Sidney Patrick Crosby
Sidney Patrick Crosby was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on August 7, 1987. His father, Troy, was a goaltender drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the 12th round (240th overall) of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. Troy had a short hockey career. Crosby spent most of his childhood in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. He began playing hockey in his basement at the age of two, and began skating at three. It was clear Crosby had exceptional talents as a young child. At the age of seven, he gave his first newspaper interview. In his basement he destroyed his mother’s clothes dryer by shooting pucks at it.
At the age of twelve, while playing for the Cole Harbour Red Wings, he recorded about 200 points in about 70 games in Peewee AAA hockey. Exact stats are not known. He also recorded 4 (1G 3A) points in 1 game in a Bantam AAA tournament, but the Cole Harbour Hockey Association bared him from playing the remainder of the tournament because he was a Peewee player. When Crosby turned thirteen, the Nova Scotia Minor Hockey Council refused to allow him to play Midget hockey alongside seventeen year olds. His family sued, but lost the case. He went on to score 182 points (86G 96A) for the Red Wings Bantam AAA team.
At fourteen, Crosby appeared on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Hockey Day in Canada. He scored 217 points (106G 111A) for the Dartmouth Subways in Midget AAA that season. He lead the Subways to a second place finish in the Air Canada Cup. He won the MVP award and Top Scorer after scoring 18 points in 5 games. Crosby had become a big star in Canada, called one of the best hockey prospects in history. He was also being compared to Wayne Gretzky.
After a great Midget season, Crosby tried to enter the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He did not get in because the QMJHL did not allow fifteen year olds to play. The same situation happened to Mario Lemieux in the early 1980′s when he tried to enter the QMJHL as a fifteen year old.
After rejection from the QMJHL, Crosby attended Shattuck-Saint Mary’s Boarding School in Minnesota (the same school Ryan Malone attended). While there he scored 72 goals and recorded 90 assists for 162 points in 57 games. He also led the Sabres to the 2002-03 U.S. National Championship.
Crosby was drafted first overall in the 2003 QMJHL Midget Draft by the Rimouski Océanic on June 7, 2003. In his first QMJHL game he scored 1 goal and 2 assists. He was named the QMJHL Player of the Week for the first two weeks of the season. He would later win the honor four more times that season, as well as being named the QMJHL Player of the Month three times. He was named CHL player of the week three times. By season’s end, Crosby led the QMJHL with 135 points (54G 81A) in only 59 regular season games. His 135 points was the most recorded by a sixteen year old in QMJHL history, and the second most in CHL history (Gretzky had 182 points in 64 games with Sault Ste. Marie in 77-78). Crosby recorded 16 points (7G 9A) in nine playoff games. Crosby’s awards that season included the RDS/JVC Trophy (QMJHL Rookie of the Year), the Michel Briere Trophy (the QMJHL’s MVP), the Jean Béliveau Trophy (League Leading Scorer Prospect), the Paul Dumont Trophy (Personality of the Year), Michel Bergeron Trophy (QMJHL Offensive Rookie of the Year), QMJHL Offesnsive Player of the Year, CHL Rookie of the Year, CHL Player of the Year, CHL Leading Scorer, the Canada Post Cup. Crosby was named to the QMJHL All-Rookie Team and the QMJHL First All-Star Team.
On December 28, 2003, he became the youngest player to score a goal at the Ice Hockey World Junior Championships. He was 16 years, 4 months, and 21 days old at the time. He went on to scored 2 goals and 3 assists in six games leading Team Canada to a Silver Medal at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Crosby was the fifth 16-year old to represent Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships. Jay Bouwmeester, Jason Spezza, Eric Lindros, and Wayne Gretzky also accomplished the feat previously.
After a great rookie Junior season, Sidney Crosby was the first pick in the World Hockey Association draft. The WHA was a new league looking to fill the void the NHL lockout created. Crosby turned down the league’s three year, $7.5 million offer to play for the Hamilton franchise. He claimed he was not ready to leave junior hockey yet.
