Rookie Crosby reaches 100 points for Pittsburg Penguins.

[FalconBlue]

Earlier today.......

Sidney's still chasing 100
By John Kreiser | NHL.com columnist
April 17, 2006

Sidney Crosby is two games away from completing a fabulous rookie season. But try as he might not to think about it, there's a piece of history hanging tantalizingly in front of him.

The No. 1 overall pick in last summer's Entry Draft already has scored 97 points, more than any 18-year-old in NHL history except Dale Hawerchuk. If Crosby can manage three points in his last two games, Monday at home against the New York Islanders and Tuesday in Toronto, he'll become the youngest player to get 100 points -- Hawerchuk was 100 days older when he did it in 1982-83.

Crosby admits he's aware of the 100-point barrier -- but he's trying hard not to pay too much attention to it.

"When you get this close, you want to do it," he said after Saturday night's 5-4 shootout loss to the Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum, a game in which he was held scoreless and at time seemed to be trying to force passes to closely checked teammates. "It's something you can't afford to think about too much, because if you think about it too much, you won't do the things you normally do.

John Kreiser, who has covered the NHL since 1975, is NHL.com's man behind the numbers. His column appears each weekend on NHL.com.
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"I don't think I was pressing. The puck just wasn't bouncing for me."

Crosby's is arguable the greatest season by an 18-year-old in NHL history. Hawerchuk, a Hall of Famer, got 100 points during an era in which offense hit historic levels -- the average game in 1982-83 had 7.7 goals scored. Despite the increase in offense this season from 2003-04, the average per game in 2005-06 has about 6.1 goals scored, making Crosby's achievement more remarkable.

Regardless of whether he gets to 100 points, Crosby has made a believer of Penguins GM Craig Patrick.

"He's had a great year," says Patrick. "Hopefully, he'll get to 100 points, but I don't think anyone would have anticipated that he would play this well. He's been getting stronger as the season goes along, and has really played well in the last few weeks. It was hard to project how good he was going to be this year; 97 points at this stage is pretty special."

The Penguins had high hopes for this season after they won the right to draft Crosby in the draft lottery last July. Their plans called for him to play on the same line with Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux; the team also signed stars like Zigmund Palffy, John LeClair and Sergei Gonchar -- fueling hopes, if not expectations, of a playoff run.

Instead, Lemieux was forced to retire with a heart problem -- "that was a tough day for me," Crosby says -- Palffy retired in February due to a shoulder injury, and players like Gonchar and LeClair haven't produced as hoped. Although the Penguins, led by Crosby, haven't been bad offensively, they're last in the NHL in goals allowed.

Crosby has gone through his own struggles. He's been banged around by bigger opponents, has piled up a lot of minor penalties and endured more losing than he could have envisioned on that July day when he was introduced to the hockey world as the NHL's great star.

"I'm disappointed, as we all are," he says of the Penguins' last-in-the-NHL (tied with St. Louis) place in the standings. "You have to realize that we're a young team, and part of growing is getting through tough times like this. Hopefully, there's a light at the end of the tunnel and we'll be better down the road."


In his first year with the Penguins, Crosby has done everything asked of him.
Instead of being a kid growing up on a team of talented veterans, Crosby has found himself pushed into the role of team leader. New coach Michel Therrien gave Crosby an alternate captain's "A," making him one of the youngest players in NHL history to be so honored. He's held his own, physically and mentally, and has picked up his scoring pace down the stretch -- he had 17 points in his previous seven games before being held pointless on Saturday. And though the losing has been a learning process for Crosby, he says he can see a potential benefit to it.

"You never want to lose," he says. "But sometimes it makes you realize how tough it is to win. Maybe it makes the time when you do win a little sweeter. If that's the case, we're all fine with that. Hopefully, we won't go through it for too long."

Overall, however, Crosby has enjoyed his first NHL season.

"It's been a fun year," he says. "We have a lot of us in the same situation -- we're all in our first year in the NHL. We're all growing together and trying to enjoy our first NHL seasons. I wish we had more wins, but I'm pretty happy with it."

And what has been the best part?

"Getting to play against players I've been watching on TV for a long time," he says. "I'm playing in the best league in the world every night, and I'm playing against guys I grew up watching -- and trying to beat them."

Islanders rookie Jeremy Colliton, who twice played with Crosby on the Canadian team at the World Junior Championships, says his team wanted to make sure Crosby didn't get his 100th point against them. They'll be trying to do the same on Monday night at Mellon Arena.

"There's some pride; you never want someone to get a milestone against you," says Colliton, who scored his first NHL goal in the Isles' victory. "We want to play well -- we know he's a great player and he's going to get his points, but hopefully he won't get them against us."

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Awesome -- go Pens!! There have been sme rumblings that Hartford wants the franchise if they leave Pittsburgh. That would make me a very sad panda.

[TG1996]

There have been sme rumblings that Hartford wants the franchise if they leave Pittsburgh.

Serves ya right for stealing Ron Francis!