Now, don't get me wrong here. Most fans ... Most don't believe that there's a conspiracy behind the scenes in NHL headquarters to make Sidney Crosby into the league's next Wayne Gretzky. It would be hard to believe but (sigh) I guess not theoretically out of the realm of possibility. A lot of it comes from Washington and is borne from the Pens/Caps and Crosby/Ovechkin rivalries. That's not a big surprise really. The two blazed onto the scene at the same time, both took the league by storm and thus, even if the two may get along just fine, the fans and media made a rivalry of it. There's also a growing sect of conspiracy theorists, and they reside in Philadelphia. That's all well and good.
But, I think, that once and for all (or at least the next couple days) we can put all of this aside. We can now safely say that there is no conspiracy and we have cold, hard evidence to prove it. The league doesn't want Sidney Crosby and the Pens to win anymore than anyone else. Well, maybe they do, but they're certainly not tilting the ice in favor of Pittsburgh. Any cheering they may be directed towards the Kid is strictly cheering and nothing more. Take last night's Game Two, for example. There was an extremely questionable goal during the first period. No, not IIHF questionable. Like actually, seriously, you can't at all tell if the puck was over the line or not kind of questionable.
During the first period, Crosby tried to bang home a rebound past Flyers' netminder Martin Biron (here's the video link). Sid raised his hands in celebration. Biron disagreed. The referees and the red light also disagreed but the zebras did the right thing and went upstairs to check. Upon further review, it's almost impossible to tell what happened. What we can tell is that the puck was on the goal line and did not completely cross until it disappeared from view, if it crossed at all. Biron's glove comes down on it and the next time we see the puck it's in Biron's glove and getting handed to a referee. As soon as Biron's glove blocks it from view, it becomes impossible to know what happened. And you can't overturn the call if you don't have the necessary evidence. Hell, the Pensblog isn't even making a big stink about it!
So now, the ball is in the league's court, if you'll excuse the basketball reference. The league has two options. One, they can stick with the call on the ice and say that the video evidence is inconclusive, which it appears to be to me. Or, they can reverse the call on the ice and subject themselves to all kinds of scrutiny from Crosby conspiracy theorists and non-conspiracy theorists alike.
In an amazing turn of events, the league made the right call. They sided with their officials on the ice and made the right call -- inconclusive. So now, what are Crosby conspiracy theorists to think? The league had the chance to gift wrap a goal for the Golden Child and did nothing of the sort. Is this conspiracy debunked? For now, I think it is.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. you can also add the fact that and Ovechkin/Sid matchup was denied by some questionable officiating in Game 7 between the Caps/Flyers
Posted at 11:59PM on May 12th 2008 by sleahy21
2. Alright already, Sidney Crosby is a talented player, the next Gretzky?, not even Vegas could get odds on that comparison. He is, at this time in this "re-vamped" NHL, the top drawing card. What I have yet to see this "phenom" display, and keeping with the Gretzky comparison, is "heart". He may have all the ability, but Wayne Gretzky had the ability but also a huge heart when it came to his type of play. He wasn't timid when it came to "mucking it up" and he definitely had a better knowledge of what it took to accomplish his teams' goals. "Sid the Kid" is still just that, a kid in a sport that relies on "backbone" from its' participants and not on sheer talent. Every member of the Stanley Cup winning Penguins displayed more "heart" than Crosby does, and they were a very talent laden team. The Gretzky/Crosby comparison may be someones' "delusion of grandure" but in all actuality, Vegas would tell you, "No Bet!"
Posted at 12:07PM on May 13th 2008 by Sanganoski
3. Sangowski, saying Crosby has "never shown heart" is even crazier than saying Gary Bettman rigs the games. Saying that Gretzky, a far greater player than the Crosby of 2008--but not exactly one to work in the corners, bang at rebounds or engage in physical play of any kind--used to "muck it up" is craziest of all. You may as well have just said that Larry Robinson was hockey's best faceoff man. I would venture a guess that your experience actually watching either Gretzky or Crosby is extremely limited.
Posted at 12:59PM on May 13th 2008 by Steve
4. Sanganoski,
You stated that the Gretzky-Crosby comparison was "someone's delusion of grandeur." It might interest you to know that the delusional person in question who first made that comparison is none other than Wayne Gretzky. It's a widely reported remark.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Crosby
Unfortunate, in a way, that Gretzky ever said it, as Crosby's detractors often cite it as evidence of Crosby's arrogance, as if he somehow proclaimed himself the next Gretzky. In in fact Crosby has said many times that the comparison is ridiculous.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07028/757544-61.stm
Posted at 2:04PM on May 13th 2008 by Lyca
5. Tell you what, oh gifted wonder Steve, I've been watching hockey long before Gretzky was even playing pee-wee, and for Sid the Kid, huh, I've seen many a flash in the pan hockey players too. As soon as the opposing players get a shot AND KNOW that his whelping to an on ice official won't be viewed as an "he took my lunch money", we'll see just how much heart "Sid the Kid" really has, and I'm not talking about "goonery" here, I'm stating a foregone FACT! He wants to play in the "big boys" league, he"ll have to learn how to "put up or shut up" and not go to the bench sniffling!
