Most fans didn't care about the Pens, let alone the NHL itself, the year after the lockout. No one in Pittsburgh had heard anything about this kid from Halifax, Nova Scotia. I doubt many people even heard of Halifax. One by one the names of 28 teams were called out and thus stood the once "Mighty" Ducks of Anaheim, and the downtrodden Pittsburgh Penguins. Commissioner Gary Bettman called out the Penguins name to earn them the first pick in the 2005 Entry Draft.
Fast Forward to 2007.
While walking by a basket of assorted magazines and newspapers that had been saved, the sub-title on one of the newspapers read "NHL DRAFT LOTTERY."
After pulling the rest of the newspaper out, a full page picture of Sidney Crosby smiled back at me. The main title under his picture captured the moment perfectly..."JACKPOT...PENS WIN THE RIGHT TO PICK SURE-SHOT SUPERSTAR SIDNEY CROSBY."
After reading the article, the last words stuck out to me. It was a quote from Crosby. In fact it was the only quote from him in the entire article. When asked about the pressure of everything to come, Crosby responded with,
"I'm not worried about that. I put a lot of pressure on myself as it is."
Wow. Anyone could tell that this kid was all business. No Pressure he says? How bout saving a Franchise, and an entire league at the same time? No? How about, being a walking billboard for Reebok in the USA and Gatorade in Canada? Well if he has felt the pressure of all that he sure hasn't shown it. Crosby has become the youngest player to reach 100 and 200 points in a career, and youngest to capture a scoring title, and MVP Title.
By carrying a team and a league on his back, he has taken on the greatest challenge of any player in any sport. As it looks now Crosby has/is doing his job, now its up to the league to advertise the sport better.
2 comments:
i know another individual with similar talents of sid, first name alex last name ovechkin, if he was here and sidney in washington, he ultimately would have had the same effect.
this comment only serves to further the ignorance of idiotic ovechkin fans
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