Crosby vs. Ovechkin: The Fashion Files

Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin participated in a recent off-ice photoshoot to show off their typical casual styles.

Sidney Crosby:



Sidney's black shirt with dark blue jeans is a simple combination that can blend in nicely in most situations. It's modest, like Sidney, and doesn't stand out much. It's hard to score any negative points with a simple style like this, other than the fact it might remind you of Simon Cowell.

Alexander Ovechkin:


Ovechkin, on the other hand, can't decide if he's a geeky EMO loser or a rebel "Sk8r Boi". It's obvious that Ovechkin is an attention whore and is trying way too hard to look cool. All that's missing is the iPod. Pull up your frickin pants, son!

Winner: CROSBY - Without even trying, Crosby wins this contest hands down. While Sid may look a tad generic, Ovechkin comes across as a poorly dressed cliche in desperate need of some loving from his mother.

Cross-posted to Hockey Rants

Penguins 3 - Capitals 2: The Streak Continues

14-0-2 has a nice ring to it, eh?

The Penguins extended their points-gained streak with a 3-2 'balanced' win over the Washington Capitals.

Just like the last meeting, Ovechkin and Crosby really didn't steal the show. Ovechkin went pointless, and Crosby had just a lone assist (though he did have 4 shots on goal).

Since I'm sick with the flu, here's the game recap...

From Yahoo! Sports:

Alexander Ovechkin didn't do much offensively, a commonplace event lately. Instead, it was the runner-up Russian who created a goal out of nothing, keeping the Pittsburgh Penguins' most successful stretch in 14 years going.

Evgeni Malkin scored a bad-angle goal to give Pittsburgh the lead in another tightly played game against Washington and the streaking Penguins won their sixth in a row, beating the Capitals 3-2 Sunday.

The Penguins have gained at least a point in 16 consecutive games, going 14-0-2 -- their longest run since they won a league-record 17 in a row and tied one to end the 1992-93 season. The surprise is that NHL scoring leader Sidney Crosby, who has 91 points, is slumping with only one goal in 10 games.

Malkin has keyed the Penguins' first playoff run since 2001 with 10 goals and 16 assists in 17 games. His teammates are convinced that Malkin, the No. 2 pick in the 2004 NHL draft to Ovechkin, is more than a little motivated any time he goes against his Russian rival. It was the first and only time two Russians were picked 1-2.

"They're very competitive, good hockey players and good friends so there's definitely a little bit of something with him," Mark Recchi said.

Of Malkin's 29 goals as a rookie, perhaps none was more creative than his score late in the second period. With the score tied at 1, Malkin carried the puck out from behind the Capitals' net and fed it up the right wing boards to Sergei Gonchar -- at this time a year ago, Malkin's Russian Olympic teammate.

Malkin took Gonchar's giveback pass and, from along the goal line, one-timed a perfectly placed left-handed shot inside the far post, almost before Washington backup goalie Brent Johnson could react.

The goal reminded Recchi of some of those scored by a former Penguins teammate named Mario Lemieux.

"With his size and his hands, Geno looks like him," Recchi said. "Mario was one of those guys who can score from that angle, and only a few guys can. A lot of guys don't even try that."

Malkin, speaking through interpreter George Firman, called it a "lucky goal." But he acknowledged having a little something extra any time he goes against Ovechkin, who was leading the NHL in goals before being held to one goal and one assist in his last seven games.

"Yeah, of course, I'm enjoy playing against him especially when we win the games -- and he's getting pretty mad," Malkin said.

"Cheap Shots on Crosby Going Too Far"

It's all too obvious that Sidney Crosby gets a lot of special attention on the ice.

So, what the hell can be done about it? Anything?

From Chris Bradford of the Beaver County Times:

While becoming the youngest player in NHL history to record 100 points a season ago, Sidney Crosby also became the first player to amass the century mark in points and penalty minutes.

Along the way, the Pittsburgh Penguins' teenage superstar garnered a less-flattering reputation - at least in some corners - as a whiner, a diver, a crybaby and an embellisher.

In hockey circles those claims are serious charges. They are akin to questioning the manhood of the 19-year-old.

Well, Crosby *did* take a lot of diving penalties last year. It's not like the labels came out of thin air...

