Crosby stands out, even in defeat
Friday, April 20, 2007 | 11:28 PM ET
In the aftermath of Ottawa’s impressive five-game victory over Pittsburgh, the comment that stood out most came from Daniel Alfredsson. Asked about Sidney Crosby, the Senators captain said (and I’m paraphrasing here) his team was lucky to face Crosby now, because when the supporting cast gets better, victories over the Penguins won’t be so easy.
That’s the truth.
While several youthful Penguins were overwhelmed by playoff pressure (Whitney, Malkin) and a few others were pretty good (Fleury, Staal), Crosby was excellent. He was as impressive in defeat as he was during a regular season full of successes.
Whether he played with Gary Roberts/Colby Armstrong or Malkin/Mark Recchi, Crosby was consistently dangerous. The Senators changed their defensive style, ordering forwards who would normally be responsible for picking him up in the neutral zone to back off. Defencemen were asked to meet him at the blue line, instead.
Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov did a great job containing him, but Crosby wore them out in the process. And it wasn’t just the offence. Crosby played a strong two-way game, and became Michel Therrien’s most dependable faceoff man. This was a big concern coming in, as the Penguins were dead last in the NHL during the regular season.
Crosby’s percentage (52.6) was a little lower than Maxime Talbot’s 54.5. But he took 39 more faceoffs, as Therrien tossed him out there for all the crucial ones.
(This is an area Ray Shero will have to address. The other three centres were clobbered. Erik Christensen came in at 34.6, Jordan Staal at 32.6 and Malkin at 22.6. 22.6! I haven’t seen a number like that since my Grade 10 Music Theory test.)
Crosby still needs to work on controlling on-ice frustration, but that will come with maturity. Plus, he deserves points for wanting to play in the Worlds later this month. You can only imagine how many players beg out of that event because of a hangnail.
Not the Sens of old
That’s the best I’ve ever seen Ottawa play in a series. They could - and probably should - have swept. Right now, the Senators are the Angelina Jolie of the NHL playoffs: everyone’s drooling over them. If this team continues to play like that, they could very well win it all.
BUT...
They’ve teased us before. No one knows that more than the most fickle of Canada’s hockey fans. This group, I think, is different. There’s an edge that hasn’t existed since Ottawa’s first two playoff trips back in 1997 and 1998. It’s weird how it worked out, but if Zdeno Chara doesn’t leave, Anton Volchenkov doesn’t develop and Chris Phillips doesn’t take a bigger leadership role. Chara is something else, but this worked out well for Ottawa. (Next, John Muckler’s going to tell us he planned it this way.)
Think about this: Phillips and Volchenkov are now signed for a combined $6 million/season. Bryan McCable and Pavel Kubina make more than $10 million/year. Keep the Maple Leafs fan in your house away from knives.
Did you see Volchenkov get hit by Gary Roberts late in Game 5? He returned to the bench a few minutes later determined to play. The series was all but over, but Volchenkov didn’t care. After the game, I said to him, “I’m surprised you came back.”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t broken, so I play.”
All of Ottawa’s young guys are like that. Kelly, Vermette, Heatley, Spezza, Schubert (what a series for him) and especially Emery. The edge of these younger players has energized the veterans. Alfredsson really believes in these guys and it’s made him better.
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About the Author
Elliotte Friedman is the host of the CFL ON CBC. Prior to being named host in 2006, Friedman worked on the CFL on CBC broadcasts for the three seasons as a sideline reporter. A Toronto native, Friedman is well known for his additional work on Hockey Night in Canada, as well as his presence on the Torino 2006 Winter Games telecasts as a hockey reporter. Prior to joining the CBC, Friedman worked at The Score network and was widely regarded as one of the best reporters in the country. Friedman used his reporting skills to break stories and file feature reports for high profile events including six Stanley Cup Finals, four Grey Cup Championships, two World Series and one Olympic Games. He is also a regular on the nationally syndicated Prime Time Sports radio telecast, hosted by Bob McCown.
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Comments
The Bambino
Newfoundland
He's the best, hands down. He's the future of the NHL. Just like Mario was and Wayne was. Gretzky and Lemieux both spent significant time in the playoffs before they had the chance to hoist Lord Stanley's mug.
As for Ottawa, I don't think they have the depth to beat the Sabres, but hopefully they do return the cup to Canada.
