Sidney Crosby Is Talented

Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby gets a lot of flack from the mainstream media and bloggers a like.

Some accuse him of being a whiner, a cheap shot artist, and a bit over hyped. However there is no denying that The Kid's got the skills to pay the bills, and those skills were on display Wednesday night in a game against the New York Rangers.

With the Pens up 5-2 late in the third period, Crosby netted himself an impressive, amazing, stupendous (enough adjectives?) no look, top shelf, backhanded goal. This after having to skip out on the All-Star weekend festivities due to an injury.

Some were outraged that Crosby was "too injured" to take part in the All-Star weekend and thought that his injury wasn't serious enough and he could've played. And I now agree. Too hurt for the all-star weekend, but after seven days of rest and just three days after the ASG itself he's able to score a highlight reel goal of the year candidate? How dare he.

Maybe the NHL should've forced him to play on the weekend just to make it fair and level out the playing field for everyone else. Actually that's not a bad idea. If you'll excuse me, I have to go give Gary Bettman a call and mention that to him. I also want to talk to him about my glow in the dark/cosmic bowling like idea for hockey games. I think it will really catch on.

Fighting Like Girls

Over the weekend there were two pretty embarassing fights in the NHL. And my apolgoies in advance for comparing these fights to how girls fight in the headline. Because I bet most girls have been in better fights than these two.

First off we have Sidney Crosby, or as we shall start referring to him, "Sucker Punch Sidney." Sucker punching guys seems to be Crosby's thing as of late. First we had the crotch punching incident, and now this "fight" against Brett McLean of the Florida Panthers.

After the game, McLean's teammate Nick Boynton said what we're all thinking...

"That was just embarrassing. I can understand a little bit what he was trying to do, but that's a not a very professional move. You ask a guy to fight. You don't jump a guy when his head is down taking a faceoff. That's pretty immature and childish. He's just, whatever. He's not happy with the way things are going and he was trying to get his team going. But there's no need for that.''

Now if you think that fight was pretty pathetic, hold on to your hats because here comes this gem from Alexander Semin of the Washington Capitals.

Some are comparing this fight to a bongo player banging away on the drums, while others think it's a lot like Ralphie fighting Scut Farkas from A Christmas Story. If you ask me, it looks like Semin applied the ol' coming at you like a spider monkey routine.

An Insider's Opinion On Crosby Punching A Guy In The Crotch

All around the interwebs there was outrage last week over the Sidney Crosby punching Boris Valabik repeatedly in the crotch and not being suspended incident.

I'll admit I was one of those people who didn't understand how you could get away with doing that. In any other sport, punching a guy in the crotch would get you sent home for awhile. But this is hockey, and maybe that's what makes this sport great.

Instead of just playing the outraged hockey writer role and condemning Crosby for his actions, I instead decided to put my college diploma in television broadcasting to good use and do some investigatory journalism.

Over the weekend, I got in touch with hockey insider Bob McKenzie while he was in Ottawa covering the World Junior tournament for TSN. I asked him about the incident and why Crosby wasn't disciplined. McKenzie thinks it's because it wasn't worthy of any disciplinary action in the first place.

"I guess the NHL saw it the same way I did – it’s not suspendable. It wasn’t nice but in a league where you get one or two games for taking off a guy’s head, I’m not sure that punching a guy with your glove on in the pants is going to cost you."

McKenzie also believes that the punch wouldn't be such a big deal if it was done by another player other than Sid the Kid.

"If it wasn’t Crosby, we wouldn’t even have talked about it, let alone considered it as a potential suspension."

So there you have it. Punching a guy in the crotch in the NHL is totally cool. Hockey players have it sweet, hockey writers not so much. I just decided to punch the mailman in the crotch while he was delivering my mail, and it was quite a scene. Police got involved, I was put in handcuffs, and now have to appear in court next month. I almost immediately regret making that decision.

Who's On Santa's Nice List?

Ho ho ho! The big red guy here. You also might know me as Santa Claus, Kris Kringle, or Papa C. I'm just about to head out for my annual trip around the world. Pretty sweet gig eh? Get to travel the world and only work one day a year.

Before I load up the sleigh and feed the reindeers their traditional pre-flight meal of carrots and red bull, I thought I would give you some inside information on who in the hockey world are on my nice and naughty lists.

Should I actually be preparing for Christmas instead of writing 0n this here blog. Perhaps yes. But nobody ever told Santa what to do. Except for Mrs. Claus of course. She's a real ball buster.

So without further adieu, here is a look at my nice list. The naughty list will be revealed in a later post. Once I'm done shovelling all the coal out of the North Pole's furnace to give to those guys.