Crosby continued to dominate the QMJHL in his second season. Crosby led the Océanic to a record undefeated streak of 28 games. Crosby scored 66 goals and recorded 102 assists for 168 points in 62 games. His 2.71 points per game average during the season was the second highest points per game average in the history of the Canadian Hockey League (Mario Lemieux had 4.03 ppg with Laval in 83-84). His 54-point margin in winning the CHL scoring title was the fourth largest margin in CHL history (Lemieux – 112 pts in 83-84, Rob Brown – 66 pts in 86-87, Guy Lafleur – 65 pts in 70-71). Crosby also led the QMJHL playoffs in scoring with 31 points (14G and 17A) in 13 games, leading Rimouski to the QMJHL championship and a birth in the Memorial Cup, where they fell in the last game to the London Knights. He recorded 11 points (6G and 5A) in five games during the Memorial Cup. Crosby was named CHL Player of the Week five times. He once again was a QMJHL First Team All-Star, and won the Michel Briere Trophy, Jean Béliveau Trophy, Paul Dumont Trophy, QMJHL Offensive Player of the Year, CHL Player of the Year, CHL Leading Scorer, and the Canada Post Cup for the second year in a row. Crosby also won the Mike Bossy Trophy (Best Professional Prospect), Guy Lafleur Trophy (Playoff MVP), Ed Chynoweth Trophy (Memorial Cup Leading Scorer), and was selected to the Memorial Cup All-Star Team.
Crosby finished his two-year career in the Canadian Hockey League with the second best points per game average in CHL history with a 2.51 points per game average (Mario Lemieux had 2.81 ppg) and posted a +127 rating in 121 career regular season games with Rimouski.
Crosby won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2005 World Junior Hockey Championships in Grand Forks, ND. He tied for seventh in scoring at the World Juniors with nine points (6 goals and 3 assists) in six games. Crosby stated that his most memorable hockey moment was winning the 2005 World Junior Championship. He was the only player under the age of 18 to be invited to join the Canadian Junior Hockey Team that season. Despite the physical wear of the tournament, and the guarantee of his 1st overall selection, Crosby attended the NHL prospect combine. There, he impressed scouts, particularly with his personality and self-assurance.
During his amateur years, Crosby caught the attention of several journalists and other players, including Wayne Gretzky. When Gretzky was asked if he thought anyone could break his records, he answered that Sidney Crosby could, and added that Crosby was the best player he had seen since Mario Lemieux.
Due to the 2004-05 NHL Lockout, the 2005 NHL Entry Draft was conducted via a weighted lottery based on each team’s playoff appearances and draft lottery victories during the previous four seasons. The lottery system led to the draft being called the Sidney Crosby Lottery or the Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes. On July 22, 2005, upon ratification of its new CBA, the NHL held its first ever league wide draft lottery. The Pittsburgh Penguins won the right to the first overall pick. The Penguins selected Crosby as the first overall selection on July 30, 2005. It was the third time the Penguins have selected first overall in the Entry Draft (Mario Lemieux in 84, Marc-Andre Fleury in 03). Being drafted to the Penguins gave Crosby the opportunity to play alongside Mario Lemieux, one of the greatest players in the history of the NHL.
Crosby made one of the most highly anticipated NHL debuts on October 5, 2005, against the New Jersey Devils at the Continental Airlines Arena. He registered an assist on the team’s first goal of the season, scored on a power-play by Mark Recchi. The Penguins lost the game 5-1. After recording assists in each of his first two games, Crosby beat goaltender Hannu Toivonen to score his first career NHL goal on a second period power-play in the third game of the season. The goal gave the Penguins a 6-4 lead against the Bruins. Crosby finished with a goal and two assists.
On Thursday, November 4, Crosby recorded his first two goal game against the Islanders in a 5-1 win. Both of his goals were assisted by Lemieux. Sidney also put up an assist for a three point night. This performance came just after receiving recognition as the October Rookie of the month. On November 7, Crosby scored his first goal in Madison Square Garden. Three days later he scored a shootout winning goal, on home ice, against the Montreal Canadiens (Crosby’s favorite team growing up). The 18 year old sensation scored the deciding shoot out goal on a backhand shot, roofing the puck past goaltender Jose Theodore, sending the net minder’s water bottle skyward and the Mellon Arena crowd into a frenzy.
Just six days later, in Philadelphia, he was high sticked by the Flyers’ Derian Hatcher during regulation play, cutting his lip and chipping his two front teeth. The shot only seemed to motivate and inspire Crosby, as he scored the game winning goal against Antero Niittymak in sudden death overtime to defeat the rival Flyers. Crosby scored his 10th career goal four nights later against the Flyers.
Then, on November 22, Crosby took part in the first head-to-head matchup between himself and Washington Capitals rookie superstar, Alexander Ovechkin. Sidney scored a first period goal in which he split two Capital defensemen, and then closed in on goaltender Olaf Kolzig, beating the Washington goaltender with a backhand move very similar to the one which beat Montreal’s Theodore just days prior. The Penguins won the game 5-4.
