Far too early!

I think he's too young, and with all this pressure, I wonder if it will have an effect on his point production...

Yzerman was only 21 when he was named the Red Wings captain. He was in his third season as will Sidney be this upcoming season. Stevie Y. kept the C on his chest for the next 20 years. I think this is what Pittsburgh is hoping from Sidney. Sindey is the face of the franchise and possibly the entire NHL so it makes sense to have him wear the C.

I personally dont like it. I mean, I like Crosby and all.

He's still a teenager. Can a young kid really lead men?
He's only a sophmore. He hasn't gone through half the stuff other veterans on that team has.
Is there really no one else better on that team to be named captain? Is there no better leader?
His inexperience in certain situations could burn him.
It's a big responsibility for someone so young. Can he really handle all this pressure?

I mean sure, he's a franchise player and all, he IS the Pittsburgh Penguins, but I still don't think it's a good idea.

I guess I can also bring up that he DID lead the entire NHL in points, but I don't think that's the same thing.
I don't know what goes on behind closed doors. He might be a terrific leader for all I know in that locker room.
And he IS the one everyone on that team turns to when they find themselves in trouble, is he not?

Now I'm officially torn...I still think he's too young, but if you want to have a young kid be a captain, I guess Crosby would be the leading candidate.

However, this is a huge slap in the face to the vets like Recchi.

I am probably the largest Crosby fan on this board. If anybody wanted to argue that, I named my daughter after him... I win LOL

This is a good move. Here's why.

"he's 19 and that's too young"
-I say he's a 19 year old that doesn't act like a kid and hasn't since he was 15 years old. He is focused and passionate. That's 1 captain-like quality.

"he needs to learn leadership first"
-This "kid" is drawing up plays for Gary Roberts and Mark Recchi in the playoffs. If his
leadership is good enough for those 2 players, who are we to question the decision?

"it's too much pressure"
-Seriously? This kid is the face of his team and the league as far as most of the media is concerned. He is interviewed during the 1st or 2nd intermission of every game whether it be his team media or on the road. He has been groomed for this.

Wayne Gretzky has openly praised him and has expected Crosby to be the face of the NHL since he was 14. Does anyone not trust Wayne's ability to evaluate pressure and leadership?

Mario Lemieux wants Sidney to be the Captain and NOBODY can question the intelligence and heart of #66...

He will be good for this Penguins team and they will follow him to the Cup eventually.

Let's face it, the reason he's been named captain is for PR/marketing purposes not for anything else

Haha exactly.

Not necessarily DK. Doesn't matter what we think, its about the Pens dressing room. If the other guys in there feel he is their leader, then that's enough to give him the C. Like AunBear said, would anyone argue in hindsight with Detroit giving Stevie Y the C back then?

Who named him captain? The players? Lemieux?

Shouldn't the most important player to your Franchise be the Captain?

Our Franchise player, Paul Kariya was Captain. Oh yeah, that was a good decision.

Are you seriously trying to tell me that he wasn't a good captain when he was here? No matter what he did when he left and how you feel now, he was a good captain. He helped get us to our first Finals.

Saying anything otherwise is just pure hatred for him as a person.

On another front, are you really trying to say that Paul Kariya was as much of a franchise player to us the Ducks as Sidney Crosby will be to Pittsburgh or Steve Yzerman was to Detroit? NO WAY.

I think who gets the C is based on leadership, not their talent level. If that was so, then Ovechkin would be the Captain of the Caps and not Chris Clark (or w/e his name is)

Ovechkin wouldn't be a Captain anytime soon no matter what. The communication level is not there for him. He'll need a lot more time around people speaking english to feel comfortable. That is one of the reasons Jagr didn't want the "C" for the Rangers in 2005-2006, Communication. He didn't feel he could lead his team and speak as a team representative to the media.

Crosby is a leader. Most people refuse to like him because of the media hype. Some people just hate when the media deems someone to be "special" or "gifted" or "The Next One"

I like Crosby, I really do
Everyone knew that it was inevitable

But I look at it from a teenager's prospective because thats what I am
He is only 2 years older than myself.
I dont know if I would be able to lead a professional sports team as a captain 2 years from now. Sure hes been playing with men since he was 15 but thats all skill level. sure he knows the game but that goes along with his hockey senses and skill. Does that mean leadership?
I dont think so.

