Matt MacInnis said:
As another poster said, its important to emphasis the ridicoulous amount of attention which Crosby receives on the ice. I've seen four of his games this year, obviously not tons, but every time he touches the puck the entire defensive scheme for the opposing teams is altered. Actually, correct that, the entire way the opposition plays the second he steps on the ice is geared towards making sure he doesn't score. He has 2-3 guys draped all over him every time, he's getting hacked at, high sticked, he has guys like Cabana pulling stunts on him, and amongst all this he's still averaging over 2 PPG.
That is why his assist numbers are so high (double his goals). It's difficult to score when you're getting Todd Bertuzzi-esque treatment on the ice, but he's able to get the puck to his wingers in great situations and they've been doing a decent job, although they still miss a lot of open chances.
Your point is well taken, but applies equally to EVERY hyped prospect, and for that matter every star once he earns his reputation in the league - the better you are, the more other teams key on you. No surprise there. So, all the stars that he is being compared to have had to deal with exactly the same issues.
I also think that the answers to the question sometimes tell us a lot about the age of posters and whether they were actually paying attention when Lindros or Lemieux or Gretzky or whoever came along. Actually, I see a lot of similarities between Lindros and Crosby - they both have had active and very effective hype "machines" running along for years; both families have played very active roles in not only their son's play but set terms with teams, complained when they felt it necessary, etc.; the hype really went far beyond proven potential at times but was backed up by some pretty incredible play, and so on.
Crosby could do worse than coming into the league the way Lindros did, and if he is able to avoid injuries, his career could be outstanding. At the same time - I still find it hilarious when someone comes on (as at least two have) and put him into a league above someone like Heatley. I hope there is some sarcasm there.
Going back a bit farther - what is remarkable about the change in the news and discussions today is that there was very little "hype" around Gretzky - in fact there were a few comments that he would not be able to handle the NHL game - too small, too slow, etc., but before he signed his contract with Skalbania, there were actually not all that many fans who had even heard of him. Hype has been taken to whole new levels by dedicated sports and hockey TV channels and by the internet - and Crosby either benefits from that or suffers from it, depending on your view of things.