On December 16, 2005, Michel Therrien named Crosby as an alternate captain for the Penguins. The move drew criticism from some hockey pundits, including Don Cherry, who claimed that Crosby had done nothing to earn the title. Crosby and Lemieux skated together that same day for the last time, collaborating to set up a third period goal by Palffy. Lemieux was forced to retire January 25, 2006 after being diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat.
Crosby scored the game winning overtime goal against the Rangers on New Years Eve. Two days later he made his Canadian debut. Facing the Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre, Crosby made an amazing behind the back pass to set up a Sergei Gonchar goal. The next day he scored to goals in a win in Montreal. On January 7, Crosby’s 2 assists extended his point streak to 10 games, in which he scored eight goals and nine assists. On January 25, the same day Lemieux announced his retirement, Crosby scored a goal and recorded 3 assists in an 8-1 victory against Ovechkin and the Capitals. Crosby was not named to Canada’s Olympic team. Following the Olympic break, he responded to this by racking up 37 points in 23 games once play resumed on March 1.
On April 13, 2006, Crosby broke Mario Lemieux’s rookie assist record, during a win over the New York Rangers. Lemieux recorded 57 assists in his rookie year and Crosby went on to tally 63 assists by the end of his first season. Six days later after breaking Lemieux’s rookie assist record he scored his 102th point, 2 ahead of Lemieux’s 1984-85 rookie record. He fought through a nagging injury in his final five games, but still managed to rack up 11 points to complete his record-setting surge over the 100-point mark. Crosby is the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points in a single season, and only the seventh rookie ever to hit the benchmark. The NHL’s previous standard for 100 points by an 18-year-old was set by Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk, who scored his 100th point at the age of 18 years, 354 days. Crosby beat him by a significant margin – 101 days. In addition, Crosby tied Joe Juneau for fifth place in NHL rookie scoring. Juneau had 102 points in 84 games in the 1992-93 season.
He finished the season sixth over all in the league scoring race and seventh in the NHL in assists. His stellar rookie performance earned him a nomination for the Calder trophy, awarded to the leagues best rookie. He finished second in Calder Memorial Trophy voting behind Alexander Ovechkin whom scored 50 goals. Crosby was named to the NHL’s All-Rookie Team June 22, 2006.
Through his first season, Crosby was accused by some opposing players and coaches of taking dives and complaining to officials, which has been attributed to his youth. He became the first rookie to earn 100 penalty minutes and 100 points in the same season, which magnified his reputation for complaining to NHL officials. Hockey analyst Kelly Hrudey compared Crosby to Gretzky, who had a similar reputation as a “whiner” in his youth, and suggested that as Crosby matured, he would mellow out and his reputation would fade.
In his first season, Crosby captivated fans around the world. His impact was felt especially in Pittsburgh as the Penguins led the NHL in increased attendance for 2005-06.
Because the Pittsburgh Penguins failed to make the playoffs during the 2006 season Crosby was able to represent Team Canada once again on the international scene. From May 5 to May 21, 2006, he participated World Championships in Latvia, where he became the youngest player ever to win a World Championship scoring title at the tournament and was named the top forward with 16 points in nine games for Canada. He tallied a tournament-best eight goals and eight assists in nine games. Also, Crosby was named to the competition’s All-Star Team.
Sidney Crosby continued to rewrite the NHL record books in his second season. On October 28, 2006, Crosby recorded his first hat trick in an 8-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Crosby took the first shot of the game for the Pittsburgh Penguins and scored the goal during the first period to tie the game. During the second period he scored two more goals. Crosby stole the puck off of Darrien Hatcher’s stick for the final goal of the hat. His success against the Flyers continued as just over six weeks later, on December 13, he recorded his first six point game of his career (one goal, five assists). Crosby’s six points accelerated him into first place of the NHL scoring race with a total of 47 points (15 goals, 32 assists) to surpass veteran Jaromir Jagr of The New York Rangers (44 points). Wayne Gretzky was the first teenager in history to ever lead the NHL in points, Sidney Crosby became the second.
He followed it up with four points Dec. 15 against the New York Islanders to become only the third teenager in NHL history to record 10-or-more points over a span of two team games. Gretzky did it in February 1980 and Los Angeles’ Jimmy Carson in March 1988. Both Gretzky and Carson had 10 points in two games.