Oddly, much of that criticism has come from Crosby's native Canada. For a people who love hockey so much - it's the national sport north of the border - it's strange that Canadians would bash their native son. It's no secret that Wayne Gretzky was a notorious whiner and he's as Canadian as Canadian bacon. But this is 2007, not 1987.

Umm, most hockey press of any sort, good AND bad, comes from Canada. It certainly doesn't come from Uganda, or the USA

Hockey, the NHL more specifically, needs Crosby more than ever.

Now, more than ever, we need to stop using this phrase...

With miniscule television ratings in the U.S. and minimal media coverage being given to the sport, even in traditional hockey areas like Chicago, Boston and New York, those who ridicule Crosby should instead cherish him.

There should be no doubt that Crosby is the future of the NHL. Every goal Crosby scores, every highlight reel play he makes, can only help the beleaguered league get off the mat in the eye of the U.S. sporting conscience.

The last thing the league can afford to have is "the face" of said league bloodied by a cheap shot.

It's no surprise that opponents have begun taking liberties against Crosby in recent weeks. First, the New York Islanders' Jason Blake speared him in the gut. Then Montreal's Maxim Lapierre butt-ended him off an opening faceoff. Later in the same game, the Canadiens' Francis Bouillion bloodied Crosby's face with a high stick.

The response of the 21,000-plus fans in Montreal that night? Chants of "Faker! Faker!" reigned down from the Bell Centre. Some "true patriot love," eh?

Umm, it has more to do with them being, I dunno, CANADIENS fans than anything else.

That's not to say the charges lobbied against Crosby don't have some merit.

He does argue penalty calls against him and argues when he doesn't get a call in his favor. But, who doesn't? When was the last time a player went into the penalty box happily? Or was happy to have his face cut?

And that's not to say Crosby isn't tough. He is. He's fearless driving to the net and going into the corners. He takes on defenders and still controls possession of the puck as he did Wednesday night in the final minute of regulation in a 5-4 shootout win over the Blackhawks.

No doubt, Crosby will get the refs in his favor. But this being the NHL, where old school thinking still applies, Crosby will likely have to wait to get his respect. It's why Roger Clemens' strike zone is bigger than say, Zach Duke's. And it's why Michael Jordan always got the foul call.

That's also the dumbest reasoning I've heard in some time. I know that big stars often get the benefit of the doubt, but they SHOULDN'T. Every player should be subject to the same standards, regardless of star status or not.

That might not be want the Penguins want to hear. But that will likely be the reality.

Unfortunately, the NHL isn't MLB or the NBA. It's not in a position to wait.

Hockey fans can only hope that those in the league offices in Toronto and New York understand that fact. The NHL needs Crosby to flourish, not absorb cheap shots.

Hart Trophy winner (league MVP). And, best player in the world.

Now, those are more fitting titles for a player like Sidney Crosby.

Or, maybe the Penguins ought to get a real goon to start pounding some ass when Crosby is so much as breathed on. It's not up to the NHL, or anyone other team, to protect Crosby.

Penguins 5 - Blackhawks 4(SO): Penguins Keep Rolling

It's weird how Sidney Crosby is mired in a slump now with 8 games without a goal. His assists have also dried up some...yet the Pens keep winning!!

Last night was another great example, as Sid the Kid had just 1 lone assist in a 5-4 shootout victory over the Hawks. Sidney fired 6 shots on goal, as he was obviously just a little anxious...the shootout? Sidney was stuffed there, too :(

Still, the most important thing is that the Penguins have been racking up the points, including a new team record for consecutive games with a point
From Yahoo! Sports:

The Pittsburgh Penguins haven't been on a streak like this in 10 years. The surprise is they keep winning games and gathering points without Sidney Crosby scoring goals.

Evgeni Malkin tied the game late in the third period after Pittsburgh wasted a multiple-goal lead for the third game in a row, then teamed with Erik Christensen to score in the shootout as the Penguins rallied to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 Wednesday night.

The Penguins gained at least a point for the 14th consecutive game (12-0-2) -- the first time they've done that since they won 12 times and tied twice from Dec. 19, 1996, through Jan. 21, 1997. They've also won their last four shootouts after losing five of their first six, a major reason why they are tied for fourth place in the Eastern Conference after being out of the playoff picture only a few weeks ago.

