It seems that when I look at the stats page of this site, this page gets a lot of hits.  I wrote this piece in January, when Sid the Kid and Jason Blake got into that spat before the All Star Game.

Let me preface and offer my request for new comments by saying this:

when I wrote this at the time, I was incensed by the actions of Sidney.  I can say that in the past year, he has matured a bit, and seems to be letting his game do more of the talking, than his yappering about other playing slapping him around.  In my reactionary comments, I always went back to Mike Bossy.  He took more of a ripping and beating, game in and game out, than any other player, including Gretzky.  But Boss never moaned.  He just did his job.  And when guys went after him more, he made them pay where it really counts; on the scoresheet.

Anyway, here is my original post, and all the comments that came with it.  I am curious of what you all think now… I would really appreciate the comments, and I am interested in the out-of-towners, especially the Pens fans, as to what your perception is about how 87 is received around the league.

Thanks and have a great weekend!

Gary

I guess that will pique interest…. 

In no way, shape, or form, am I questioning the hockey skills of Pittsburgh’s #87.  He is a great player, with the world ahead of him.  He is exactly the hype that he was provided at the tender age of 13, and nearly 20, he received the most votes for the All-Star game next week in Dallas.  In addition, he is currently leading the scoring race, a few points ahead of Washington’s wonderkind, Alex Ovechkin.

He is regarded in a similar vein, to a certain young man that came onto the scene over a quarter of a century ago, called Gretzky.  In this age of commercialization and media overload, Monsieur Crosby is a hit with many commercials shown all over Canada, and in a few US markets.

He has the hockey world getting ready to throw the world on his shoulders.  He is the real ‘next one’; a name that was supposed to be reserved for Eric Lindros over a decade and a half ago.

But to this reporter, I see a different person than the one that most Canadians image.  Actually, I see this, because I took off the rose colored glasses..

I see, is a ‘boy’ that has been coddled and given the impression that he can do whatever he wants, and can dish out at anyone without incident.  However, when someone retaliates on him, he drops down to the ground like an Acme Anvil on Wile Coyote, and boom.

When the Great One was coming up, players went at him the same way, however, Gretzky was not that kind of player, and did not retaliate.  He had a Dave Semenko, or Marty McSorely to do that for him.  And that was fine.  Lemieux was able to handle himself, and in many instances, he did just that.

However, in the case of the crying weasel, known as Sid the Kid, he just shoves, slashes and does what he wants, and when he gets his just desserts in return, he cries, wines, and acts like a child.  In the case of Jason Blake, although I do not condone what he did, I am glad that he gave the wining brat a little taste of his own medicine.  He wants rules HIS way, but please overlook it when I do the damage!

And to make matters worse, is that his coach Michel “I am no longer a Francophone and want to be called Michael� Thierrien, totally lifts him up to a higher level, and coddles the living CRAP out of him.  Hey Coach, give him the birds and bees talk, please!!!!  He needs to know that he (Crosby) has to be accountable for his actions.

You know that somewhere, sometime, someone is really going to clock him for being a little ‘pr!ck’, and they are going to be justified to the hilt.  The NHL is always a little over-protective of their stars, and unfortunately, the NHL needs a little slash to the groin once in a while too.

Well done Jason — with the increase in your salary next season, that fine will be chump change.  I am glad that people are finally standing up to this young twerp.  He has to be shown that if wants to act like a child in a man’s game, that he will get smacked around like a little girl.  Pad up more of your uniform Sid, or Sydney!!!

Wow - that felt good….

Add to Yahoo Add to Google Furl this Add to Spurl Save to Del.icio.us Digg IT! Live Bookmarks! Blogmarks

3 Responses to “A return post - from January 2007 - Sidney Crosby”

  1. John Says:

    Interesting bunch of comments. First off, you can’t compare Hockey players to those of other sports. Without a doubt, every sport handles their premier, market players with care and coddles them in various ways. The NHL is a different environment in terms of the “work place”. It’s a a constant, physical sport, and if you are going to go out there dishing it out, you better damn well be able to take it. Football, in deed, is physical as well, but it is not constant motion and as spontaneous as hockey. I am inclined to believe that the “new NHL” does too much to “protect” its “stars”, and this does not apply simply to “Sid the kid”.

    Sid, I believe, is a talent and among the best in the NHL. I’m not ready to anoint him as the next “great one”, but I’ve seen enough of him to know he’s the real deal. And, as much as I’m an Islander fan, I’d be knocking him just as hard if he played for the Isles (probably harder actually). His attitude has improved to an extent, but I spend my share of time listening to out of town games via NHL.com out of interest and because I have a fantasy hockey team.

    I don’t care how much someone was pushed around in juniors or on the school playground. When you reach the professional level and are skating against players at your level, regardless of your talent, you better grow up fast. I’m not going to compare him to all the better players in the league. You can put them all under the microscope and come up with examples of “whining and complaining” if you like. Sid’s level has been, in the past, beyond the norm. Perhaps, he’s changed, and maybe giving him the C will help him gain more of a perspective and maturity. However, I think the jury is still out on exactly what kind of a player he will be written about in the future.

  2. jackson Says:

    Hey… I found the article only because I did a search for Wile E. Cayote, my hero. Love the “Help!” sign.

    Oh, and Sid rocks. So he was a little chippy for a while there. Its not like he wasn’t taking a decent amount of sh@t. That, and Georges seemed to decide to take the season off as his backup.

    I’ve never been a fan of clingy hockey. No other sport allows the best athletes on the field / ice / court, etc. be dragged down by lesser talented players hanging all over them. Hockey is right to be cleaning that element up. I’m not talking “no contact” sport either. Clean hits are fine. But even though I’m a hypocrite for enjoying it, I’m thinking more of the same for the fighting being part of the game. Really, I’f you’re inclined to shield your 5 year old son’s eyes from the activity, you probably ought to look in the mirror and reconsider its validity to the real game of puck to net.

  3. John Says:

    I’m not sure what is meant by that a someone is dragged down by lesser talented players. I think the talent level of any sport ranges and that is what makes it competitive. Sid being leveled by a fourth line center or winger is no different than that fourth line player being leveled. If you refer to the general clutching and grabbing that has plagued the NHL over the last ten or fifteen years, I agree that it’s good that the league is finally doing something about it … though they didn’t need to change the entire game to make it occur. If they enforced the rules they have tried to implement prior to the “new NHL” going as far back as around 1999, it would have worked just as effectively. People tend to forget that we had 60 and 70 goal scorers and 130 and 150 point getters prior to the “new NHL” and if the interference, hooking and holding penalties had been actually called with consistency through the years, it would have kept the game flowing and faster paced without the need to restrict the movement of goaltenders or moving the nets or anything else.

    As for fighting in the game, it’s a part of hockey. I personally don’t want the game to ever become this pretty, gift wrapped version the NHL wants for marketing purposes on American television. Sorry, but there are a lot of good reasons why a fight in a game is a Good thing. I’m not talking about brawls or fighting for they sake of fighting. If you are a true fan of the game, you will understand the differentiation I’m attempting to make here. Alas, though, that would be straying completely off topic of Sid.

Leave a Reply