CROSBY IS A FINALIST FOR CALDER MEMORIAL TROPHY

From PittsburghPenguins.com:

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Penguins rookie Sidney Crosby will find out Thursday if he is the winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy, as voted by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.

Crosby completed a phenomenal rookie season by becoming the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points - and by breaking the team’s rookie scoring record set by Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux.

Crosby finished the season with 39 goals and 63 assists for 102 points in 81 games.

Among Crosby’s achievements this season:

* Youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points

* Ranks second in NHL history in points scored before his 19th birthday (second to Dale Hawerchuk, 103 points for Winnipeg in 1981-82)

* Ranks second in NHL history in points scored by players who broke into the NHL in the year they were drafted (second to Hawerchuk, 103)

* Set a Pittsburgh Penguins rookie scoring record with 102 points, breaking Mario Lemieux’s mark of 100 (1984-85)

* Set a Pittsburgh Penguins rookie record for assists with 63, breaking Lemieux’s mark of 57

* Became the seventh rookie in NHL history to score 100 points

* Became the first rookie in NHL history to compile 100 points and 100 penalty minutes

* Ranked sixth in the NHL in scoring

* Ranked seventh in the NHL in assists

* Ranked third among Canadian-born NHL players in scoring (trailing only Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley)

The other finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy are Calgary Flames defensemen Dion Phaneuf(boo!) and Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin (hiss). The winner will be announced on Thursday during the 2006 NHL Awards Television Special in Vancouver.