First there was Wayne Gretzky, The Great One. Next came Super Mario Lemieux. Now there is Sidney Crosby, The Next One. A national obsession in Canada since puberty, Sidney took Pittsburgh and the NHL by storm in 2005-06, setting a new standard for precociousness with history's "youngest-ever" 100-point campaign. No prima donna, this one. Sid will scrap in the corners and trade elbows with the grinders, then beat them to the net. But he has just enough Gretzky and Lemieux in him to have Steel Town fans thinking about Lord Stanley. This is his story…

GROWING UP

Sidney Crosby was born on August 7, 1987, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Trina and Troy Crosby. (Click here for today's sports birthdays.) He grew up in Cole Harbour, where his mom worked in a grocery store. Troy had been a goalie in junior hockey with a reputation for throwing down the gloves. When a pro career didn’t pan out, he becamea facilities manager at a Halifax law firm.

Sidney’s interest in hockey began when he was two-years-old. He played floor hockey with a sawed-off stick in his basement, and showed enough proficiency against the family dryer to graduate to the ice at the tender age of three. Two years later, Sidney was competing in leagues at the local arena, Cole Harbor Palace. To raise cash for hockey equipment, Trina took odd jobs like handing out flyers.

At age seven, Sidney was good enough to be interviewed by a local newspaper. Soon, he became a national sensation. Sidney attended a number of hockey camps over the years, and skated away from each with rave reviews. NHL players working at the camps put out the word on the youngster. A few, including future Conn Smythe winner Brad Richards, stayed in touch with Sidney as he moved his way up Canada’s hockey ladder.

One of Sidney’s closest childhood friends and hockey cohorts was Jackson Johnson, a talented player who doubled as his unofficial bodyguard. They progressed together, making each other better and smarter and more confident. Having a talent like Sidney to work with all those years helped Johnson develop into a terrific two-way player.

By the time 14-year-old Sidney graduated to Triple-A Midget in 2001-02—scoring 44 goals in 31 contests against mostly 16- and 17-year-olds—he was emerging as a national obsession. His name was on the tips of tongues of hockey fans in five different time zones, and the question was no longer would he be a star in the NHL, but when, and for whom. This before he even took a draw in the juniors.

Though he was just over five and a half feet tall, Sidney was good enough to be an impact player in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, which represented the next step in his evolution as a player. However, QMJHL rules prohibit 15-year-olds from playing. The owner of the top pick in the league’s 2002 draft was Halifax. The Mooseheads petitioned the QMJHL to make an exception for Sidney—a request identical to the one made when Lemieux was coming up. Now, as then, league officials denied the petition.

Sidney enrolled at the Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Fairbault, Minnesota, one of America’s top hockey-oriented prep schools. Part of the deal was that he and Johnson would go as teammates—hardly a sacrifice for coach Tom Ward, considering that Johnson was a future NHL first-rounder, too.

With SSM Sidney continued to hone his skills, while living out of the spotlight for a year. Initially, it was fun for him when he was recognized at malls and restaurants around his home, but it got to be hassle. Shattuck-St. Mary’s gave him a measure of anonymity he would not enjoy again.

Sidney played one year for the Sabres and grew to 5-9 and 160 pounds. Logging a 57-game national schedule against the top prep teams, he netted 72 goals. Sidney was also the only player under age 18 invited to suit up for Team Canada during the 2003 World Junior Championships, making him one of just four 16-year-olds ever to play for his country. The others were Gretzky, Eric Lindros, Jason Spezza and Jay Bouwmeester. Sidney became the youngest player ever to score for Canada, when he lit the lamp during a 7-2 win over Switzerland.

Among Sidney’s many goals during 2002-03 was a show-stopper from behind the enemy net. He scooped the puck onto his stick, cradling it the curve then, using centrifugal force to keep it there, whipped it around the goal lacrosse-style and past a stunned goalie.

Following the hockey season, Sidney and Johnson decided to go out for the baseball team. Sidney became one of SSM’s best pitchers. Other schools heckled the two hockey stars until Johnson let himself get hit by a pitch and charged the mound with Sidney at his side. That stopped the bench-jockeying for good.

ON THE RISE

After his year at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, Sidney was eligible for the QMJHL draft, and was snapped up with the first pick by the Rimouski Oceanic, making coach Doris Labonte the happiest man in Canada. In his first exhibition game on the ice with his Rimouski teammates, Sidney tallied eight points. His teammates nicknamed him Darryl after Darryl Sittler, who once registered 10 points in an NHL game. He still has Darryl scrawled on his gloves.

Skating most of the year with two checkers shadowing him, Sidney nevertheless excelled in virtually every game he played. Particularly impressive was his willingness to go into corners—and getting out alive. Indeed, he had a knack for slipping away from the goons and then reappearing in the crease, where he could get deflections and rebounds before opponents had time to react. When defensemen tried to bully Sidney, he responded by giving them back double or triple what they gave him, willingly taking penalties to drive home the point that he could prove hazardous to their health if sufficiently angered.

Sidney finished the season with six major awards, including QMJHL Rookie of the Year and MVP. He led the league with 81 assists and 135 points in 59 games, and finished second in goals to teammate Dany Roussin with 54.
He now stood 5-10 and weighed in at a rock-solid 175 pounds. That summer, he met Mario Lemieux and had a chance to skate with him. Each was impressed with the other. The possibility that Sidney might end up in a Pittsburgh uniform was a possibility. The Pens had one of the worst records in the league, and with a season-killing labor dispute looming, they might find themselves with the top pick in the draft come the spring of 2005.

