Judging by the throng of fans wearing Penguins sweaters Saturday at Joe Louis Arena for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals, Crosby also is at least the back, the shoulders, the chest and the arms of hockey.

Sartorially speaking, only the number of Mario Lemieux No. 66 sweaters could hold a flickering candle to the No. 87 worn by fans paying allegiance to their 20-year-old phenom.

"I think he's been pretty solid," said Adam Cohen, a 24-year-old Pens fan from Wexford, Pa., who wore a Crosby sweater. "Overall, he's been more of a complete player than the upcoming stars have been. He backchecks and he's been playing the whole course of the ice. He's a good complement to the rest of the guys on the team."

That much was clear from the outset, when Crosby won the opening face-off and was involved in all four of Penguins power plays in the first period. Crosby took two shots and almost converted on a point-blank shot on Wings goaltender Chris Osgood.

Then, like the rest of the Penguins, Crosby was much quieter in the second and third periods as the Wings cruised to a 4-0 win. Defenseman Niklas Kronwall seemed to be wearing the very same No. 87 as Crosby as he shadowed the young star and played a big part in holding him to just three shots total.

"I felt pretty good," Crosby said of debut in the Stanley Cup finals. "You've got to really execute, that's the main thing in tight games like this. I had a few chances that didn't go in, but that's the difference between executing and not executing. That's the difference in the hockey game."

After being held without a shot in the second period, Crosby took his final shot with nine minutes left in the third period -- and it was a minor miracle it didn't go in. A rebound had deflected off the boards behind the net and came to Crosby alone on the side of an unprotected net. He tried to bank it in from a bad angle off a sliding Osgood, but the puck somehow stayed out.

"Make sure that we're right around the net," Crosby said of the usually dependable formula for scoring. "A few pucks were bouncing around the crease. They don't quite bounce to guys and that's what happens sometimes." Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby, Playing the part of Hockeytown crier, Ryan Whitney walked through the Pittsburgh Penguins dressing room yesterday morning and announced for everyone to hear: "Sidney Crosby will be on the podium in two minutes."

He said it again and again, just in case anyone hadn't heard.

Whitney said it as an inside and outside joke, a part of Stanley Cup dressing room levity.

Only it's not that funny. Welcome to Crosby's hockey life in the brave new expanded media world of the National Hockey League.

Playing is what he does on the ice. Talking is what he does off of it. Talking on the morning of games. Talking after games. Talking on the off-days. Talking between periods. It's all Sid, all the time. 


  
 
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