Perhaps it is a surprise only that it has happened to Sidney Crosby this quickly, this impressively.
Crosby has been viewed as ice hockey's next great talent, one who might be good enough to rival Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, since he was setting scoring records at age 13. Now, as Crosby readies for his first NHL All-Star game at age 19 on Wednesday in Dallas, it appears to be happening.
For the first time since Gretzky was setting a different standard for ice hockey stardom 27 years ago, a player not yet in his 20s has become his sport's signature figure. Crosby is not only the NHL's most popular player but arguably its best one.
PHOTO: AFP
"Yes, definitely, there's not even any question," said Pittsburgh Penguins linemate Mark Recchi, who, while more than prejudiced, echoes a sentiment shared widely by numerous NHL players, executives and coaches.
Check out the reaction of Carson Briere, the young son of Sabres center Daniel Briere, who, upon learning his dad would start the All-Star game, said: "Wow, you get to play with Sidney Crosby!"
It's not just that Crosby is scoring, but how he's scoring, with a verve, passion and a drive. In successive games against Tampa Bay this month, he scored while sliding on his side, controlling the puck while doing so, and from his knees.
Despite a politeness and maturity that would be uncommon for players five years older than himself, Crosby has an edge, too. After being sucker punched in the stomach last week by the New York Islanders' Jason Blake, he charged after Blake with a look that couldn't mask his anger.
"I think emotion is definitely part of the game and it brings out a lot in players," Crosby said. "No doubt I get caught up in it."
Nor does he get caught up in the scoring race. Less than a year after becoming the youngest player in NHL history to have a 100-point season, the Penguins center could threaten to become the first since Lemieux in 1996 (161 points) to have a 150-point season.
Crosby has 72 points in 43 games and could hit 150 by averaging slightly more than two points per game for the rest of the season -- about what he averaged down the stretch of his rookie season. At the break, he leads Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis by six points and Washington's young Alexander Ovechkin by seven points.
In Dallas, there are certain to be more of the inevitable comparisons to Gretzky.
Crosby is the youngest player voted as an All-Star starter since the fan balloting began in 1986. He almost certainly would have been voted a starter last season, too, at age 18, but there was no All-Star game because of the Olympics.
The game has changed considerably since Gretzky was setting virtually every scoring record imaginable, yet Crosby is keeping pace with Gretzky's early seasons.
Crosby wishes he could hush all that talk.
"I'll always be the first guy to tell you there is never going to be another Wayne Gretzky," Crosby said.
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