"With the skill they have and the streak they're on, they're hungry," Blackhawks coach Denis Savard said. "They were hungry the whole game. It's tough to contain them."

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made a game-saving left skate save on Martin Havlat only seconds into overtime, then stopped Havlat and Bryan Smolinski with glove saves in the shootout.

"Fleury made a great save in overtime," Savard said. "That's the save. We had a game-winner on our stick."

Fleury said, "That was the most I could stretch -- and I just got a piece of it."

Christensen began the shootout by beating Nikolai Khabibulin with a shot under the crossbar, and Malkin also got the puck past Khabibulin by faking a shot before pulling it back and pushing a backhander inside the far post.

"I thought he was going to shoot so I got a little frozen, but he tucked it in," Khabibulin said. "I felt like we earned a point the way we played, but then we gave one away."

Crosby, the NHL scoring leader with 88 points, got an assist but failed to score a goal for an eighth consecutive game -- the longest streak of his two-season career. He went seven games without a goal a few weeks into his rookie season.

The Penguins also lost a two-goal lead Thursday in Philadelphia and a three-goal lead Saturday in Toronto, although they came back to win both. They have four shootout wins and one in overtime during their 14-game point streak.

"It wasn't easy, but we found a way again," Crosby said. "No doubt it's rewarding to dig deep when you need to late in games, but we can't depend on that all the time."

Video of the Day: Crosby Pixelates Columbus

Even the video game version of Sidney Crosby oozes awesomeness.
Here he is, busting a a few moves and making the Columbus Blue Jackets defense look like a bunch of pylons.

Penguins Mates Impressed with Crosby

Gee, who isn't impressed with Sidney Crosby, other than jealous Ovechkin fans?

From Karen Price of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Sidney Crosby's teammates are used to seeing him accomplish mind-boggling feats on the ice, whether it's scoring a highlight goal or making the perfect pass through traffic.

"Yeah, I think everybody's amazed and impressed by him every day," goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said. "There are still times when we say 'Holy (expletive), how did he do that?' It's good to have him on my side."

Since when did papers censor Holy Cow? Is the beef industry behind this?

But what the 19-year-old center's doing now -- running away with the NHL scoring race -- has even his teammates in awe. Crosby, who became the youngest player ever to break the 100-point mark in the NHL last year with 102 points in 81 games for sixth in the NHL, has 87 points in 52 games this season.

Going into Sunday's games, he led the Washington Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin, the Atlanta Thrashers' Marian Hossa and the Tampa Bay Lightning's Martin St. Louis by 15 points in the scoring race.

Last season, he had 59 points through the same number of games, and is on pace to top 120 points this season for what could be his first of many Art Ross trophies for the league's top scorer.

"It's incredible," forward Colby Armstrong said. "I think his attitude and the way he approaches every game is key to that. He's ready to play every night and he's focused. He just takes it a game at a time. He never gets caught up in anything, and I think that's the key to his success. I think a lot of people can learn from how he handles himself."

You can read the entire article right....HERE!

Sidney Crosby: Doing It for Himself.

Wayne Gretzky had Marty McSorely and Dave Semenko, Mario Lemieux had Ulf Samuelsson (injuring opponents in the most dirty way) and Kevin Stevens.

Yeah, Gretzky had real protection while Mario Lemieux often to put up with more crap than he should of.

Sidney Crosby? He's got...Jarkko Ruutu... Yeah, it's up to Sidney to basically defend himself from all of the extra attention he gets in a physical manner.

Damien Cox has a special for ESPN that looks at this very issue.
Article Link:

If you were to believe the recent hysteria, most of it emanating from a fairly (but not wildly) rough-and-tumble match between Pittsburgh and Montreal last week, you'd think Crosby is under an unrelenting assault by NHL muggers, forced to walk the gantlet every single night against opponents determined to dismember and disembowel him with fiendish fouls and dark, medieval practices.

Well, it's kinda like that, except not really.

Compared to the abuse Bobby Orr and Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy dealt with over the course of their splendid careers, young Mr. Crosby is being treated with velvet gloves.

People love to repeat the silly NHL cliché that players used to respect each other in the good old days and don't now, but talk to players who played then and they laugh at the very notion.

