Crosby Makes Impression on Fellow Pens Rookies

Friday, August 12, 2005
By Chuck Finder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Sidney Crosby didn't take long to impress his fellow Penguins rookies.

He needed only to sit down for their first group dinner Wednesday night.
And he arrived late, at that.

"Good guy. Very good guy," said no less an educated source than Harvard man Noah Welch. "I'm turning 23 in a couple of days, and he's, what, just 19?" To be precise, 18 years and five days old. "Just turned? Oh, wow. He's very mature. Comes across like he's 30."

Ryan Stone from Brandon of the Western Hockey League added: "I've seen him before, at Junior World Championships camp and stuff. He's living in the moment, and that's good. A really down-to-earth guy."

Yesterday, Crosby and five other rookies got poked and prodded at the UPMC Sports Performance Complex on the South Side.

The Downtown private dinner for eight -- Crosby, who was delayed passing through immigration, plus Stone, Welch, former Harvard defenseman Ryan Lannon, Peterborough center Jordan Morrison, Shawinigan defenseman Jean-Philippe Pacquet, coach Eddie Olczyk and Mario Lemieux-- was all the talk of the rookies in town for a three-day orientation. First of all, Lemieux picked up the tab. Secondly, even the meal impressed Stone, from beef-rich Alberta. "One of the best steaks I ever had," he said. Welch added, "I'll probably never have another steak until I go back there."

The meaty issue of the rookies' first Pittsburgh foray is all Crosby all the time. Once again, a gaggle of cameras and reporters with microphones and notepads gathered around the first-overall pick at the South Side complex. The other five stood with an occasional interviewer, mostly asking what the Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, kid is really like.

Crosby handled the assemblage -- it also included three Canadian television networks (Sportsnet, TSN and The Score) -- with aplomb and diplomacy.

His first view of his new city through the Fort Pitt Tunnels: "It was a great sight."

His first-love NFL team: "I've always been a Steelers fan, actually. I'm not a huge football fan, but definitely growing up the Steelers were one of my favorite teams. I used to like The Bus, Jerome Bettis. I mean, everybody loved him. In Canada, there's not as much coverage of football as there is here, but [I know of] Kordell Stewart, obviously their coach ... I think a lot of people know about him and how intense he is."

His first visit to Lemieux's spacious Sewickley abode, where he might become a rookie resident: Finding a room "won't be a problem."

Crosby hasn't been played in an NHL game -- that starts Oct. 5 at New Jersey -- but he was inserted into a Bod Pod. This egg-shaped device measured the body fat of the six rookies, who also were put through physical examinations testing strength, flexibility, agility, muscle balance, injuries, any existing weaknesses and concussion baselines. Today, they will have cardiovascular testing on a stationary bike and then receive an individualized exercise regimen for the start of training camp.

UPMC physical therapist Brian Hagen declined to release test data but added of the famed Crosby trunk that began weight-training at 13: "He's impressive, I'll tell you that."

NOTES -- Winger Konstantin Koltsov apparently agreed to a $627,000 contract for this season, far below his $817,950 qualifying offer. Center Shane Endicott was re-signed to a multiyear contract, believed to be a two-way deal for an NHL salary of $643,720. Eight tendered players still have not completed deals. Unsigned qualifying offers expire Monday. ... Paul Corbeil, agent to goaltender Sebastien Caron, said his client wasn't surprised to hear the Penguins traded for No. 1 netminder Jocelyn Thibault: "He seems to be comfortable with it. Jocelyn is a nice person. Everybody says Marc-Andre Fleury will play in the NHL this year [as Thibault's backup]. We need to see what happens at camp."

(Chuck Finder can be reached at cfinder@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1724.)

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