Sidney Crosby

This is one heck of a contrast.

Milbury was a decent if unremarkable player, and from there went on to a stint as likely the very worst general manager in NHL history, trading away Zdeno Chara, Roberto Luongo, Todd Bertuzzi and other stars from the woeful Islanders in return for terminal underachievers like Alexi Yashin.

"Uh, gee - I apologize for being so stupid?"

But it wasn’t until Milbury took on a role as a broadcaster, a hockey “colour man,” a supposed expert on the game pontificating on NBC, CBC, and US radio, that he became what he is now: a walking, talking example of everything that’s wrong with pro hockey. His response to Brayden Schenn’s uncontrolled and chickensh*t cross-check from behind on Sidney Crosby (a cross-check that Crosby couldn’t possibly have seen or defended himself against) was to call Crosby a “punk” and a “little goody two-shoes” (whatever that means). He also, in his semi-coherent way, made fun of Crosby’s recent concussion problems. You have to suspect that Milbury’s own brain was maybe rattled once too often during his playing days.

Crosby’s not a saint – he’s a tough competitor who even an idiot like Milbury should respect for playing a hard game as a skill player. So today, while Milbury was busily apologizing for his bonehead remarks, Crosby went out and scored two goals against the toughest team in the NHL, the Boston Bruins.

I wondered whether to even post on this… a cipher like Milbury doesn’t really deserve anyone’s attention. But then I thought of the difference between these guys. Milbury shoots his mouth off on radio, defending some inane code that still somehow seems real to him – and Crosby doesn’t say a whole lot but goes out and plays good hockey.

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when in doubt, keep sitting out

News out of Pittsburgh is that docs have cleared Sidney Crosby for contact – again – and that he’s aiming for a Thursday return against the New York Rangers.

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But why? I can understand that Crosby’s dying to get back on the ice. He’s not only the world’s best player; he’s also one of the most competitive athletes we’ve ever seen. But when to return shouldn’t be up to Crosby alone.

Pittsburgh’s team doctors, Crosby’s own physicians (are these the guys who somehow missed his cracked neck vertebrae?), Pens GM Ray Shero and coach Dan Bylsma, and owner Mario Lemieux should all be in on this call. And they should be thinking very carefully about bringing Sid back before the playoffs start.

Right now the Pens don’t need him. On the backs of Evgeni Malkin and James Neal, they’re cruising into a playoff spot in the East, most likely heading for a series against either Philly or New Jersey. Why rush Crosby back before then? If he’s really ready, give him a game or two toward the end of the season to see how he feels then…

Or write off 2011-12 altogether. If you’re Lemieux or Shero, you have to be thinking not just about this season but about the next ten seasons to come. Crosby’s only 24. With his once-in-a-generation talent, he’ll still be a huge impact player at 34. Guys at his level continue to contribute well into their mid-30s. Recent examples include Wayne Gretzky, of course, and Joe Sakic, Steve Yzerman, Mark Messier, Mats Sundin, and the ageless Teemu Selanne. And Lemieux himself.

There’s also this: Crosby has played only a handful of games since January 2011. Even he will be rusty, a touch slow, his reactions a bit off. Practising with his teammates is not the same as playing. Not only is it unrealistic to expect him to be the difference between winning or losing a playoff series or a Stanley Cup this year – it’s eminently realistic to wonder whether he’s risking further injury coming back while still maybe not fully conditioned.

The smartest thing to do might be to leave Crosby out of any Penguins plans this year. Let him fully recover – fully – and bring him back at 100% in September.

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Hockey fans everywhere talking today about Sid – how, in his first game in 10 months, he dominated not only the pathetic New York Islanders but also his own Pittsburgh Penguin teammates en route to a 2-goal, 2-assist performance that reaffirmed his reputation as the best player in the world.

The video shows Crosby’s first goal, 5 minutes into the game, on just his third shift. He leaves three Islanders – did I mention how pathetic they looked? – in his wake as he powers around the defence before lifting a quick backhand into the near corner of the net. Footage of the Pens’ warmup showed Sid practising this very shot… as always, the great player practises a move to perfection and then executes it in a game.

