I am starting to like Crosby...

[Trettioåtta]

I originally was not a fan of his, i appreciated he was good for hockey but i thought he was a bit whiney and when he was given the C i really didn't like it for the Pens, it just seemed so forced. Then the team won the cup and everyone was talking about how good he was as captain and how young he was, despite Malkin winning the CST.

 

Then there was the gold game, where he did little bar scoring the winning goal and suddenly he was the hero again. Basically he annoyed me.

 

But reading some of his quotes recently, especially the ones in response to Milbury and seeing his play on the ice he seems like a captain now (as well as posting some hella good numbers). As a result i am starting to respect and even like him.....

 

 

On the other hand my opinion of Ovi has gone the other way. He doesn't seem like a captain, just a leader. He seems to have lost focus and spends too much time not working out/doing hockey related things. What made him so attractive as a player was the enthusiasm he brought - that seems to have dwindled and has not been replaced by maturity and discipline but by entitlement

[Randall Flagg]

I've always liked Crosby. Hated him as a sabres fan, since he holds ownership papers of Miller's five hole, but loved him as a player. He's exciting, and represents what seems to be disappearing again as the refs call less and less.

[dEnnis the Menace]

I've always liked Crosby. Hated him as a sabres fan, since he holds ownership papers of Miller's five hole, but loved him as a player. He's exciting, and represents what seems to be disappearing again as the refs call less and less.

 

I have to agree with this sentiment. I used to think he was a whiner, but i've never argued that he wasn't great. Now that he's grown up some, he embodies the elite NHL player that the NHL needs as the face of the league. Stamkos may get there, but honestly, Crosby is just downright amazing. He's the player you hate because he's not on your team, but would love if he was on your team.

 

The bolded statement could not be any truer

[TrueBlueGED]

I originally was not a fan of his, i appreciated he was good for hockey but i thought he was a bit whiney and when he was given the C i really didn't like it for the Pens, it just seemed so forced. Then the team won the cup and everyone was talking about how good he was as captain and how young he was, despite Malkin winning the CST.

 

Then there was the gold game, where he did little bar scoring the winning goal and suddenly he was the hero again. Basically he annoyed me.

 

But reading some of his quotes recently, especially the ones in response to Milbury and seeing his play on the ice he seems like a captain now (as well as posting some hella good numbers). As a result i am starting to respect and even like him.....

 

 

On the other hand my opinion of Ovi has gone the other way. He doesn't seem like a captain, just a leader. He seems to have lost focus and spends too much time not working out/doing hockey related things. What made him so attractive as a player was the enthusiasm he brought - that seems to have dwindled and has not been replaced by maturity and discipline but by entitlement

 

This is pretty much exactly how I feel, and I don't think it's that far off from the truth. Crosby did whine a lot when he first got into the league, always looking to refs for calls. Malkin was more responsible for the Cup win than Crosby, yet the news media slobbered on the youngest captain in history to win it. I don't know if he was overrated, so much as overhyped.

 

But that changed, and it's pretty clear he's the best in the game right now. For me personally, the most impressive thing was coming back from the concussions like he had never stopped paying. He missed, what, nearly a full year of hockey? And he came back like he didn't miss any time at all, racking up points at a ridiculous rate. That is seriously impressive.

 

As far as Ovechkin goes, he was my favorite player in the NHL since he came into the league. I just loved his aggression, the passion he played with...there is no more exciting player to watch than an Ovechkin on his game (and it helped that he infuriated Don Cherry so much). Of course, something changed with him too, and not in a good way. He isn't the same guy I loved to watch play. I'm not sure if defenses finally figured out how to play him and he hasn't put in the effort to adapt his game, or he's just lost a half step because the style he played was so brutal his body is starting to feel it, or if his heart isn't in it 100% anymore.

[wjag]

Crosby is a marvel to watch play. I can understand envy but not hate.

[R_Dudley]

Interesting topic, since I am behind enemy lines here in da'berg I do get too see a lot of his play because I like hockey and will watch the pens when bflo is not playing.

 

He did whine a bit when he first got here but that had more to do with his age/maturity level in my estimation. The skill level you cannot deny and he works as hard or harder then anyone else on his team which a captain should.

 

The point from trueBlue about him coming back after a year and not looking like he missed has a to do with the approach the team took with him. Keeping up with the news here they had the best concussion specialists in the country/world testing him beyond the baseline tests and what they discovered is that while player may pass league baseline tests the cognitive spacial coordination movements he was previously able to make lagged way behind and he had to almost relearn them to get back to his previous levels which is why he stayed out that long before he came back. That has made the league in general take a harder look at their protocols and bringing a player back too soon. Nothing wrong with making hockey safer for all players involved.

 

I hate him as a rival but i do respect his game.

[NowDoYouBelieve]

No problems with Sid here. Concussion issues don't go away, though. A big part of me thinks that Crosby will be remembered for an abbreviated career. One more big hit might do that.

[Taro T]

No problems with Sid here. Concussion issues don't go away, though. A big part of me thinks that Crosby will be remembered for an abbreviated career. One more big hit might do that.

Not necessarily. Not a medical doctor but have read quite a bit on the subject. There is a line of thought that concussions can heal essentially completely, but that a large part of why when an individual suffers subsequent concussions and the effects are longer / more severe than previous ones it is because the previous ones hadn't completely healed.

 

The issue is, they are still learning how long it takes to be completely healed and even how to define the term.

[LastPommerFan]

He could be the next "one" or he could be the next Lindros.

[spndnchz]

From TSN article today:

 

Flyers assistant coach Craig Berube threw his two cents into the war of words on CSN Philly's Daily News Live Tuesday, calling Penguins stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, "the two dirtiest players on their hockey team."

