Just call him "Captain Sid"

It was only a matter of time before Sidney Crosby was named the CAPTAIN of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

I just didn't think it would be THIS freakin' soon!

Penguins center Sidney Crosby will become the youngest captain in NHL history tomorrow.

The team will announce his appointment during a press conference at Mellon Arena.

Crosby has served as an alternate captain for most of his two seasons here. He shared those duties with Mark Recchi, Sergei Gonchar and, before he severed ties to the team, John LeClair during the past season.

Crosby, who will not turn 20 until Aug. 8, became the youngest scoring champion in league history in 2006-07, when he put up 120 points. He will succeed Vincent Lecavalier of Tampa Bay as the youngest player to become a captain.

The Captain's C seems to be a pressure cooker and has caused many players to choke under the pressure (Lecavalier and Pronger, for example).

I don't expect Sidney to be bothered with the extra pressure, but it certainly seems like a bit much to put on his plate.

Sidney Awarded by the YMCA

Sidney Crosby earned yet another award for his massive trophy room.

This time? It's an honour from the YMCA.

He is the best player in the world," New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur said of his fellow MVP finalist.

He is only 19. His best is yet to come.

Chances are this will not be his first Pittsburgh Tribune-Review City of Champions Achievement award. He will be among the honorees Thursday at the Downtown YMCA's 33rd annual Scholar Athlete Banquet at the Pittsburgh Hilton Hotel.

The article is great, since is has many quotes from other NHLers on just how awesome Crosby is.

"That young. That good. He is scary," New York Rangers right wing Jaromir Jagr said of the youngest scoring champion in NHL history.

"He is everything that he was advertised to be," Ottawa Senators center Jason Spezza said of the player that totaled 200 points faster than even Wayne Gretzky.

I didn't even know the YMCA held awards shows. Oh, well, Sidney doesn't mind winning another I'm sure

(hat tip to Jodie for the linkage)

Penguins D'Aversa-fy Roster

It looks like Sidney's got a new potential team-mate, an offensive d-man named Jonathan D'Aversa

From Shelly Anderson of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Penguins today signed undrafted free agent defenseman Jonathan D'Aversa to a three-year NHL entry level contract.

Last season, his fourth with Sudbury of the Ontario Hockey League, D'Aversa, 21, had career highs in goals (13), assists (47) and points (60) and led his team with a plus-minus rating of plus-14. He was third in the OHL in scoring among defensemen.

In four seasons with the junior hockey Sudbury team, D'Aversa had 150 points in 259 games. He also has 31 points in 50 career playoff games. He has been selected for the OHL All-Star game the past two seasons.

D'Aversa, 6 feet 2, 200 pounds, last season was the defense partner of Marc Staal, younger brother of Penguins forward Jordan Staal.

Thanks to Jodie for the tip

Yorio is Yahoo! for Crosby

Karia Yorio of the Sporting News and Yahoo! Sports have come out with their season-end awards, and Crosby wins big.

Is this another meaningless award? Hardly! These awards were voted on by the NHL players.

Here's the scoop on Crosby.

Fans weren't the only ones impressed with Crosby's sophomore season. The Art Ross Trophy winner as the league's leading scorer received 110 of the 210 votes from his fellow players; Lightning center Vincent Lecavalier was a distant second with 24 votes.

Crosby led his team into the playoffs and finished the season with 120 points on 36 goals and 84 assists. His presence and play also helped the Penguins secure an arena deal to stay in Pittsburgh. Not bad for a kid who won't turn 20 until August.

Well, it sounds like Crosby has the Pearson wrapped up, wouldn't you say?

Linemate Evgeni Malkin also got the Rookie of the Year, to no surprise.

(thanks to Jodie for the tip)

Owning Sidney is Expensive

Anyone ever try to collect Sidney Crosby hockey cards?

If so, it'll cost ya.

From Helen Jung of The Oregonian:

Sidney Crosby -- the Pittsburgh Penguins' star center and a leading candidate to be the NHL's Most Valuable Player -- already lays claim to another title: Most Valuable Rookie Card.

The Upper Deck Co., a trading card and sports collectibles company, issued 99 rookie cards for Sidney Crosby last July, after Crosby's first season in the NHL. The company distributed them in select hockey-card packs marketed under the name "The Cup," with a suggested retail price of $350, said Karvin Cheung, Upper Deck product manager for hockey.

Crosby's cards also included a piece of the Pittsburgh Penguins patch taken from Crosby's game jerseys.