Posted at 2:04PM on May 13th 2008 by Sanganoski
6. Uhh Sanganoski, you realize that Sidney Crosby is the reigning MVP, right? That's hardly a flash in the pan or someone who still has to learn how to play with the big boys.
Posted at 4:24PM on May 13th 2008 by Hooks_Orpik
7. Tell ya what, I'm retired now, but to give these posters some background to my "crazy" comments, I scouted for the Boston Bruins, and this was post-expansion of the league in '67, now I wasn't the chief scout, I was the "flunkie" that went "trailblazing" to rinks that only held 40 people tops, not including players, and yeah, maybe my "parameters" are still set in stone, but from what I have witnessed, I would have to give Sidney Crosby a "green but still growing" report. In this "Ice Capade" version of the National Hockey League, he'll recieve his MVP awards, but without having "heart", and that trait cannot be taught or learned later in a career, I'm just giving my opinion on a hockey player. I was in the orginization when Bobby Orr was drafted, not by my account, he was already making the Western Union telegraph lines sizzle and getting a lot of lookers, I did have a part in having the Bruins take a look at a "green but still growing" defenseman.......does the name Raymond Bourque ring anyones bell???
Posted at 5:08PM on May 13th 2008 by Sanganoski
8. Sanganowski, I notice you've changed the topic and pretended you never made any of the embarassing non-points from your first post. Whether Crosby's a "flash in the pan" or not is irrelevent to your unfamiliarity with both Crosby or Gretzky and, ultimately, unknowable at present so it's not worth arguing, though I personally do doubt Crosby can reach the Great One's level.
You have, however, reiterated my point that you seem to be unfamiliar with Gretzky or his game (which didn't, as you seem to think, bear any resemblance to, say, Dino Cicarelli's) by saying Crosby compares unfavorably because Crosby has "to learn how to 'put up or shut up' and not go to the bench sniffling," which implies Gretzky didn't share the same problem. In fact, Gretzky's whining to the referees was even worse and even more childish.
I remember a playoff game from '85 or '86, in which a scrum started after an Oiler offside play. Gretzky skated away from the pile and over to the far linesman to complain about the offside call, while his teammates roughed it up with the opponent (can't remember who it was) 4 on 5. Say what you want about Crosby, but I've never seen him abandon his teammates to stand behind a linesman and complain about an offsides.
Watch a Phoenix game sometime. Watch Gretzky on the bench. What he does now is what he used to do on the ice. Every whistle.
In a comparison between Crosby and Gretzky, there are a great number of ways in which Gretzky clearly favors Crosby (I'd say just about everything other than skating, strength and grit). Crosby, unlike Gretzky, doesn't feather soft, airborne, blind, easy-to-handle passes that land on a teammate's stick every time (no one else does or ever has). Crosby's passes are on target, but on the ice, 80 mph and very difficult for mortals to corral. Gretzky could hit a pin with his hard slapshot. Crosby can't and doesn't have a notably hard slapshot, even if he could. Gretzky was dynamite on the breakaway, Crosby's above-average, but not spectacular.
However, you didn't compare them in any of those terms. You suggested Gretzky was gritty and didn't whine; both claims are either fictitious or revisionist (pick a historical game at random and watch it--you'll see no grit from Gretz and plenty of whining to the refs).
You say you have been watching hockey since the time Gretzky was in peewee. If you have, it's clear that, in all that time, you somehow missed seeing him.
Posted at 5:25PM on May 13th 2008 by Steve
9. I admire you fortitude Steve, and true to your comments, I never did get to see Wayne Gretzky at the minor league level only in the professional ranks, but, and again, this was back when, before expansion and the "criteria" for making the "bigs" wasn't just skating and scoring, players back then had to contend with a much rougher, and for the sake of argument not bringing pugilism into the conversation, the "stamina" of a young, "green" hockey player was always first and foremost. we're talking in an era when "rivalries" were not "just invented", that was the season, there were only 6 teams and you HAD to "put up or shut up". If "Sid the Kid" goes on to have an illustrious career, GREAT, but, again its only an observation or "opinion" and I know how the saying goes, he may be a very "talented" player, but from these old eyes, he's still "green with room to grow".
Posted at 7:20PM on May 13th 2008 by Sanganoski
10. Philadelphia fans running around with tin foil hats on (go figure)
Posted at 7:25PM on May 13th 2008 by cupster33
11. "What I have yet to see this 'phenom' display, and keeping with the Gretzky comparison, is 'heart'."
"this was back when...the 'stamina' of a young, 'green' hockey player was always first and foremost.
Are you talking about the guy who played the playoffs last year on a broken foot? Just checking.
Posted at 10:27AM on May 14th 2008 by GMR