Posted April 25, 2007 01:32 PM
dave mccormick
ELLIOT,
The sens finally get that monkey off thier
backs and I THINK they could go all the way
just as long as they listen to murray.
DAVE
Posted April 23, 2007 06:06 PM
BRIAN
SYDNEY
THE SENS ONLY WON OUVER A TEAM OF ROOKIES WHO WERE NOT EVEN TO BE THERE AND THEY HAD A HARD TIME DOING THAT.THIS TEAM DOES NOT HAVE THE FUTURE THAT THE PITTSBURG TEAM HAS.REAL FACTS
Posted April 23, 2007 03:59 PM
Joe Stangle
Really? We're still on the Crosby train? He lost that's it. The other team did a great job at containing him. Let's moving on. If "if's" and "but's" were candy and nuts, we'd all have stanley cups. Even the "leafs" would have one. Don't get me started on that dead horse
Posted April 23, 2007 03:20 PM
billy ho
OTT
GO SENS GO!!!
Brodeur is going down....................!
Posted April 23, 2007 02:29 PM
Derek
Danielle is tired of hearing about Crosby. You may as switch to baseball because otherwise you are out of luck. Crosby is the real deal and in a few years will have left every body in his trail. right now he is probably in the top 3.Lecavalier and Heatley are right there.
Posted April 23, 2007 11:21 AM
James
Ottawa
Nicely said Elliot..these Ottawa Senators are for real..with 4 lines of attack and a very solid D not to mention a great goalkeeper..people are always worried about Ottawa not performing in the playoffs..that is done...watch these 2007 Sens..they are the real deal!!
James
Posted April 23, 2007 11:01 AM
Gary
Toronto
I'm also tired of hearing about Crosby all the time. Of course he's talented and of course he's going to be great - but enough about him!
Posted April 23, 2007 10:38 AM
Dave
Halifax
Umm, danniele, who IS a better player right now? Crosby dominated this year, why do you think he's receiving the Art Ross. That wasn't a fluke. He's a nominee for the Hart and he's got a good chance of receiving that too. All this and he's only 19. What were you doing at 19? Not playing and dominating in the NHL I bet. Just for the record, he dominated in the "Q" league as well. He took the Oceanic to a "Q" league championship, the final of the Memorial cup as well as playing on the Canadian World Junior teams. All this before he was old enough to drink or vote. He makes teams better. In one year, the Pens went from a laughing stock that almost left Pittsburgh into a pretty good team that made the playoffs. I'm willing to bet it won't be too long into the future that he'll be raising the Stanley Cup. Now with the latest news, he played the last couple weeks of the season and the playoffs with a broken foot. He got 9 goals and 3 goals in the playoffs in the highest and most competitive hockey league in the world ON A BROKEN FOOT. I don't care what you do to ease the pain, a broken foot hurts. Give the kid a break, he's the future and I'm willing to bet you'll be cheering him on in Vancouver in 2010.
Posted April 23, 2007 09:25 AM
steve welsh
Newfoundland
i think that with the line of spezza, alfredson and heatly they might go all the way and bring the cup back to were it belongs (CANADA)
Posted April 22, 2007 05:58 PM
Adam Binet
I too sure hope the Sens can continue their run... I've watched this team closely for the past few years and the fear of a collapse and a return to defeat is always looming. However, it looks like they blew open the door on this on by defeating the Pens in 5 and now can hopefully steam-roll right into the Eastern Conference semi's... we'll see what happens then!
Posted April 22, 2007 05:13 PM
Randy
Ottawa
Regarding the Senators, I agree with you Elliotte. I've been watching the team for the last fives years and the series they just finished against Pittsburg was the best I have ever seen them play. Living in Ottawa, and having watched all their ups and downs, I hope they win the cup. At the same time, I won't be disappointed if they just get to the final. Nobody will call them chokers after that.
The next best thing to winning the cup would be for Toronto to make the playoffs next year so the Senators can get a chance to eliminate them and get that monkey off their back as well. Nobody would dare call them 'playoff patsies' now.
Posted April 21, 2007 06:01 PM
danniele
brandon
I'm sick of hearing about crosby. there are better players out there and no one ever talks about them. I am a Canadian and love the game, but enough with him.
Posted April 21, 2007 11:12 AM