Sidney Crosby ready for All-Star premiere

 

NHL PR

 

With 23 goals and 46 assists for 69 points, in 42 games played, Sidney leads the National Hockey League scoring race by five points over fellow All-Stars Vincent Lecavalier and Alex Ovechkin. In 45 games, Pittsburgh is tied for third in the tight Atlantic Division with two games in hand on the Devils and Rangers. The Penguins host the Maple Leafs tomorrow in the last game for both teams prior to next week's All-Star Break.

Q.What are your thoughts on your first All-Star Game, how exciting is it?
SIDNEY CROSBY: I'm excited for sure. There's a lot of guys there that I grew up watching and to get the opportunity to meet them and play with them, it's definitely going to be enjoyable.

Q. Is there anything that you're looking forward to anything than else, maybe the skills competition?
SIDNEY CROSBY: Probably the game, the game itself. You know, just playing with so many great superstars, and just really trying to enjoy that game.

Q. What's it going to be like playing on a line with Alexander Ovechkin, and there's been a lot of discussion about the All-Star Game, that there's too many goals and there's not a competitive enough game, and whether there should be more young players in the game who might have more competitive fire because they have not been in the game before.
SIDNEY CROSBY: Well, playing with Ovechkin is going to be a lot of fun. Obviously to play with a guy who shoots the puck like that, you want to get it to him. I think I'll be doing my best to try to feed him the puck and let him rip it.
As far as competitiveness in the All-Star Game, I mean, I think it's fun for everyone to see a lot of nice goals and I think the more goals, the better. So you know, it's a game that's full of a lot of skill and as a fan you want to see that. You want to see guys have fun out there and be creative, and I think that's really the whole point of it.

Q. How do you think it's going to be when you walk into that room on Monday for the first practice? Joe Sakic was telling us yesterday that when he was 20 in his first All-Star Game, he didn't say a word and he was pretty nervous but he probably came in a bit under the radar unlike you. How do you think it'S going to be with all those veteran guys?
SIDNEY CROSBY: I'm sure it will probably be a little similar. Probably be in a little bit of a state of shock being with so many guys that, as I said, I grew up watching. That's the way it is. I think that's a big part of it, and the main thing is to go there and have fun with it and have an opportunity to meet a lot of players and great guys. That's really going to be my focus, just enjoying it really.

Q. Just wondering in all of your years of watching the All-Star Game on television, is there any one or two moments that come to mind that are your favorite memory watching past All-Star games?
SIDNEY CROSBY: I think if you remember -- I think I remember when Nolan went for the hat trick in San Jose, and I remember Ray Bourque tearing it up for the target shooting, just little things like that that stick out. Every year was fun to see all those skill players go on the ice and really have fun out there and make some nice plays. So it was always enjoyable to watch.

Q. Can you talk about the significance of you leading the league in scoring right now and (Evgeni) Malkin leading the rookies and how that may factor in the long-term future of the Penguins being a strong team?
SIDNEY CROSBY: I think obviously we want to contribute as an offensive player, so, you know, we want to continue to do that, whether that puts us in the lead for the scoring, we'll see what happens there. I think the main thing for both of us is to help contribute, and our goal and focus is to make the playoffs this year and build off of that. If we can do our part, hopefully we'll continue to grow and have some success.

Q. I just wanted to ask you as far as the NHL as a whole, the league has pegged you and a couple other young players, up-and-coming players as far as promoting the league, are you comfortable with being in that position as far as being a big celebrity as far as their promotion?
SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, I think so, that's part of it. You know, we all love to play and hopefully we can bring interest to other people watching it or even people would want to play it, as well.
You know, there's nothing wrong with that, and I think it's good to have a young group like we have and hopefully it can be a successful group for years to come.

Q. What do you think Evgeni Malkin has brought to the league and what's it like playing with him and what's your relationship with him?
SIDNEY CROSBY: He's been great. It has not taken him time to really adjust at all. He's fit in right away, and, you know, I think he's continue to go get better. He scores a lot of beautiful goals, a lot of high goals, but he's dangerous every time he's out there, so I think we have a good one-, two-punch going right now and we have a pretty good relationship. We're still having difficulty talking, but we use (Sergei) Gonchar and just kind of pick apart words sometimes. But he's a great guy. He's fitting in well.