Crosby could have had several more assists. Evgeni Malkin and Chris Kunitz both hit the post off Crosby passes. Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis as linemates will have to get re-accustomed to the speed and subtlety of Crosby’s puck distribution after 61 games without – you could see last night that although Crosby appeared to have no rust on his game, other Pens were caught napping by brilliant but unexpected passes. The power play suffered similarly.

Sid managed to avoid any serious bodychecks – and maybe the Islanders were complicit in this. Or it could be that (as we’ve said before) Crosby in full flight is pretty hard to hit. In any event, this comeback game was memorable for Crosby, his team (though maybe not all his teammates – eg, Jordan Staal was invisible with reduced minutes and more importantly, reduced expectations), the fans, and the beleaguered NHL in general. Gary Bettman & co need Crosby out there more than ever this year, with a tragic off-season and former almost-best-player Alex Ovechkin these days just another overpaid winger after a summer possibly spent chasing Turkish girls on the beaches near Izmir.

Any hockey poolies who grabbed Sid as an IR toss-off in the 3rd or 4th round of a September snake draft will now be rubbing their hands with glee. If he can maintain anything like his form last night, Crosby will be back among the leading point-getters in no time, despite missing 21 games this year. It wasn’t so long ago that Mario Lemieux pulled off a 3-pts-per-game tear to win the Art Ross trophy after not skating for two months while battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Final thought on Pens v Isles: oh how sweet not to be John Tavares in that game. The poor guy – also lauded not so long ago as one of the best young players in the world – had to watch the Crosby show while he himself spent three utterly ineffectual periods skating in circles with his even more ineffectual teammates. A cautionary tale for any hot offensive prospect signing with a low-ranking team – and one that seems to have lunatics running the show…

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Crosby: Santa comes early in Pittsburgh

What the entire hockey world has been waiting 10 months for will happen Monday night: the best player in the world, Sidney Crosby, will return to action after missing 61 games with a concussion sustained in early January 2011.

Crosby’s comeback puts him on the ice with his Pittsburgh Penguins, once of the NHL’s best teams even without him, against the New York Islanders, one of the worst. Most observers, including Pens’ coach Dan Bylsma, expect Sid to take only about half the 25 minutes’ ice time he usually logs. And although he’s been fully cleared for contact – and ostensibly getting bumped by his teammates during a month of hard practices – many fans will be holding their breath every time Crosby steps onto the ice.

I wonder how the Islanders feel. How do they approach this game? They need a win badly, and the Penguins will be raring to go with their captain back. The best way to beat the Pens is to neutralize Malkin, Staal, Letang – and Crosby. Primarily Crosby. Bump him, grind him a little, take him out in the corner, knock him over, make life difficult for him. If you’re in an Islanders uniform, that should be your brief Monday night.

But which Islander, as a human and no doubt at some level a fan of Crosby, wants to be the guy who knocks Crosby down – if the knocking down also means another injury? You’re a 4th-line checking winger on a crappy team, and now you go down in history as the guy who ended Sid’s career. Sure, these guys are pro athletes, etc and so forth – but I’m betting that every single player out there will be thinking about this possibility, however slightly.

But let’s assume Crosby gets through Monday, and the game after that, and the ones after that. Through November, December, the rest of the season and into the playoffs. He’s a superbly conditioned athlete, and prior to the hit he took from David Steckel in the disastrous “Outdoor Classic” played on rainy mush in January, Crosby was very rarely hit, in the head or anywhere else. Anyway, the longer he goes without repeat injury, the better the chances will be that he stays uninjured.

That’s what we – and right-thinking hockey fans everywhere – are hoping for Monday. Hockey, and especially the Neanderthal Hockey League, can ill afford to lose its best player permanently. There are plenty of other guys out right now with concussions, and the issue of head injuries (along with the anachronistic idiocy of fighting) is, er, top of mind in the league right now.

So good luck, Sid. Stay on your skates, keep your head up, and grab a couple of goals at the same time.

Tagged as: Sidney Crosby

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