In a recent interview:
Before QMJHL training camp began last summer, Wayne Gretzky stunned the hockey world saying that a young 16-year-old player named Sidney Crosby, who had yet to play a game at junior level, could be the first one to break some of his records.
As the QMJHL 2003-04 regular season is coming close to an end, the least you can say about Crosby?s junior debut that he went well over expectations. To give an idea of the impact of Crosby on the Rimouski Oceanic team, note that this .500 club recorded a mere win, eight losses and two draws when he was off the roster for 11 straight games during the World Junior Championship. Over that period, the offensive of the Oceanic slumped from an average of 4 goals per game to a mere 2.4.
With still six games to play in the 2003-04 regular season, Crosby has 50 goals and 69 assists for a total of 119 points.
Below is a review of what he has done already, and which landmarks and records he could be associated with by the end of the season. We also compared some of his performances with the best ever in the QMJHL and CHL.The portrait demonstrates that no 16-year-old Canadian player since Gretzky has been as good as Crosby.
And some more:
Great Expectations for Young Junior Star
Sidney Crosby. That is going to be a name you will want to get to know if everything continues to progress as they have this far.
Crosby is a five foot ten, 186 pound, 16 year old with the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), a division of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). A rookie in the league, he won?t even be eligible for the NHL draft until 2005, but he has been turning heads for a good many years already. The Oceanic made him the number one pick in the QMJHL draft and it appears Crosby will have to get used to everything that goes with being put in the limelight.
The Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia native grew up watching the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL, but he has had to adapt quickly to a new home in Rimouski, Quebec where he has already become somewhat of a celebrity around town. It is not only being recognized around town that Crosby has to deal with. Scouts and media from all over North America seem to be following ever move he makes. One of the major concerns of his new team is to make certain that the pressure doesn?t become too overwhelming.
Pressure can become friend or foe, depending upon the personality, but when Wayne Gretzky was asked if he thought anyone would break some of his scoring records, a feat many hockey fans would deem impossible, he replied ?Yes.? The name Gretzky threw out as the player he thought capable was none other than Sidney Crosby, claiming that he was the best prospect he has seen since Mario Lemieux.
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