Note: I added the photos from this article to the Photo Albums in the group.

Pens' Crosby mingles with hockey school participants

By Keith Barnes
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, August 21, 2007

More than 150 kids, some from as far away as Montreal, came to the Robert Morris Island Sports Complex on Monday to receive professional instruction at the annual Penguins summer hockey school.

What they didn't expect was having the reigning Hart Trophy winner on the ice with them.

Penguins star Sidney Crosby made an unannounced visit that shocked some of the players to the extent that some actually fell over trying to get a look at him as he stepped onto the ice. During the two-hour session, Crosby worked with several groups ranging in age from 5 to 16 and posed for on-ice group photos.

"It was just nice for me to have the opportunity to go out there," Crosby said. "I remember when I went to hockey schools and how fun it was for me when I'd see guys I looked up to or followed."

Crosby wasn't the only member of the Penguins' organization on hand. Owner Mario Lemieux, general manager Ray Shero, assistant general manager Cliff Fletcher and coach Michel Therrien all had children participate on the first day of the weeklong camp, but it was Crosby who stole the show by just being there.

"Mario's here with his boy and Sid's out there. The turnout's been spectacular, there have been a lot of contributions from everybody, and the first day's been great so far," Shero said. "My kids are here and I didn't tell them he was coming, and they were shocked when he showed up."

Crosby will be returning to Nova Scotia in a couple of days to make final preparations for next week's move to Pittsburgh.

Crosby finished the regular season with a career-high 120 points, became the youngest scoring champion in any of the four major professional sports and was named the NHL's Most Valuable Player for the first time. In addition, the Penguins named him team captain, an honor last held by Lemieux before he retired during the 2005-06 season, and signed Crosby to a five-year, $43.5 million contract extension July 10.

The 20-year-old was hampered the last month of the regular season and during the Penguins' first-round playoff loss to Ottawa by a broken bone in his left foot. He only has been on the ice a few times since the playoffs and hasn't gone through an extensive on-ice off-season conditioning program.

"It feels good, but I haven't really tested it on the ice," Crosby said. "I'll probably be able to give you a better idea once I get out there a few times, but it feels good and we'll see where it goes."

Crosby was able to avoid surgery on his foot and allowed it to heal on its own. With only 23 days left to prepare for training camp, he is not concerned that his injury or conditioning will be an issue.

"Once we get closer to camp, I'll probably start skating a little more," Crosby said. "You want to be ready for camp, that's for sure, but at the same time you don't want to get burned out by the middle of camp, either. I'm just going to take a few days to get the rust off, and that's normal."

Having Crosby on the ice, even if it was with kids still learning the game, was a reminder of just how little time remains before the team reports to training camp and just how quickly the Oct. 5 opener at Carolina is approaching.

"We've got most of our preparations done and we have some coaches meetings next week and we'll be good to go," Shero said. "I think everyone's excited as they are every year."

Still, it would be difficult to surpass the unabashed enthusiasm of the skaters at camp when Crosby exited the locker room. Or for them to ignore the advice imparted by a player who in two short years has become the face of the franchise.

"I just told them to listen to the coaching out there because it's so hard with so many kids out there to just say one thing," Crosby said. "When you're little, you absorb things so much faster and you'll see a lot of kids improve so much over the week. ... But I think they'll take something out of it."