In July 2005, Sydney Crosby was first pick in the NHL Entry Draft.

This week, he finished his first NHL season becoming the youngest player in NHL history to record 100 points in a season. He then proceeded to break Mario Lemieux’s record as all-time highest rookie scorer for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Now the debate begins over “rookie of the year” honours. Should it be the talented Russian Alex Ovechkin who score 52 goals and 54 assists for a total of 106 points while playing for the Washington Capitals or will it be the talented Sydney Crosby who scored 39 goals and had 63 assists for a total of 102 points?

Based on sheer points scored in the 2005-06 season, it would have to be Ovechkin. Some have suggested his record is more impressive than Crosby’s because Washington was a weaker team than Pittsburgh.

Others will argue that Crosby’s performance was the more impressive because he’s only eighteen while Ovechkin is three years his senior at twenty one. It’s a tough call because they’re both great players.

Regardless of who wins “rookie of the year”, I would have to bet that Crosby will be the more dominant player over the next few years. One just needs to compare their records for the last three years. In 152 games with the Moscow Dynamos of the Russian Super League, Ovechkin had 36 goals and 32 assists while, in just 116 games with the Rimouski Oceanics, Crosby had an amazing 301 points including 120 goals.

Even if the Russian league is competitive with the NHL, Crosby’s record is more impressive because he scored 102 points in the NHL at the age of eighteen while Ovechkin only scored 24 points in the Russian league at the same age.

Even if we’re comparing apples to oranges, my vote goes to Crosby for NHL Rookie of the Year.

Now that leads to the next great debate. Can Crosby beat the records of a Mario Lemieux or a Wayne Gretsky? To even challenge, he will have to keep healthy for a lot of years. He will also need line mates who can score.

Gretsky had Jari Kurri in his best years. Kurri scored nearly 400 goals over a seven year span. Lemieux had Jaromr Jagr. Gretsky won ten scoring championships. Lemieux, with all his health problems, won six.

To put things in context, Gretsky played twenty seasons in the NHL and recorded 2,857 points, an average of 142.8 points a season. In five of those seasons he scored more than 200 points. In 9 of those seasons, he scored more than 150 points. Big shoes to fill!


Sidney Crosby was born and raised in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, just outside of Halifax. At age 14, he joined the Dartmouth Subways and scored a record breaking 217 points in 81 games. Those are Gretsky type numbers.

In the fall of 2002, Sidney headed to Shattuck-St. Mary's, a college prep school in Minnesota where he and his fellow teammates led their school hockey team to the championship title. In June 2003, he was selected first in the QMJHL entry draft by the Rimouski Oceanics.

In his first season at Rimouski, Crosby scored 54 goals in fifty four games and added eighty one assists for 135 points. It was in Rimouski where Sydney learned to speak Canada’s second official language. Quite the contrast to Eric Lindros, who many will recall, refused to play in Quebec City years ago because he couldn’t speak French.

In March of 2005, Crosby’s hockey playing abilities landed him his first major endorsement deal, almost 5 months before he was drafted into the NHL. Reebok signed him to a 5 year contract worth between $2 and $2.5 million. It’s rare for an athlete to receive such an endorsement before turning professional.

It happened with NBA superstar LeBron James and golfer Tiger Woods (Nike) and more recently with Michele Wie (also Nike), the teenage golfing sensation but I can’t think of another hockey example who became a sponsored multi-millionaire before lacing on his NHL skates.

Some become instant contract millionaires but even the Great Gretsky had to wait until he signed his famous personal services contract with the Edmonton Oilers' infamous Peter Pocklington.

Before Crosby turned 17, Gretzky had him tabbed as the best player to hit the hockey world since Mario Lemieux. Others have compared him to the NBA’s Lebron James, the NBA star who was constantly compared to the NBA's greatest players before his rookie year a few seasons back. James went on to become rookie of the year in the 2003-04 season, the youngest in NBA history.

To complete the picture, I’m told that Mr. Crosby has added a Moncton connection to his résumé. Apparently he finished his high school education this year via correspondence with Bernice MacNaughton High.

He’ll be here in September to collect his diploma when the Pittsburgh Penguins set up their mini training camp at the Coliseum. Who knows, he might even show up for the final few games of the Memorial Cup after he finishes playing for Team Canada in Latvia at the world hockey championship in May.

It looks like Gretsky had it right when he identified Sydney Crosby as the best since Lemieux. Crosby has already broken two records in the NHL including one held by Lemieux. Only time will tell if he’ll enjoy the longevity of Gretsky and Lemieux but he’s certainly made a great start.
Congratulations to a fine young Nova Scotian.

Atlantic Insight is a published Blog inventory of opinion articles published weekly in New Brunswick's print media as written by W.E. (Bill) Belliveau, who is a resident of Shediac, New Brunswick, and business owner operating his Moncton-based marketing consultancy, Bell Strategic.