 

"They slash, they punch guys in the face they do all these little things," said Berube. "I got no problem with what Schenn does, and if somebody runs [Crosby] over, that's great, they should run him over. This guy gets away with too much in my opinion, whines to the refs all day and all night, it's a joke."

[Drunkard]

Sidney Crosby can tell the flavor of a popsicle just by sitting on it.

[inkman]

Crosby is a marvel to watch play. I can understand envy but not hate.

Tru dat

[shrader]

From TSN article today:

 

Flyers assistant coach Craig Berube threw his two cents into the war of words on CSN Philly's Daily News Live Tuesday, calling Penguins stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, "the two dirtiest players on their hockey team."

 

"They slash, they punch guys in the face they do all these little things," said Berube. "I got no problem with what Schenn does, and if somebody runs [Crosby] over, that's great, they should run him over. This guy gets away with too much in my opinion, whines to the refs all day and all night, it's a joke."

 

It's funny. Essentially what I'm reading is that the low skilled physical players, the Craig Berube's of the world, think that the high skilled guys are supposed to accept the role of personal punching bag and never fight back in any way at all.

[notwoz]

I originally was not a fan of his, i appreciated he was good for hockey but i thought he was a bit whiney and when he was given the C i really didn't like it for the Pens, it just seemed so forced. Then the team won the cup and everyone was talking about how good he was as captain and how young he was, despite Malkin winning the CST.

 

Then there was the gold game, where he did little bar scoring the winning goal and suddenly he was the hero again. Basically he annoyed me.

 

But reading some of his quotes recently, especially the ones in response to Milbury and seeing his play on the ice he seems like a captain now (as well as posting some hella good numbers). As a result i am starting to respect and even like him.....

 

 

On the other hand my opinion of Ovi has gone the other way. He doesn't seem like a captain, just a leader. He seems to have lost focus and spends too much time not working out/doing hockey related things. What made him so attractive as a player was the enthusiasm he brought - that seems to have dwindled and has not been replaced by maturity and discipline but by entitlement

 

I am in the same boat. At first my complaints were his chronic whining early on and that he wasn't on the Sabres. That said, I've always been suspicious of the fact that Mario, in need of a superstar to keep his franchise afloat, won the draft lottery that year. Maybe it's sour grapes, but ...

[nobody]

Has Crosby moved out of Mario's basement yet?

[buftex]

Man, I think Crosby is awesome! I'd take him in a heartbeat! Crosby for Roy...straight up. Hell, I'll even throw in Boyes! :angel:

[sabres1970]

I don't hate athletes because they're good. I'm as big a Bills fan as they come, but I don't despise Tom Brady. Sure, I don't like his cockiness and his occasional Buffalo insults, but I think it's shallow to hate a guy because he's at the top of his game. I save my hatred for guys like LeBron James and Rex Ryan; guys who are both egotistical and loud mouthed. Crosby is neither of those, he's just damn good.

[I am Defecting]

Sidney Crosby can tell the flavor of a popsicle just by sitting on it.

 

Just another example of his unparalleled "on ice awareness."

[darksabre]

Just another example of his unparalleled "on ice awareness."

 

:clapping:

[DR HOLLIDAY]

From TSN article today:

 

Flyers assistant coach Craig Berube threw his two cents into the war of words on CSN Philly's Daily News Live Tuesday, calling Penguins stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, "the two dirtiest players on their hockey team."

 

"They slash, they punch guys in the face they do all these little things," said Berube. "I got no problem with what Schenn does, and if somebody runs [Crosby] over, that's great, they should run him over. This guy gets away with too much in my opinion, whines to the refs all day and all night, it's a joke."

 

Thats pretty rich, a Philly coach complaining about players on another team being dirty............. :beer:

[Chief Enabler]

Sidney Crosby can tell the flavor of a popsicle just by sitting on it.

I like it....

 

Truly, all told, he skates as hard as anyone I have personnally witnessed every shift. We can throw too many peeps under the bus for floating but this guy doesn't. For me, at the end of the day, in the sports world, there are the floaters and the boaters......

[shrader]

Thats pretty rich, a Philly coach complaining about players on another team being dirty............. :beer:

 

A guy who just happens to be 7th all time in penalty minutes. There's more than enough resentment of the talented players with him.

[chuck schick]

I've got a buddy who is a bartender at a high end L.A. hotel. Back in the fall, a guy with a baseball cap sat down at the corner of the bar and opened up a tab under the name "Sid". After a few minutes of studying the guy from a distance, my friend figures out that its Crosby. Probably not a big deal since stars are all over the place out there, but for a hockey fan like my friend it was still pretty cool. They shoot the sh#t for a little bit, and when it's time to close the bar at midnight, Crosby wanted to go out for a few more. He piles into the back of my friend's mini-van (they didn't even give him shotgun!) and head over to an Irish bar for a couple more drinks, pool, etc. Crosby picked up everyone's tab at the bar, and was really cool and low key according to my friend.

[bunomatic]

I used to absolutely despise the Wayne when he was breaking records in Edmonton but years later I realized that I had actually missed out on enjoying the crazy talent that comes along maybe once in a generation or lifetime because I was too busy hating so when Crosby came along I said just enjoy it man. That being said he is one chippy player that gets away with murder on the ice. Wayne had Semenko, Crosby has Crosby and the refs.

[North Buffalo]

Yes, I love to Hate Cindy because of many of the above mentioned facts. That being said, would I welcome him on the Sabres... in a heart beat. I don't hate him as a person, I don't know him. Also, I don't question his heart, but I agree combined with his insane talent, he is a chippy guy and I love that Weber bobbled headed him the first game they played each other.

 

Question, do you think Stafford or Roy would ever float if Crosby was on the Sabres. I think not, nuff said.