To them, modern NHLers are all chummy, well-fed union brethren who share golf games, and sometimes accountants, between playoff contests. Back in the day, they'd have fights in All-Star Games. These days, the only sign of anger in the midseason "classic" comes when somebody misplaces his BlackBerry.

For once, Cox has it right. Today's players arent' nearly as goony and cheap as the the players in previous eras. There isn't nearly as much hitting and contract and fighting, and the most dangerous thing seems to be errant high-sticks, rather than serious kneeings and slashes.

Still, Sidney gets a lot of extra attention every game, and just about no protection from anybody on his roster. What happens when somebody really nasty goes after Sidney?

Still, there are those who believe Crosby's very life is in danger every time he steps on the ice, and to remedy the situation, the Penguins need to immediately acquire a, ahem, "policeman."


For those unfamiliar with hockey talk, that's another word for a complete moron who likes to fight and can't play at all and steals the job of a real athlete who is good enough to be in the NHL but has to toil in the minors. A cement head. A thug. Cro-Magnon Man on blades of steel.


This isn't a new matter for discussion in hockey. Rather, like the beanball in baseball, it's a vestige of cruder times that just won't go away, no matter how the sport matures and develops and evolves.

One can be a policeman and still be a good player, just like Bob Probert, John Ferguson, and Paul Laus.

You can read the rest of the article if you like, but only if you like Cox's total assholery.

Sidney Crosby: Der Wille Zur Macht!

Cam Cole of the CanWest Imperial Media Empire, opines on how Sidney Crosby is handling his role is leader of the New NHL World Order.

"Pens a building force in the NHL"

The kid is too good to be true.

His hockey club? Some night, yes. Others, not so much.

But the National Hockey League has rarely had a team that the whole league could see coming, two or three years away, and the Pittsburgh Penguins of the Sidney Crosby Era are it.

The other night, when Mark Messier presented his third-segment leadership award to Crosby, the NHL's 19-year-old scoring leader at the all-star break, he couldn't help but make the comparison to the last time it was this obvious that a hockey club was about to grab the NHL by the throat.

So, they are actually still giving out that 'Leadership Award'??
As for Crosby, he'd never be so mean as to grab the NHL by the throat. Gary Bettman? yes. The NHL? No.

"Very rarely do you get a lot of talented players all coming in at the same age, living the game, going through the tough times . . . essentially growing up together," Messier said. "That's what happened in Edmonton - we were able to assemble within two or three years most of our core players -and that's what's going on in Pittsburgh.

"The only difference is the salary cap makes it tough to keep your nucleus together now, so the window of opportunity is pretty short. The challenge will be for Pittsburgh to win it before that becomes an issue."

Crosby has just come through another of his milestone moments, or rather, weeks, as the unmistakable standard-bearer for the NHL at the all-star convention. The league led him from press conference to TV appearance to commercial shoot like a prize show dog - and now, as the Penguins resume their pursuit of a playoff spot, Crosby knows he's got to get his game-face back on.

"It was busy, but that's part of it. It's understood. I was first in (fan) voting," Crosby said Friday, at the morning skate prior to the Pens-Stars game in Dallas - the 10-deep scrum around his locker having shrunk to three reporters.

"I wake up every morning, I tie up my skates, I do interviews. I don't have anything to really hide. I understand there's attention, and I deal with it, and try not to let it affect my play. I think we did our last press conference (prior to the all-star game) at 6:10 p.m. and warmup was at 6:30. But hopefully, I'll get another chance at it, and maybe next time I'll get an hour before the game to tape my sticks and that. But I wouldn't trade it for anything, my first all-star game, even if I did get shut out."

Let's hope Sidney turns out to be nothing like Messier in the personality department. ..uugh...

You can read the full article here.

Assist to James Mirtle for the pointer.

Penguins 7 - Coyotes 2: Coyote Ugly, Sidney Pretty

Last season, Alexander Ovechkin scored 'The Goal' during a game in Phoenix.

This season? Sidney Crosby returns to the scene of the crime and records a beautiful goal of his own. Check it out!



Beauty!!

