PSR 2006 Athlete of the Year
Sidney Crosby
By Bob Grove

Slowing down Sidney Crosby proved to be a daunting task in 2006, as defensemen and goaltenders around the National Hockey League reaffirmed night after night. The Penguins' gifted rookie center immediately established himself as an elite talent, and somehow it was no surprise when in April he became the youngest player in league history to record 100 points in a season.

The kid from Cole Harbour, N.S. last season eclipsed Mario Lemieux's seemingly sacred team records for assists and points by a rookie and, while the team sank to a 29th-place finish, forged his own reputation for driving ahead and playing every game like a playoff spot hung in the balance.

The only thing that stopped him was Lemieux's retirement in January.

"We realized how tough it was to see someone… it made us realize we can't take for granted playing in this league and that anything can happen," said Crosby. "For me, that's one thing that really made me step back and realize how lucky I am playing here.

"I was going to the rink with him every day, and then one day it stopped. He was saying goodbye to me and he was staying home and I was going to the rink. That whole situation made me realize not to take anything for granted, to have fun, enjoy it and make the most of it."

That's precisely what Crosby did through the final months of the year, too, as he began the current season among the NHL scoring leaders and proved to be the heart and soul of the Penguins' sudden resurgence. For all his achievements, Crosby is PSR's Athlete of the Year for 2006.

Crosby achieved his remarkable rookie numbers - 39 goals and 102 points - despite the fact he was the focal point of every opponent's defensive game plan. There wasn't yet an Evgeni Malkin to make opposing teams think twice about where to put their top defensive pair or their best defensive line, and the Penguins were leaking goals so routinely that just limiting them to two or three goals was enough on most nights to produce a victory.

But while the numbers piled up, it was evident to all who watched him every night that Crosby simply wanted to leave the rink a winner. Similarly, part of a more focused group this season, he found himself reacting to his shrinking amount of available ice by eschewing shots to set up teammates he knew must be open.

"Individually my goal's always been to help the team as best I can to win," he said. "Last season I felt like I was doing the best I could to win every night, trying to keep a winning attitude because I don't want to lose that no matter how things are going. I was happy myself and the rest of the team kept that attitude, but unfortunately weren't getting the results, and at the end of the day that's what you need.

"I don't think it took anything away from how I felt about how I played, but there was definitely an empty feeling inside that we had played hard a lot of times but there were no wins, no results. That's what you play for. You don't play for individual stats. The whole focus of winning became even more apparent to me."

And Crosby was nothing if not focused in 2006, doing all he did amid a long list of expectations and under intense media scrutiny.

"My first time watching that was when he was going to Canada to play for the first time. He was pretty anxious to play that game in Toronto and then in Montreal, pretty nervous," remembered linemate Colby Armstrong. "The dressing room was full of reporters all wanting a story, and he's doing interviews in English and French, handling everything.

"To see how he handled that was pretty incredible. It was pretty neat to see him walking down the street and people chasing after him for his autograph. We get that in other cities, but in Canada it was a little crazier."

When he had time over the summer to reflect on his rookie season, Crosby said he remembered the good things about the second half, when the Penguins began to find their stride a little under coach Michel Therrien.

"The second half was very positive. It was pretty fun," he said. "The situation we were in, knowing that we were out of the playoffs the last 25, 30 games, the fun we had just playing. . . the guys all worked hard; guys were playing through injuries. It showed a lot, made us look forward to this year.

"And getting 100 points, doing it at home, a sellout, the last home game of the year, was pretty special."

Just like him.