Crosby, then who?
Much praise has been heaped upon Sidney Crosby, the 17-year-old phenom who will become the No. 1 pick in today’s NHL draft in Ottawa.
People have talked about Crosby’s ability to skate his way around defenders as if they were ice sculptures. His ability to consistently hit the blade of teammates’ sticks with a pass in traffic. His knack for sticking out a leg to avoid a check.
Leave it to the legendary Scotty Bowman to observe something off the ice, too.
“Whoever gets him, they won’t have to sell a ticket,” Bowman told the Edmonton Journal recently.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are poised to select Crosby. How apropos because the Penguins have had problems selling tickets in recent years and gaining support for a new arena.
That likely will change quickly when general manager Craig Patrick selects the 5-foot-11, 193-pound center, who starred for Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
“The first time I saw Crosby, I thought to myself, ‘There is someone’s franchise player,’ ” Philadelphia Flyers assistant general manager Paul Holmgren said. “We all view him as that type of player. He’s certainly head and shoulders above everyone in this draft.”
The shortened draft will last seven rounds. Much like last year, the draft pool is shallow. The drop-off in talent after Crosby is noticeable. A year ago, there were Alexander Ovechkin (Washington) and Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh). Then came the second-tier players.
This draft also doesn’t resemble 2003. Among those first round picks: Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh), Eric Staal (Carolina), Ryan Suter (Nashville), Zach Parise (New Jersey), Dustin Brown (Los Angeles), Ryan Kesler (Vancouver), and of course, the Flyers’ two blockbusters, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards. That was an exceptional first round.
“That ‘03 draft was outstanding – a classic draft,” said Holmgren, who oversees the Flyers’ draft. “But this would be more along the lines of the last draft.”
After Crosby, left winger Benoit Pouliot, right winger Bobby Ryan, defenseman Jack Johnson, and center Gilbert Brule are considered fairly equal in talent.
Around the League
The New York Rangers bought out the remaining two years on forward Bobby Holik‘s contract. … Defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. … The Minnesota Wild re-signed right wing Alexandre Daigle. … Defenseman Dmitri Kalinin exercised his one-year contract option with the Buffalo Sabres. … The New York Islanders re-signed backup goalie Garth Snow to a three-year deal. … The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Ryan Oulahen and defenseman Kyle Quincey to entry-level contracts. … The Carolina Hurricanes traded the 69th overall pick in today’s draft to the Calgary Flames for defenseman Mike Commodore. They also shipped the 78th pick to the Nashville Predators for defenseman Andrew Hutchinson.