Sidney Crosby Named NHL’s Third Star For December 2006 on Tuesday January 2, 2007. That same day, in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Sidney Crosby scored 2 goals and notched an assist becoming the first player of the 2006-07 NHL season to reach 60 points. The Penguins won the game 3-0. Five days later, on January 7, Crosby scored an amazing goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Mark Recchi took the puck into the Lightning zone on a 2 on 1 breakaway with Crosby. Recchi passed the puck to Crosby who was to the left of goaltender Johan Holmqvist. Crosby laid out on the ice, and reached out with his stick to deflect the puck in the net. On January 29, Crosby scored another highlight goal, this time in Phoenix. Crosby backhanded the puck passed goaltender Mikael Tellqvist while falling backwards.
During the six week online voting process for the 55th NHL All Star Game, hockey fans gave Sidney Crosby 825,783 votes to start, as center for the Eastern Conference. Joe Thornton came in second with 663,931 votes. The only player to ever receive more votes for the NHL All Star Game was Jaromir Jagr with 1,020,736 back in the year 2000. At 19 years, five months, Crosby was the youngest player voted to start the All-Star Game since fan balloting began in 1986. Crosby broke the record for youngest player ever voted in as a starter set by Jaromir Jagr. Jagr, elected to the Prince of Wales Conference lineup for the 1992 All-Star Game in Philadelphia, was 19 years 11 months old.
On March 10, in a game against the New York Rangers, Sidney Crosby scored the game tying power play goal during the third period sending the game into overtime. Sidney Crosby missed the overtime because he was in the dressing room fixing equipment problems. However, he heard the home crowd go wild when team mate Colby Armstrong scored the overtime winner. At 19 years and 207 days old, Crosby’s tying goal was his 200th NHL career point making him the youngest player in history to reach two 100 points seasons. Sidney Crosby beat Wayne Gretzky at this by 140 days in age. He is the fifth Pittsburgh player to deliver back-to-back 100-point seasons. The others were Lemieux, Paul Coffey, Kevin Stevens and Jagr. Crosby recorded 132 points (49 goals and 83 assists) through his first 100 games. It is the second highest total for any active NHL player. Teemu Selanne had 152 points in his first 100 games.
Less than a week later, on March 16, Crosby scored another highlight-reel goal. This time it was against the Canadiens. Crosby took the puck into the Montreal’s zone, split four Canadiens, dove while shooting the puck pass goaltender David Aebishcher.
Crosby finished the 2006–07 NHL season with 36 goals and 84 assists in 79 games. At age 19 years, eight months, Crosby became the youngest player in NHL history to win the Art Ross Trophy as the scoring champion with 120 points in 79 games. And, Crosby is the youngest scoring champion in any major professional sport. He is the only teenager to win the Art Ross Trophy in league history. The next-youngest was Wayne Gretzky, who won the title at 20 years and 3 months of age at the conclusion of the 1980-81 season. His two-season total of 220 points is the fifth-highest total in NHL history for a player in his first two seasons behind Gretzky (301), Peter Stastny (248), Lemieux (241) and Kent Nilsson (224). Crosby joins Evgeni Malkin to give the Penguins the overall points leader and rookie points leader. The last NHL team to finish a season with both was the 1959-60 Blackhawks. Bobby Hull won the Art Ross Trophy and Bill Hay led all rookies in points.It marked the 12th time in the past 19 season that a Penguins player has won the Art Ross Trophy. Mario Lemieux won the title six times while Jaromir Jagr claimed it on five occasions.
In his Stanley Cup playoffs debut, Crosby became the fourth teenager in NHL history to score a goal in each of the first three postseason games of his career. The others were Wendel Clark (four games, 1986 Maple Leafs), Paul Coffey (three games, 1981 Oilers) and Glen Wesley (three games, 1988 Bruins). The Penguins were eliminated by the Senators in 5 games.
Crosby received 91 of 143 first-place votes for 1,225 points in Hart Trophy voting by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks, who tallied 25 first-place votes and 801 points, was runner-up.At 19 years, 10 months, Crosby is the second-youngest Hart Trophy winner in the history of the award, which was introduced in 1924. 
Wayne Gretzky was 19 years, 5 months old in 1979-80 when he captured the first of eight consecutive Hart Trophies with the Edmonton Oilers.
Crosby surpassed a 21-year-old Gretzky in 1981-82 as the youngest Pearson winner. Crosby also represents the Penguins’ third Pearson recipient (Lemieux, Jagr), which ties them with the New York Rangers (Ratelle, Messier, Jagr) as the only two clubs to have three players win the Pearson in their respective jerseys. His 48 power play assists this season tied for the fifth-highest season total in Penguins history. His 61 power-play points are the sixth-highest season total on the Penguins’ all-time list.