Some of those cards are now fetching upward of $10,000, said Al Muir, editor of Beckett Hockey, a price-guide publisher and information service for people interested in hockey memorabilia. Crosby's fame extends far beyond hockey and may be drawing some speculative sports investors, he said.

The most valuable cards include a swatch with three colors -- black, yellow and white -- he said. Just one color, however, gets you a card worth about $5,000.

By comparison, the rookie card for Wayne Gretzky, the hockey player with whom Crosby is often compared, is fetching about $900. "It's completely unprecedented," Muir said.

Upwards of $10,000 for some cardboard and 1/10000 of a jersey? Cripes!

Photo(s) of the Day: Crosby, Defeated

News is a little slow, so here's a little pictorial of Sidney Crosby after the Penguins were eliminated by the Sens.






All images (c) Getty Images.

Sean Avery = Jealous of Sidney Crosby

Well, look at what we have here... Sean Avery is whining, yet again.

Unlike a few of Sean Avery's closest adversaries, the Rangers' unofficial spokesperson refuses to blame an injury on why he wasn't up to speed in the series against Buffalo.

“I think that’s just something you battle through,” Avery said. “Those (excuses) are for guys like Sidney (Crosby) and guys that have to keep themselves in the media, saying they weren’t hurt or they were hurt.

Oh, the irony, it's too painful, stop. Avery played with an injured left wrist, which may need surgery in the offseason.

“I love when guys are done and say they were hurt or they had the flu. Roberto Luongo he had the flu now? It’s a big mystery why he was late for overtime. It’s fine. You battle through things.”

Unlike LA or Detroit, Avery feels like he has found his niche in New York, and wants to remain a Blueshirt.

“I feel like I finally found a home and somewhere where maybe I fit in,” Avery said.

Hmm, did Roberto Luongo ever complain about the flu or anything? No! He just went out and stopped the puck like he always does.

Crosby didn't whine about an injury, and it became known only after the series was done. This was a team/media thing, not a Crosby thing.

Sean Avery: the NHL's jealous whiner.

Video of the Day: What's Your Fave Sidney Goal?

Here's a cool video uploaded on YouTube ...



Set to the music of 'Prodigy' ... how fitting

Crosby Named Most Influential Athlete

So, Sidney finished quite well in that TIME voting for the 100 Most Influential Peeps.

(CP) - Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby was the top vote-getter among athletes in a Time.com survey on the most influential people of the year.

Crosby finished with 85,835 votes, the eighth-highest overall total in the survey, which offered more than 200 candidates and had readers rate the individual's influence on a scale of 1-to-100.

Crosby's average rating was 76.

Crosby finished the 2006-07 regular season with an NHL-best 120 points to captured the Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion.

He is also a finalist for the Hart Trophy and the Lester B. Pearson Award, which is chosen by fellow players.

Sidney Crosby: Medical Director?

Oh, the weird things you can find while searching for the latest Sidney Crosby news.

Apparently, this fellow (pictured), is a d00d named Sidney Crosby, and was recently named Medical director of some American district. As amazing as the 'real' Sidney is, he doesn't have time for boring medical administration.

Caring Angels Hospice, Inc. is pleased to announce a new Medical Director for the Clarke, Washington and parts of Choctaw County area, Dr. Sidney Crosby of Jackson. Dr. Crosby graduated in 1981 from the University of Mississippi for Medicine and the University of Alabama in Huntsville - Family Practirc. Dr. Crosby resides just north of Jackson with his wife Kay and daughters, Abby 10 and Kelli 8. They also have four other children - Caleb 27, Rainey 25, Mindy 23 and Seth 20.

*yawn*. 6 kids? Sidney's scored far more than that during his career.

NHL Awards: Sidney's a Triple Threat

The NHL announced its awards finalists this morning, and Sidney was in the running for two more awards: The Hart (MVP) and Pearson (MVP according to the NHLPA).

Sidney, if he wins both, has a chance of joining some very select NHL company.

From TSN.ca:

Sidney Crosby is in the running for a rare NHL triple. The Penguins centre has already won the Art Ross Trophy, and the league announced Tuesday that he's a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Lester B. Pearson Award. The Pearson is the newest of the three and only six players can boast of a Ross-Hart-Pearson sweep: Martin St. Louis, Jaromir Jagr, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Guy Lafleur and Phil Esposito.

I think Crosby will get the Pearson, but Luongo will likely have the slight edge on the Hart. Crosby was exceptional, but Luongo did carry the Canucks into the playoffs.

The Penguins? They did have that Malkin kid.

Either way, both awards will be tight battles. We'll see if Sid can join that elite group or not.