In his two NHL seasons, Sidney Crosby has more than lived up to the hype, becoming a prolific scorer and one of the faces of the league, all before his 20th birthday.
By Judd Zulgad, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Last update: April 09, 2007 – 4:18 PM
Dominic Moore found himself matched up against Pittsburgh Penguins wunderkind Sidney Crosby on a few occasions last season when Moore was with the New York Rangers. While Moore knew Crosby was a special talent, he didn't realize just how special until Moore joined the Penguins last summer.
"You never know what to expect when you're on the outside looking in, but then coming to Pittsburgh, I was very impressed right from the start," said Moore, who was traded from Pittsburgh to the Wild in February. "Not only with the kind of player he is but the kind of person he is. He's got a lot of character, he's an honest player, he works extremely hard. He wants to do it the right way. It's kind of refreshing to see someone that is having that success but is getting it from an old-fashioned values type thing."
The combination of how Crosby handles himself on and off the ice has made the 19-year-old center one of the NHL's marquee players and marketing tools. Crosby and Washington left winger Alex Ovechkin both can be found in commercials for the league.
"You know, we all love to play, and hopefully we can bring interest to other people watching," said Crosby, the first pick of the 2005 draft. "You know, there's nothing wrong with that, and I think it's good to have a young group like we have and hopefully it can be a successful group for years to come."
That likely will be the case considering that in only his second season, Crosby led the NHL in scoring with 120 points (36 goals, 84 assists) and helped Pittsburgh to its first playoff berth since 2001.
The Penguins have one of the NHL's most exciting young teams, featuring a cast that includes forwards Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal and defenseman Ryan Whitney. Malkin led all rookies in points (85), goals (33) and assists (52) this season and will be among the favorites for the Calder Trophy as the NHL rookie of the year.
But it is Crosby who has been a household name in hockey circles since his early teens. Amid enormous expectations last season, he became the NHL's youngest player to reach the 100-point mark at the age of 18 years, 253 days as he finished with 102 points in 81 games.
Still, many experts agree that Crosby has elevated his game to another level this season. That includes NBC analyst Ed Olczyk, who coached Crosby for the first 31 games of his NHL career before the Penguins fired him.
"I just think he is in much more control of his game than he was early as a pro," Olczyk said. "But you could always tell the talent was just bursting at the seams."
Crosby's success comes as no surprise to Ray Ferraro, a former NHL player now a studio analyst for NBC.
"I've been reading about this kid since he was 15 years old, and every step of the way he's answered the next level of pressure," Ferraro said. "Those of us that are around the game and watch it, we're lucky to be watching him and his career. How many times have we heard, he's the next one, he's the next one? Crosby is the next one."
Judd Zulgad • jzulgad@startribune.com
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