Crosby was selected as Sporting News NHL Player of the Year and to the publication’s NHL all-star team. In addition, The Hockey News selected Crosby for its two most prestigious individual awards – as the NHL’s Best Player and MVP. Sidney Crosby received the Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year award in 2007, becoming the youngest recipient in the 71-year history of the prestigious charity event. Also, Crosby has been named the top sports figure in a Time.com survey on the most influential people of the year. Crosby finished in a seven-way tie for second place overall with 85,835 votes, the eighth-highest total in the survey.
On May 31, 2007, Crosby was named Penguins captain. At 19 years, nine months (297 days), he is the youngest team captain in NHL history. Previously, the youngest captain in NHL history was Tampa Bay’s Vincent Lecavalier, who was named captain in March, 2000, at age 19 years, 10 months (324 days). Crosby Was offered the Captain title January of the previous season, but he declined the offer saying he wasn’t ready and not wanting to cause a distraction during his team’s playoff push. Crosby signed a five-year $43.5 million dollar ($8.7 million/year) contract extension with the Penguins on July 10, 2007, ensuring he will stay with the Penguins through the 2012–13 season.
Crosby’s third season had its ups and downs, but certainly was not short of outstanding moments. Crosby started the season with a 19-game point streak from Oct. 6th through Nov. 17th, scoring 11 goals, 19 assists for 30 points; it was the longest point streak this season in the NHL. Teammate Evgeni Malkin had a 14 game streak as well. Crosby recorded a four-point game Oct. 30th at Minnesota (1g-3a-4pts), the eighth four-point game of his career.
Crosby recorded his first Gordie Howe hat trick on December 20, 2007 in a game against the Boston Bruins. His first assist came 55 seconds into the first period. At 8:26 of the same period, Crosby scored to give the Penguins a 2–0 lead. Five minutes and nine seconds into the second period, Crosby fought Andrew Ference to complete the hat trick.
Crosby beat goaltender Ryan Miller to score the game winning shootout goal in the NHL Winter Classic on January 1, 2008 against the Buffalo Sabres. The outdoor game, played at Ralph Wilson Stadium, was in front of the largest crowd in NHL history, and was the highest rated game in 12 years. Crosby had an assist on the Penguins only regulation goal, scored by Colby Armstrong 21 seconds into the opening period. The Winter Classic was the second NHL game played outdoors. The first was the Heritage Classic, played in between the Oilers and Canadiens in 2003.
On January 18, 2008, he suffered a high ankle sprain crashing leg-first into the boards in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was leading the league in points at the time of the injury. He missed the 2008 All-Star Game. After missing 21 games, he returned on March 4 against the Lightning and earned an assist. He also played in the two games following the win over the Lightning. After these games, he felt his ankle was not up to shape and decided that he needed more time for it to heal. Crosby sat out of the Penguins’ next seven games and returned on March 27, 2008 to help the Penguins defeat the New York Islanders 3–1.He recorded a three-point (2g, 1a) game on April 2 in a win against the Flyers. Crosby finished the season with 24 goals, 48 assists and 72 points, in only 53 games. He ranked second on the team in points (72), third in assists (48) and fifth in goals (24) this season. He led the team with a +18 rating. He had a face-off percentage of 51.4% in 53 games played. He also recorded at least one point in 43 of 53 games and has 24 multi-point games this season.
Crosby lead the Penguins to a first round sweep in the playoffs in 2008, against the Senators. He scored the game winning goal in game three, just 12 seconds into the third period. It was the fastest goal scored to start a period in Penguins playoff history. He recorded two points (1g, 1a) and won 13 of 25 (52%) faceoffs in Game 4 vs. Ottawa. Crosby lead the Penguins past the Rangers in round 2 in five games. He posted two assists in Game 1 vs. New York including an assist on the game-winning goal, as the Penguins overcame a 3-0 deficit. Crosby recorded two assists including on the game-winning overtime goal in Game 5 vs. the Rangers. After defeating the Rangers, Crosby led the Penguins to another 5 game series, this time defeating the Flyers to become Eastern Conference Champs. The Penguins lost to the Detroit Red Wings in 6 games in the Stanley Cup Finals. Crosby had 6 points in the series, highlighted in his Game 3 performance when he scored the first 2 goals of the series for the Pens, in a 3-2 win. Crosby lead the playoffs in points, with 27 in 20 games.
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1. Sidney Crosby scores 4 po&hellip | December 1, 2011 at 12:33 am
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