It was that kind of night for Sidney Crosby and the Penguins as they routed the Coyotes 7-2. Sidney finished with 1 goal, 3 assists, and +1 in just 18:33 of ice time. Make that 6 points in 2 games since the big ZERO at the All-Star Game.

Crosby's 78 points now put him 10 ahead of Alexander Ovechkin (and in 2 less games). W00t!!

More importantly, the win gives the Pens an important two points as they try and keep their playoff spot for the rest of the season.

From NHL.com:

Another game, another highlight for Sidney Crosby.

Crosby scored on a backhand shot as he fell to the ice and added three assists, and Mark Recchi also had a goal and three assist, to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 7-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday night.

With the Penguins holding a two-goal lead early in the third, Crosby gained control of the puck near the inside of the edge of the right circle but tripped backward over Fredrik Sjostrom's stick. As he left his skates, Crosby muscled a backhand shot over goalie Mikael Tellqvist to make it 5-2.

"I tried to pull the puck in and fell back," Crosby said. "I just tried to get a shot off. I just tried to stay with it. You can't go out there and try to do things like that. You just have to react. I was lucky enough to get my stick there."

Pittsburgh coach Michel Terrien added, "the guys on the bench couldn't believe it. That was another highlight goal."

The goal was Crosby's second point from a more-or-less horizontal position. He left his skates to lunge forward from behind the net and pass the puck to Ryan Malone in front of the crease for the game's first goal 24 seconds in.

Crosby said having such a performance in front of Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky was an added bonus.

"It's a unique experience for all of us," Crosby said. "We grew up watching him. I don't think you come up here with something to prove but it's a unique experience to play against a team coached by one of the best players of all time."

Gretzky said Crosby is an "exceptional hockey player and a great athlete."

"You can't stop people making comparisons," Gretzky said. "That's always going to be there and that's the good thing about the game. I was telling people today that it's pretty amazing how quickly the time goes. Here he is, he's 19 and he's going to be compared to guys for a few years. Before you turn around a new guy comes in and everybody says he's the new Crosby. It definitely happens quickly."

Yeah, well until the next Crosby comes along, we'll enjoy the current one.

Penguins 4 - Stars 3(SO): 49...50!

Two nights after stinking up Dallas and the All-Star Game, Sidney was back to his normal self as he helped the Penguins eek out a shootout win over the Dallas Stars.

The damage? 2 assists, +1, and 2 shots on goal in 21:34 of ice time.
With the 2 assists, Sidney now has 50 on the season.

From NHL.com:

Erik Christensen scored the only goal in the shootout and Sidney Crosby had two assists in his first game since going scoreless in the All-Star game as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Dallas Stars 4-3 Friday night.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all three shots in the shootout, preserving the win by holding off Dallas' Sergei Zubov, Jussi Jokinen and Mike Ribeiro. Fleury finished with 32 saves to help Pittsburgh improve to 2-5 in shootouts and drop Dallas to 5-2.

Mark Recchi scored two goals for the Penguins, including the 500th of his career that tied the score at 3 with 8:01 left. He has five goals in his last two games. Crosby had assists on both of Recchi's goals.

The 19-year-old superstar was originally credited with a goal that gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead at 12:08 of the second. However, the official scorers later ruled that Recchi deflected Crosby's wrister into the net.

Crosby was playing his first regular-season game in Dallas, two nights after not scoring in the All-Star game on the Stars' home ice. The Penguins have won four of their last five.

Patrick Stefan's goal gave Dallas a 3-2 lead midway through the third. Zubov and Jokinen also had goals for the Stars, who snapped their three-game winning streak.

Zubov, who missed three games with an elbow injury, blasted a shot from the left point past Fleury to give Dallas a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 11:58 of the first.

Jordan Staal's shot from the left circle beat Marty Turco to tie the score at 8:42 of the second. fter Recchi's first goal gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead, Jokinen tied the score again with 5:17 left in the period.

Stefan put Dallas ahead at 9:19 of the third before Recchi evened things up again when he chipped in a loose puck over Turco's glove.

Several players returned from injury for Dallas. Defenseman Steve Ott had missed 37 games with a fractured ankle. All-Star defenseman Philippe Boucher was out two games last week with a facial injury, and center Jeff Halpern returned after sitting out three contests because of a bad groin.