Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Crosby's Gold Hurts Pittsburgh... Seriously
5:58 AM | 
Posted by
Nick Mendola
Apology: This has nothing to do with the trade deadline, but I've got the shakes waiting for my 11 a.m. show (not to mention the 3 p.m. deadline), so I wanted to get these thoughts out of my system. Thanks. Follow me all deadline day on my Twitter page.
(WGR 550) -- It won't be this year, and it won't be next, but there's one thing I can guarantee when it comes to Sid the Kid's future in Pittsburgh.
He won't spend the entire prime of his career there.
At age 22, Sidney Crosby has a Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh and the most important hockey goal in Canadian history (at the least, it's tied with Paul Henderson's 1972 goal in the Summit Series, which happened when I was negative-10, so you know I know what I'm talking about). He makes $8.7 million-per-season, and will do everything short of breaking Wayne Gretzky's scoring record by the time he's done in hockey. He's that good.
But standing there, knowing Crosby was looking across the ice as Ryan Miller got a standing ovation from the Pittsburgh crowd, his Pittsburgh crowd, something occured to me. There's one thing Crosby can't do in Western PA.
Bring a Cup to Canada.
It's been 17 years since a Canadian team lifted Lord Stanley's hardware, and our neighbors to the North had three-straight Bills-esque looks at it a few years back. With each campaign, the nation awkwardly embraced its rivals. In 2004, many Oilers and Canucks fans cheered on the Flames versus the Lightning. The next year, Flames fans held barf bags while barking, "Go Oilers." In 2006, Leafs and Habs fans went the way of Ottawa. All for nought.
So, while it's years down the line, I wanted to put it on record. Whether it's Brian Burke over the summer or someone in Vancouver come 2013, Sid the Kid is going to want to come to Canada. The kid's been an immature player who I can't stand -- a punch to the you-know-what from behind is on his resume -- but he's going to want to pull the reverse Gretzky, leaving a legacy in the States to try and build a bigger one up North. It could happen even sooner if he snags a Cup with a loaded Pens squad this year (Proactive GMs... they exist).
And it'll be awesome.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
(WGR 550) -- It won't be this year, and it won't be next, but there's one thing I can guarantee when it comes to Sid the Kid's future in Pittsburgh.
He won't spend the entire prime of his career there.
At age 22, Sidney Crosby has a Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh and the most important hockey goal in Canadian history (at the least, it's tied with Paul Henderson's 1972 goal in the Summit Series, which happened when I was negative-10, so you know I know what I'm talking about). He makes $8.7 million-per-season, and will do everything short of breaking Wayne Gretzky's scoring record by the time he's done in hockey. He's that good.
But standing there, knowing Crosby was looking across the ice as Ryan Miller got a standing ovation from the Pittsburgh crowd, his Pittsburgh crowd, something occured to me. There's one thing Crosby can't do in Western PA.
Bring a Cup to Canada.
It's been 17 years since a Canadian team lifted Lord Stanley's hardware, and our neighbors to the North had three-straight Bills-esque looks at it a few years back. With each campaign, the nation awkwardly embraced its rivals. In 2004, many Oilers and Canucks fans cheered on the Flames versus the Lightning. The next year, Flames fans held barf bags while barking, "Go Oilers." In 2006, Leafs and Habs fans went the way of Ottawa. All for nought.
So, while it's years down the line, I wanted to put it on record. Whether it's Brian Burke over the summer or someone in Vancouver come 2013, Sid the Kid is going to want to come to Canada. The kid's been an immature player who I can't stand -- a punch to the you-know-what from behind is on his resume -- but he's going to want to pull the reverse Gretzky, leaving a legacy in the States to try and build a bigger one up North. It could happen even sooner if he snags a Cup with a loaded Pens squad this year (Proactive GMs... they exist).
And it'll be awesome.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
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