson: shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721. For more on the Penguins, read the Pens Plus blog with Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson at www.post-gazette.com/plus.
Penguins Plus, a blog by Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson, is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
First published on March 3, 2010 at 12:00 am
What’s a Goal Between Friends?
By SEAN D. HAMILL
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
March 3, 2010
Jeff Swensen for The New York Times
Even though Sidney Crosby (87) put away Team USA with his overtime goal, Penguins fans embraced him upon his return Tuesday.
PITTSBURGH — For Pittsburgh Penguins fans, all is forgiven.
More than 17,000 fans — and more than a few wearing Sidney Crosby’s red-and-white Canadian national team jersey — crammed inside the Igloo and raucously cheered Crosby, Olympic hero and Penguins captain, before Tuesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres.
Team USA’s silver medal was not forgotten, either.
Ryan Miller, the Sabres’ goalie and the most valuable player of the Olympic tournament, was among the Olympians, five from the Sabres and five from the Penguins, who were introduced before the game. When his name was announced thunderous cheers went up, with some fans chanting, “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!”
Miller, who was given the night off, acknowledged the cheers, raising his stick to salute the appreciative fans.
At first, there were some mixed feelings about Crosby. When his overtime goal that gave Canada a 3-2 overtime victory over the United States was replayed on the scoreboard, it prompted boos.
Then, when Crosby was announced, the boos turned to cheers.
Crosby had an assist on the first goal in the Penguins’ 3-2 victory and played about four minutes less than his normal 21 a game.
“I probably could have played more,” he said. “But we had all four lines going and we played a good solid team game.”
Hearing his home fans cheer Miller did not bother Crosby.
”I don’t expect them to be happy to see that,” he said of Canada’s victory. “It’s an American city and proud Americans here, so, either way it’s something I understand.”
Miller said: “It’s nice that the Olympics can help bring that out in the crowds here in the N.H.L. Especially out in the East Coast, you hear it a lot, and up in Canada they like to give you a hard time and it would be nice to hear a crowd appreciate your effort when you’re on the road. But I think that’s what’s good about hockey fans, too. They enjoy a hockey game. It’s not just about one team all the time, it’s about the sport.”
Crosby said N.H.L. players should play in the 2014 Winter Games.
“It was watched everywhere. I think all hockey fans in general enjoyed it,” he said. “So I can’t see them not going. I really don’t know what’s going to happen. But after what we experienced I think what fans experienced, I don’t think there’s any reason why we wouldn’t go.
“I don’t know if you could ever match that,” Crosby said of Canada’s gold medal game. “I think they said 85 percent of the population watched the game. It was fun and obviously there was a lot of pressure, but it was something that I don’t ever think I’ll ever see anything like that again.”
Canadian forward Sidney Crosby (L) talks with U.S. goalie Ryan Miller after Crosby scored on Miller in overtime to give Canada the victory, 3-2, in overtime in the Gold medal game at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, February 28, 2010. (Reuters)
Brooks Orpik, a Penguins defenseman who played an integral role for the United States, said the loss was “deflating,” but tempered by how it happened.
“To be honest, if they were going to beat us I was glad he was the guy who scored,” Orpik said.
Orpik had an emotional counterpart down the hall at Mellon Arena on Tuesday in Miller, who said he still was not over the bitter disappointment.
“We all felt like we could go there and play great hockey,” he said. “It was unfortunate we couldn’t accomplish something a little bit greater.”
Crosby conceded that the physical and mental toll of the Olympics meant he would need to rely on adrenaline and a plan to “keep it simple” on the ice until he and the Penguins catch their breath.
“It’s been a tough couple weeks, a lot of ups and downs,” he said. “When you look at it, we had to win what felt like pretty much four Game 7s in a row to win. So it has been a bit of a roller coaster and I look forward to getting back to the routine here.”
To ease his Olympians back after two tough weeks, Penguins Coach Dan Bylsma did not play goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who was on Canada’s team though he did not see any action. Crosby and Orpik will play reduced minutes for a while.
Beyond the physical and emotional impact of Sunday’s game, Crosby, acknowledged his fame has grown even more, even though he was already the face of the N.H.L. and one of the most recognizable figures in Canada.
“I didn’t think that it could get any busier, I guess, and it probably has,” he said. “I would say that’s safe to say.”
Orpik joked given Crosby’s popularity in Canada, Crosby “probably wants to retire down here like Mario did,” he said in reference to the Penguins’ owner and great Mario Lemieux, who lives in the Pittsburgh area.
As Orpik and Crosby flew back to Pittsburgh, they exchanged stories of playing on their respective teams, what it was like hanging out in the athletes’ village, and clarifying a few hits between them during their preliminary-round game.
“In the first one, he split me wide open with what I thought it was an elbow, and he thought was a shoulder,” Orpik said. “Then I think I got him back towards the end of the game. We had a pretty good laugh about it afterwards.”
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