Sidney Crosby: Future Hall of Famer, No.2

In this 10 part series, I will be dissecting ten different careers thus far. The series is fully called “Players Ages 28 and Younger who will end up in the Hall of Fame.”  Feel free to argue a selection or the rankings at the end of the series.

“He’s dynamite.  He’s the best player I’ve seen since Mario.  He’s that good.” –Wayne Gretzky

Sidney Crosby was a straight “A” student in high school, and was an unbelievably nice kid, according to both his parents and his vice-principal.  He was then transferred to Shattuck-St Mary’s, a well-known hockey school in Minnesota.

He scored 162 points in 57 games, and immediately made himself eligible for the QMJHL draft.  He was taken first overall by the Rimouski Oceanic, and dominated that league, scoring 303 points in just 121 games.

Here is a link of a young Sidney Crosby, about age 14.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neO44K7Awg0

One could clearly see that Sidney Crosby was something special, even early on in his life.  He practiced his skills in his basement, shooting pucks into a net and into the dryer.  The family dryer is both dented and almost fully black from all of the puck marks from shots that Crosby missed.

Crosby was almost passed over in 2005 because of the NHL lockout, but the NHL made the draft happen, for the main purpose to get Sidney Crosby in the NHL.  The Pittsburgh Penguins won the draft lottery that year, getting the rights to draft the young phenom.

Sid the Kid did not waste time in dominating the NHL and its newly played game (The New NHL).  He was named to the all-rookie team after scoring 102 points in 81 games, but lost the Calder Trophy to Alexander Ovechkin. 

In his sophomore year, he was clearly the best player in the league when he scored 120 points in 79 games.  He was then named the Penguins’ youngest captain ever, and the second youngest captain in league history at age 19.

Here is a list of all the awards that Crosby won, from Midget AAA to NHL.

Midget AAA

QMJHL

CHL

NHL

Ice Hockey World Championships

Other

Here is a list of franchise records and NHL records that Crosby holds so far in his career.

1.   Pittsburgh Penguins' franchise record for assists in a season by a rookie (63)

2.   Pittsburgh Penguins' franchise record for points in a season by a rookie (102)

3.   First rookie to record 100 points and 100 penalty minutes in a season

4.   Youngest player in NHL history to record 100 points in a season

5.   Youngest player in NHL history to record 200 career points (19 years and 207 days)

6.   Youngest player in NHL history to have 2 consecutive 100 point seasons.

7.   Youngest player to be voted to the NHL All-Star Game

8.   Youngest player in NHL history to win the Art Ross Trophy

9.   Youngest player in NHL history to win the Lester B. Pearson Award

10.        Youngest player in NHL history to be named to the First All-Star Team

11.        Second youngest player in NHL history to be named a full team captain (In January 1984, Brian Bellows of the Minnesota North Stars was made interim captain at 5 months younger than Crosby, but he only served the latter half of the 1983-84 season replacing injured captain Craig Hartsburg)

Crosby has 294 points in 213 career games in the NHL, and will no doubt get over 1000 points, and probably over 1000 assists.  He may even get to the 500 goal club, although he is more of a playmaker than a scorer. 

He led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup finals this year, and although they lost, Crosby is sure to win the Stanley Cup sometime soon in his amazing NHL career.

He is arguably the best hockey player in the world, and he will no doubt be in the Hall of Fame someday.

www.wikipedia.org (The Charts are taken directly from Wikipedia)

www.sidneycrosbyspotlight.com

www.crosby87.com

10. Jason Spezza

9. Henrik Lundqvist
8. Rick Nash

7. Dion Phaneuf

6. Henrik Zetterberg

5. Ilya Kovalchuk

4. Vinny Lecavalier

3. Evgeni Malkin