In 2004-05, Sidney was named Major Junior Player of the Year for the second time, and prepared for the next phase of his hockey life, the NHL, which was still ironing out a deal with players after a year of inactivity.

Nine days before the 2005 NHL Draft, Sidney found out where he would be starting his career. The Penguins won the lottery, earning the first overall pick. Within a few weeks of announcing their selection of Sidney, Pittsburgh sold more tickets for 2005-06 than they had in the previous NHL season. Sidney signed a three-year deal worth around $10 million—the maximum rookie salary as per the new labor agreement, plus performance bonuses that were well within his reach.

Sidney’s first game came against the New Jersey Devils. He slid a nice pass to Mark Recchi for his first NHL assist, but was robbed by Martin Brodeur in his attempt to net his first NHL goal. Welcome to the league, kid. Two nights later, he set up Ziggy Palffy with an exquisite pass for the game-tying goal late in the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes. In Pittsburgh’s home opener the next night against the Boston Bruins, Sidney scored his first goal and added a pair of assists, putting the full range of his talents on display for the home fans. By the end of October, he had two goals and 12 assists in 11 games, and was named NHL Rookie of the Month.

If hockey’s new golden boy thought he’d be spared by the league’s thugs, he got a rude awakening in an early game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Derian Hatcher’s blade found Sidney’s face and knocked his front teeth out. The refs missed the infraction but whistled Sidney when he retaliated againstHatcher. Later in the contest, the refs caught Hatcher giving Sidney a stick to the neck. Steaming the rest of the game, the teenager waited until overtime to score the game-winner with blood still dripping from his neck and mouth. That day he became an honorary blue-collar guy.

Playing primarily on the wing, Sidney found NHL goals hard to come by at first. (Taking a shot off his foot in a November game didn't help matters.) The Pens, meanwhile, got off to a sluggish start, and coach Ed Olczyk was replaced by Michel Therrien. The new head man made Sidney an alternate captain, and moved him to center, teaming him with feisty winger Colby Armstrong. Before long, the goals started coming with more regularity.

With this happy turn of events, however, arrived a rather unhappy one. Sidney was passed over by Team Canada’s Olympic team selection committee. He had his heart set on helping his country defend its gold medal in 2006, and although he said all the right things, there was no masking his dismay. Sidney had been counting on Lemieux to pull some strings, but when the veteran center was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat, he withdrew his name from Canada’s list. Lemieux would later announce his retirement from the NHL and his intention to sell his share of the Penguins, too—making Sidney the team’s undisputed center of attention.

In the meantime, there were more lessons to be learned. In a January game against the Atlanta Thrashers, Sidney was mugged by fellow superstar Ilya Kovalchuk away from the officials’ eyes. Again, he was whistled when he fought back. Kovalchuk scored the game-winner while Sidney was in the box, and gestured in his direction after lighting the lamp.

MAKING HIS MARK

Over the next few months, the Penguins drifted out of playoff contention, and played most of their games from behind, giving up far too many early goals. Sidney did all he could do get them back, going on a scoring binge in the season’s final months.

In an April game against the New York Islanders, Sidney set up Pittsburgh goals twice in a 25-second span to surpass the 100-point mark—becoming the youngest player in NHL history to do so. He also tied Lemieux’s team mark for rookies. The game was stopped for five minutes as Penguin fans showered the ice with caps, t-shirts and other objects.

Sidney finished the season with 39 goals and 63 assists, good for 102 points—the sixth-best total in the league. Alas, Pittsburgh won just 22 of 82 games.

The Penguins were supposed to be a much better team, and they will be. Their underachieving 2005-06 season had many causes, including injuries and lack of production on the part of some key veterans.

Then again, think of what Pittsburgh’s record says about Sidney—how does a teenager score 100 points on the second-worst team in hockey? And just how good might he soon be?

SIDNEY THE PLAYER

Like most young scorers, Sidney has three gears—fast, faster and fastest. What distinguishes him from his peers, however, is that the details of his game are not diminished when he is at maximum warp. When the play is wide open, he is a sneaky, dangerous player. When the game is a physical, tight-checking affair, Sidney does not disappear. He is assertive and aggressive along the boards and in the open ice. Only a handful of NHL stars can play both styles as effectively.

Sidney reads the ice very intelligently and plays with great poise. He “uses” all the players on the ice, often letting the flow of play determine his next move. This makes him very unpredictable.

Sidney can leap on opportunities, but is also patient enough to allow them to develop. His legs give him a tremendous (he’s got a great first step) and keep him going (he’s got legs like tiny tree trunks).

Although there is less fighting in the NHL than in years past, young guns like Sidney still need teammates watching their backs. Unfortunately, no one in Pittsburgh appears ready to fill this role. The result was that Sidney took some big hits as a rookie. Unlike teen sensations Wayne Gretzky, Steve Yzerman, Paul Kariya and Mike Modano, there is no enforcer looming on the blue line to bring down the thunder when opponents target Sidney. How long he can continue fending for himself will be something Penguin fans watch very carefully.

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