Q. A couple days after the All-Star game you and the Penguins are going to be playing the Coyotes and I wonder if you're excited about playing against Wayne Gretzky for the first time, and also how comfortable you are with the comparisons between you and Wayne Gretzky at this point in your career?
SIDNEY CROSBY: That will be a fun game for sure. You know, you're playing against somebody you grew up idolizing, not as a player but as a coach. It's still going to be a fun time I think.
As for the comparisons, I'll always be the first guy to tell you that there is never going to be another Wayne Gretzky, but it's always been a compliment when the comparison has been there and it's something that motivates you I think as a player to do well when you hear things like that.

Q. There has not been an All-Star Game in three years, wondering, what were you doing in January 2004, where were you playing?
SIDNEY CROSBY: I was in Rimouski. I was playing there. And I don't remember, I was probably shoveling snow somewhere, I don't know.

Q. Do you remember whether you watched the game?
SIDNEY CROSBY: I don't have really good memories of it to be honest so maybe I missed it. We might have been playing or something, but the most recent one I don't think I have too good a memory of.

Q. Was that your first year for Rimouski?
SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, I was 16 I think there, yeah.

Q. Can you tell me how the new uniform felt when you put it on for the photo shoot, what did it feel like and what do you think of it?
SIDNEY CROSBY: It felt good. It's a little bit tighter than the traditional one that we wear now, but at the same time I think it's not uncomfortable by any means. They showed me the water resistance, things like that. Doesn't take in water at all.
Should be a little more comfortable I think, and I think it just that whole thing about being lighter is going to help over the course of the year and probably make it easier for the trainers too, I'm sure, something that they look forward to.

Q. I was looking around the Internet chat rooms the other day seeing what the fans had said in the wake of the Blake spear, and your response to it and I thought one kid had a really interesting question here. He said, "He seems like such the good little boy in his interviews. I wonder which one is the real Sidney Crosby." So who is the real Sidney, the polite guy or the guy who explodes on the ice?
SIDNEY CROSBY: Maybe somewhere between. I think emotion is definitely part of the game and it brings out a lot in players. But I think you have to be able to separate what happens on the ice and off the ice and it's a tense game and there's no doubt I get caught up in it but I think I'm able to separate myself outside of that off the ice.

Q. And off the ice when it comes to actually selling the game, somebody asked this earlier, how much time do you spend a week, say, promoting the game, doing interviews filming commercials, doing bits; how much of your week is spent doing that sort of stuff?
SIDNEY CROSBY: To be honest, I wouldn't be able to tell you. I think it depends on the week and, you know, sometimes if we're not playing as much, then a lot more time goes into that. But if we're playing more, it's obviously tougher.
I don't really keep track. It's not something I think about at all. I do it when the time comes and away from that, you know, I'm either relaxing or focused on playing.

Q. Wondering if in talking to Mario at home in the All-Star Game, he holds the records foremost points in one game, 1988 at St. Louis, and also tied for the record with the most goals, four, I wonder if that might be neat to try to top him one day, maybe not so much this year, but one day?
SIDNEY CROSBY: For sure that would be fun. Got to start with one first, right, and I haven't actually got a chance to talk to him too much about it. He's been away for a bit. But I know he's going there, so I'm sure he'll have some memories to talk about the games that he's played in. So it's probably a lot of fun to sit down and hear those.

Q. Can you talk about keeping your focus on an important game with Toronto tomorrow before the break, and also if I heard the static right, you're 2 and 10 in shootout attempts, if that's true, and has that been a problem for you?
SIDNEY CROSBY: The All-Star Game is obviously going to be a fun time but we have an important game before that and that's where my focus will be.
As for the shootouts it's just a trial-and-error thing you have to find, you have to find your own way of approaching it and obviously I've had some trouble, but you know, I'm still learning, and I think that that's something you just have to gain confidence in and really get a knack for it.

 

 

Photo: Sidney Crosby from Penguins. © Chris Fuller (HV)