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"You're a boring old man"
Pittsburgh will complete it's 3rd line with a player who should really allow the line to function at maximum capacity. Yet again, another player who was an elite skater joins the AC. He was a big player for his era, very physical, going overboard a few times, strong defensively and good enough offensively to not get left behind by Hawerchuk and Anderson. Inducted to the HOF in 1963.
He and Glenn Anderson in particular, are both elite skaters, and strong physical presences. Both will bring the rain on the fore check and both, especially this player can be counted on to back check at a plus rate. Having those 2 wingers presents challenges for the opposition whether defending breakouts or getting out of their own end. Like the past few picks by Pitt, he is also very versatile, able to shift to the opposite wing or defense in a pinch and not be completely inept. Also find his longevity pretty damn good given the era and brutality.
Pittsburgh is proud to select yet another native of the great Provence, Saskatchewan!
Rusty Crawford, LW/D
Ripped this from @overpass bio
From Bob Duff's The First Season: 1917-18 and the Birth of the NHL
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[/TBODY]Joe Pelletier:
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Daily Telegraph, Jan 16, 1913
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Montreal Gazette, Jan 30, 1913
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January 22, 1918 Toronto Star
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February 25, 1918 Toronto Star
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[/TBODY]Ottawa Citizen, January 22, 1946
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[/TBODY]Montreal Gazette, Jan 20, 1951
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[/TBODY]When researching Joe Malone, I read through game summaries of the 1916-17 Quebec Bulldogs. The Bulldogs had a terrible first half of the season, finishing 2-8, and poor play from their defence was the number one reason. In the second half of the season, captain Rusty Crawford moved back to the left defence position and the left defender took Crawford's spot on the line. Crawford's physical play and hard skating on defence was a key part of the Bulldogs going 8-2 in the second half.
He and Glenn Anderson in particular, are both elite skaters, and strong physical presences. Both will bring the rain on the fore check and both, especially this player can be counted on to back check at a plus rate. Having those 2 wingers presents challenges for the opposition whether defending breakouts or getting out of their own end. Like the past few picks by Pitt, he is also very versatile, able to shift to the opposite wing or defense in a pinch and not be completely inept. Also find his longevity pretty damn good given the era and brutality.
Pittsburgh is proud to select yet another native of the great Provence, Saskatchewan!
Rusty Crawford, LW/D
Ripped this from @overpass bio
From Bob Duff's The First Season: 1917-18 and the Birth of the NHL
| Rusty Crawford: Defence/Left Wing A rancher in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Crawford was well-travelled on and off the ice. "He can play just as good a game on defence as up on the line, and vice versa," the Ottawa Journal reported. "He is a speed artist from the word go, and it is doubtful if there is a faster skater in the league." That speed came in handy. Because Rusty was a man on the move. Crawford played pro hockey from 1912-1930, skating in six leagues and suiting up for eight teams. He was 45 when he hung up his blades. Crawford played for five different teams in the Stanley Cup final, winning with the Quebec Bulldogs in 1912-13 and again with Toronto in 1917-18. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962. |
| Rusty was known for his fast skating and his left handed shot. He was a very versatile as a forward giving a strong performance as either right or left wing or center. The early bible of hockey "Trail of the Stanley Cup" described him as "a tireless backchecker," something not always practiced by forwards of his day. He also played with a physical edge and more than once found himself losing his temper and getting into trouble. |
Daily Telegraph, Jan 16, 1913
| Russell Crawford, Quebec’s new all-around player, is making a hit with the fans…and before coming to Quebec was one of the fastest men in the Western league. |
Montreal Gazette, Jan 30, 1913
| Crawford…showed a world of speed. In fact, he was the fastest man on the ice. |
January 22, 1918 Toronto Star
| The work of “Rusty” Crawford last night was positively sensational. He showed us as much “pep” as a “hop” horse going to the post. The way he dodged and checked and hurdled had the crowd on its feet cheering him wildly. He would grab the puck on his own defense, dodge the Canadiens first line, tear into the defence, hurdle between Hall and Corbeau, slam one at Vezina, come back and take the puck from the relieving Canadien player, and come back for another chance. He leaped and curvetted like a two-year-old. Once Joe Hall gave him a flying tackle and, rolling him over, examined him curiously. “What’s the idea?” squeaked “Rusty” from beneath the heap. “Just looking for yer wings,” grunted the ex-Bad Man. |
February 25, 1918 Toronto Star
| The first man that touched the puck after the faceoff was crashed into the fence with a healthy body check by Rusty Crawford, and the next place the brunette with the blonde nickname found himself was in the “clink” with a “major” opposite his name on Dick Kearns’ penalty sheet. And by the same token this same boy Crawford seemed to be the man Coach Carroll had selected to be “Bad Man” for the night. He wound up with five penalties—the last one sent him to the barn—but though he checked hard and sometimes not at all according to Hoyle, he did no damage to his opponents. Crawford drew his penalties for chopping and slashing. He hadn’t been on the ice for five playing moments before he had the Ottawa forwards watching him instead of the puck. Once Crawford collected their “nannies” it was all off. The rest of the Toronto bunch settled away, and after handing out some pile-driving body checks on their own account, played hockey. Goals came easily. A Toronto crowd never saw Crawford play such strenuous hockey in all the years he has played here. Usually the old boy rolls along chasing that old puck netwars with an earnestness that is commendable. But Saturday night—oh! my! It was a different story. All he wanted was for some Ottawa man to just dare to try and carry the puck. He just sailed into every man who held the puck with a body slam that shook ‘em from cellar to garret… Crawford didn’t have it all to himself by any means. He met Shore and Merrill a couple of times and they put him shoulder high, and so did Cy Denneny, but Crawford only chewed another wrinkle out of his Spearmint and came right back for more. Mr. Crawford is a very useful man to have around—as a “goal-getter” he has the late “Jawn L” backed into the Sunday school superintendents’ class. The fans say so. That’s a whole lot about “Rusty”—let’s get back to the game. |
| (Eddie) Shore once said that by using proper conditioning measures a star player should linger until he was fifty years of age, but he was destined to discover that only a roustabout like “Rusty” Crawford could perform a stunt like that. Crawford, incidentally, was still playing hockey when he was fifty-four years of age. |
| Wonder how many old-timers in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Quebec City remember Rusty Crawford? (Joe) Malone recalls “Rusty”, now a Western Canada wheat farmer, as one of the fastest and most tireless skaters hockey ever developed. Both Joe and Newsy (Lalonde) pick him with Jack Laviolette for skating honors. |
