The Jester’s Quart: Sidney Crosby, Broadway Bound?

Greg_Wyshynski · June 9th, 2005, 07:04 PM

"Since the Great One and Super Mario began re-writing NHL records 20 years ago, hockey pundits and fans have been looking out for The Next One. It's too early to tell if he will reach those great heights, but Sidney Crosby of the Rimouski Oceanic certainly has the hype."
-- TSN.ca, on top NHL...
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Ishkur · June 14th, 2005, 05:05 AM

A couple things:

Sidney Crosby is not Alexander Daigle. Alex Daigle never had the production and offensiveness of Crosby. No one has. The hype is justified. In the last 27 games of the season (since the World Juniors), Crosby scored 92 points. That's nearly 3.5 points a game. The last player in the Quebec leagues to put up stats nearly that torrential was some kid in 1984 named Mario Lemieux. And this is Crosby dominating a league meant for 18-20 year olds at the age of 17. Now, there's two things he can do, and he hasn't made his decision yet:

1) Play his final season in Junior next year. Not likely. Crosby has exhausted his skillset and outpaced his contemporaries tenfold. He needs better competition and grooming for the pros. He needs to take things to the next level. Another year of Junior will only atrophy his skills, though it would look cool to see him score seemingly at will. A 200+ point season is not a stretch (for the record, Mario had 285 in his final season in 84).

2) Play his rookie professional year in Europe. This is more likely than anything else. Yes, guys. Not Broadway. Not Canada. Not even the NHL. The new CBA is cutting salaries down across the board, but the ones they're really hampering are rookie salaries. From the numbers I've heard that they've been brandishing about lately, it's more profitable and desirable for Crozby to play in Europe than in the NHL. And with the rise of an inevitable, concentrated European super league in the next few years, with more money, stronger franchises and cutthroat competition, you can expect to see more than a few NHLers make the break for Europe as well. If Bettman doesn't play his cards right, he could lose the very golden goose that could jumpstart this league. And the way he does things, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised.

Hey, Gretzky didn't play his rookie season in the NHL either. So it would be a perfect beginning to a mirror-image career.

June 9th, 2005, 07:04 PM	#1
Greg_Wyshynski SportsFanMagazine.com Join Date: 06-04-2004 Location: Washington, D.C. Posts: 223 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	The Jester’s Quart: Sidney Crosby, Broadway Bound? "Since the Great One and Super Mario began re-writing NHL records 20 years ago, hockey pundits and fans have been looking out for The Next One. It's too early to tell if he will reach those great heights, but Sidney Crosby of the Rimouski Oceanic certainly has the hype." -- TSN.ca, on top NHL... Full Article

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June 14th, 2005, 05:05 AM	#2
Ishkur Crazed Fan Join Date: 12-27-2003 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 438 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	A couple things: Sidney Crosby is not Alexander Daigle. Alex Daigle never had the production and offensiveness of Crosby. No one has. The hype is justified. In the last 27 games of the season (since the World Juniors), Crosby scored 92 points. That's nearly 3.5 points a game. The last player in the Quebec leagues to put up stats nearly that torrential was some kid in 1984 named Mario Lemieux. And this is Crosby dominating a league meant for 18-20 year olds at the age of 17. Now, there's two things he can do, and he hasn't made his decision yet: 1) Play his final season in Junior next year. Not likely. Crosby has exhausted his skillset and outpaced his contemporaries tenfold. He needs better competition and grooming for the pros. He needs to take things to the next level. Another year of Junior will only atrophy his skills, though it would look cool to see him score seemingly at will. A 200+ point season is not a stretch (for the record, Mario had 285 in his final season in 84). 2) Play his rookie professional year in Europe. This is more likely than anything else. Yes, guys. Not Broadway. Not Canada. Not even the NHL. The new CBA is cutting salaries down across the board, but the ones they're really hampering are rookie salaries. From the numbers I've heard that they've been brandishing about lately, it's more profitable and desirable for Crozby to play in Europe than in the NHL. And with the rise of an inevitable, concentrated European super league in the next few years, with more money, stronger franchises and cutthroat competition, you can expect to see more than a few NHLers make the break for Europe as well. If Bettman doesn't play his cards right, he could lose the very golden goose that could jumpstart this league. And the way he does things, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised. Hey, Gretzky didn't play his rookie season in the NHL either. So it would be a perfect beginning to a mirror-image career.

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