Snow
Ho ho ho! You've got to love the white stuff. I'm of course referring to snow, not cocaine. It's especially nice when hockey is played in the snow and that's what the NHL will do when it holds it's now annual Winter Classic next week in Chicago. This has become one of my favourite events of the year as it falls during my after Christmas vacation. Nothing thrills me more than sitting in my nice warm room, snuggled up under the covers, being fed cookies and hot chocolate by elves, while watching millionaires play hockey in the bitter freezing cold.

Jeff Carter, Philadelphia Flyers
The youngster is leading the NHL with goals and is having a season to remember yet will still not be voted on to the All-Star team. What an injustice! And he has to wear those hideous orange Flyers third jerseys. Having to put up with that embarassment alone puts him on the nice list.

Scott Clemmensen, New Jersey Devils
First of all, he plays for a team named the Devils which is very naughty. I mean why not go with the name Angels? Oh, it's already taken by a baseball team? Fair enough. So remember when Martin Brodeur went down with an injury and everybody predicted the end of the world in New Jersey? Well Clemmensen has been brilliant in net and kept the Devils right in the thick of things. And on top of that, he has 11 wins this season. More wins than he had the past four seasons combined!

Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks
These two teams have been playing such good, dominating hockey! What a lovely surprise! Especially for the long suffering sports fans of Boston who have had to deal with terribly awful sports teams over the past few years. It must be nice for them to finally have a winner on their hands. What's that you say? The Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox have all won championships in the last 5 years? And now they have a dominant Bruins team? If Boston area sports fans get to full of themselves, they might secure a spot on my naughty list.

Mats Sundin
Most people might think that for leaving the hockey world on edge for six months would put Sundin on my naughty list. And I'll be honest, me and the my advisors (elfs) had a long debare about the Big Swede. But ultimately Santa is as big a hockey fan as you are and is just glad this whole Sundin thing is over with. Thank you Mats! Just please don't put us through this again next off-season.

Sidney Crosby
He is the NHL's golden boy and deserves to be treated as such. Nothing further.

There's more who are on the nice list, but I drink a lot of milk to wash down all those cookies, so I have to make a quick trip to the bathroom. Make sure you check in later to see who in the hockey world goes on my naughty list!

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas! There are other holidays, but it's in my Santa contract that I'm not allowed to acknowledge them. Sorry Jewish people!

Crosby Nails Guy In The Cubes; Nobody Cares?

Sidney Crosby is the NHL's golden boy. That's a statement that shouldn't surprise anybody. And because of this, and because the NHL has sunk tons of marketing dollars into Sid he gets away with a lot.

That apparently includes punching an opposing player in the groin repeatedly from behind. You read that right.

During last Thursday's game between the Penguins and the Thrashers, Crosby proceeded to sucker punch Thrashers d-man Boris Valabik in the head and then in the groin while he was down on the ice. I kid you not. (Video is down below for proof)

Why this story hasn't been covered more, or why Crosby hasn't been suspended or fined is a mystery. Or technically conspiracy is the right word. I just hate to throw around conspiracy theories too much for fear of sounding like a hillbilly from down south who believes everything is a conspiracy.

But conspiracy seems about right this time around. If any other player did this, every single media outlet, hockey analyst, or talk radio host be outraged. So far the only people covering this have been sports blogs Deadspin and Puck Daddy.

Also, no word from the offices of Gary Bettman about this incident. Even though it happened almost a week ago. By comparison, as soon as the words "sloppy seconds" slipped out of Sean Avery's mouth, Bettman had Avery suspended indefinitely.

Puck Daddy made a great point when they wrote about this. If it was the other way around, if Valabik sucker punched Crosby in the family jewels, he wouldn't see any action for a long time. And because Valabik is such a huge dude weighing in at 6'7", 240 pounds, Crosby wouldn't be seeing any action of a different sort for a very long time. If you follow what I'm saying...

I guess the lesson from this for all you kids out there is that it doesn't matter how you act or what terrible things you do. As long as you're really good at something you will be let off the hook. Get good grades in gym class? Go out and punch some math nerds in the crotch during the reccess. If the principal gets all up in your business, just tell him that the NHL said it was okay.

Make Some Room On The Mantle

Yet another honour has been bestowed upon Pittsburgh Penguins megaterrificsuperstar Sidney Crosby.

According to a report in the National Post, Sid The Kid has been named to the Order of Nova Scotia.

At the age of 21, Crosby is the youngest person to ever receive the award.

A native of Cole Harbour, N.S., Crosby was awarded the 2006-07 Hart Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player. Last season, Crosby scored 72 points in just 53 games.

I wonder what you get when you are awarded the Order of Nova Scotia. Hopefully the prize is something representative of Nova Scotia. I'm thinking maybe a lifetime supply of Alexander Keith's and some fishing gear?

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