The Crosby file
* Will turn 18 years old on Aug. 7.
* 5-foot-10, 193 pounds, native of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
* Plus/minus with Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team Rimouski Oceanic was plus-78 in 2004-05. Scored 66 goals and 102 assists in 62 games. Led the team to the Memorial Cup final.
* Has already signed endorsement contracts with Reebok (reportedly for five years, $2.5 million) and Gatorade (reportedly the richest deal a hockey player has ever signed with the company)
* Scored 148 goals and 214 assists over 148 games as a 16- and 17-year-old junior.
* QMJHL and Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year and CHL's leading scorer both years of junior hockey.
* Helped Canada to a silver medal in 2004 and gold in 2005 at the World Junior Championship.
By Karen Price
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, July 23, 2005
There are the things people say about Sidney Crosby's play on the ice, comparing him to players such as Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Peter Forsberg.
There are the stories about what he's like off the ice -- so mature for his years that it's like he's 17 going on 35, and incredibly down to earth. When fans of his junior team, the Rimouski Oceanic, lined up overnight for playoff tickets this year, Crosby hand-delivered coffee and doughnuts.
And now that the Penguins won the draft lottery Friday and will select Crosby with the first overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft on July 30, there are already headlines that read "Steel City Savior," furthering comparisons to Lemieux and resting the future of the franchise on Crosby's 17-year-old shoulders.
But what impressed Penguins head scout Greg Malone during the team's interview with Crosby at the combine last month in Toronto was his answer to a question about handling the immense pressure already on him.
"He said, 'How many people would love to be in my shoes? I'm ready to accept the challenge,' " Malone said. "That line there probably was the thing that threw him over the top. He knows what he's gotten himself into, but he's accepted it because he's worked hard to put himself in this position.¨
And he's done it, say those who've watched him play over the years, under a tremendous amount of pressure as a player who's been hyped since before he entered junior hockey in 2003-04 as hockey's next great superstar.
"(Opposing players) beat him, they chopped him, they did everything to him," said one of his representatives, Dee Rizzo, who lives in the Greenfield section of Pittsburgh. "They cross-checked him from behind, they slashed him in the face and he never whined about it. He overcame all that."
Crosby, 5-foot-10, 193 pounds, turns 18 on Aug. 7. A native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, he led the Canadian Hockey League in scoring during both of his years in the league, and was a two-time Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Player of the Year and CHL Player of the Year.
In 148 games as a 16-and 17-year-old, he scored 148 goals and 214 assists for 362 points.
He's known as a play-making centerman who can also score, someone who's quick on his skates, knows what's going to happen seconds before anyone else on the ice and isn't afraid to go in the corners or throw his weight around.
Still, the comparisons to Gretzky and Lemieux might seem a bit much for a player who has yet to pull on an NHL sweater. Even Malone, who said that after winning the lottery he now knows how it feels to win a couple million dollars, wasn't ready to pin such titles on Crosby just yet.
Close, though.
"It all depends on how you look at him and where you set the bar for him," Malone said. "If you set it way out there like the next Gretzky, he may come under the bar. Set it as the next true superstar, he'll probably hit the bar. Is he the next Mario? I'm not ready to say he's the next Mario right now. But who knows how far he can take his team? He could take it to that level or he could fall a little short where he's a true superstar like Mark Messier.
"But as far as being a first-rounder and first overall and doing what he's supposed to, I'd bet my mortgage on it that he's going to reach his peak."
Crosby took everything in stride yesterday, despite hype that included Canadian network TSN doing a half-hour selection show devoted entirely to him and the NHL setting up a satellite truck in his front yard in order for him to do interviews.
"He was nervous," said agent Pat Brisson, who was with Crosby and his family. "It all made for quite a lot of excitement. But to end up in Pittsburgh is a blessing. It's an opportunity to start his career with one of the best athletes in all of sports, someone who's been there, done that who could help him, guide him and protect him. It's a great situation."
Lemieux, who trained with Crosby last summer in Los Angeles, was equally as enthusiastic about the idea of Crosby playing alongside him.
"He's just a great person and a great hockey player," Lemieux said. "He's very strong on his skates, sees the ice very well and anticipates the play as well as I've seen a young kid do throughout my career. He's a great player."
Lemieux also didn't seem too concerned about the pressure possibly overwhelming the young phenom.
"There's always a lot of pressure for the first pick overall, but I think he's been dealing with pressure for probably his whole career," Lemieux said. "He's kind of used to it by now. What makes a great player great is they're able to deal with it and perform better under a lot of pressure. That's what he's been able to do his whole career. I don't think that's going to affect him."
Although Crosby grew up a fan of the Montreal Canadiens and has long said it would be a dream to play for them, Rizzo said Pittsburgh was on the list, too.
"Last month we were eating lunch in Toronto, and I said, 'Between you and I, what are your top five choices of cities?' " Rizzo said. "Pittsburgh was one of them."
Rizzo said that with the approval of Lemieux's wife Nathalie, he'd love to see the young Crosby find a home in the Lemieux household.
"That's going to be up to Sidney, obviously, to decide that," Lemieux said. "But we're going to be taking care of him. Whatever he needs to make him feel more comfortable, we'll be there for him."
Karen Price can be reached at kprice@tribweb.com.
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