And for those comparing Kariya to Sid for the franchise player thing
Kariya did have leadership qualities. Does anyone not remember "Off the floor, On the board! Paul Kariya!" I was there and that is one of my most vivid moments of those playoffs. I thought he had a concussion. I didnt think we'd see Kariya in a long time. He could barely hold his balance while being helped to the locker room. 5 minutes later he pierces the puck over Brodeur's shoulder. Paul was lively. I could see him as someone to light up his team in the locker room. One that would make guys come together and fight for it.
I just dont see it in Crosby
I dont want to hear about him having a broken foot for the last 2 weeks.
I just dont believe he has the LEADERSHIP qualities. Maturity, sure. A desire to compete, I'll give him that.
But the Captaincy and the Leadership. I dont know.
It was probably Lemieux that gave it to him. But I would give it to Reechi or Roberts personally.

But thats the Pens decision.
Is it for PR or and educated decision?
we wont know and I bet the Penguins will tell you what you want to hear and not the truth.

The only reason they gave the 'C' to him now is because they want him to be the youngest captain ever. Otherwise, they would've opted for the normal choice and waited until the season starts up again.

I will agree to that. The "record" is a PR move at this point but they wanted to give it to him last year and he told them he wasn't ready. That was mentioned at today's press conference.

So they did it now to achieve the record.

If Crosby ends up being one of the best players in NHL history, this will just be a very small record to add to his legend.

The question is is he going to be able to lead guys like Recchi who are nearly 20 years older than him? It's like when John Gruden took over the Tampa Bay Bucaneers as the youngest coach in the NFL at the time. Some of the guys on the team had been playing for about ten years, and were a good five to ten years older than him. It's a matter of respect, and the elderly usually get the most respect out of players on a team.

Bad idea. Crosby is an incredible player of course, but after watching him, he isn't very mature at all, and doesn't possess the leadership qualities needed.

He's like Gretzky as a coach. "Pass it to Messier" doesn't work.

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Pittsburgh Penguins hockey player Sidney Crosby is flanked by models as he introduces a new line of clothing from Reebok, on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007 in Mississauga, Canada.
(AP Photo/Nathan Denette, CP)

Duckette's gonna be pissed What's her future hubby doing ?

Ah, no worries. He looks like a geek in that picture.

And so musketeer, what exactly are you implying there about us geeks???


I have the mop nearby just in case Duckette stops by here ...

I'm not worried about the guy in the hat. I'm talking about the giant Crosby kissing the blonde on the back of the head

Nothing.

But can the boy wield a mop as handily? Does he do windows?
She's gonna want a lad that can carry his own on the domestic front.

Special Delivery!

Wouldn't that be fun to have a Duck knock on your door!

Oh yeah!
I can picture some of you ladies IF J.S. Giguere stopped by your house to hand deliver tickets.
You'd drop away into a dead faint!

Oh god that would be so cool if the Ducks knocked on my door but they would have a very long way to go to my house

They ARE gonna be in your neighborhood in a few short days.

I thought that was the coolest,most inspired idea from a front office I think I have ever seen!! So little time and effort expended,and yet the payback in fan love and loyalty cannot be measured. Whoever cooked this up deserves a promotion,let alone a hefty raise. They can take it out of the savings in FedEx fees!!

I'll forgive him this once. I'm sure Rbk made him do it. They are secretly evil ya know.


And yes, he had better not expect me to do all the domestic work. With all that money, we can hire someone

London is 3 hours away from Sheffield and I'm not even sure if I'm making the trip to London yet.

Three hours?

That's nothin' to folks who live and work in SoCal.

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http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=224337&hubname=nhl

how is that possible?

Age + salary, that's how.

someone will grab him on recall waivers

Penguins fuel hockey shopping surge

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3203602

^ Good thing I didn't use up my trades in my hockey pool...

Boohoo...

There goes the All Star game, why even bother to have it if the great and powerful Sid the Kid can't be there???? Is this the year???

Alex Ovechkin to the rescue?

But yeah... I can see all the Crosby fans scalping their all-star tickets now...

I keep expecting Bettman to come out and make a statement that the NHL is calling off the season on account of the Squid's injury I mean, haven't you lost all interest...

Have no fear. Pens fans...your season will be saved by...

Poor Sid.... I am sad... but unlike Buttman, my life...err...season isn't over

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I'm curious why there is no talk of Malkin's "slew foot" on Mara. That was dirty. I don't care what team you're a fan of, if a certain 6'6" defenseman did that he'd be under review and probably suspended a game (only one, given it's the playoffs). I'm upset that there is no action being taken against Malkin, except that they gave him AND Mara 10-minute misconducts. You've got to be kidding me. Colon Campbell needs to get his head screwed on straight because this is ridiculous. He has more double standards than... something with a lot of double standards .

For the record I like Malkin, he's an amazing player but that was uncalled for and unprofessional.