Luigi Lemieux
Registered User
- Sep 26, 2003
- 21,551
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I'm very unhappy that Crosby went to Pittsburgh, but I don't think that it was rigged in any way.
First of all, it seems like he's going to be a generational talent, and Pittsburgh has already had theirs (almost 2 with Jagr), and they have a couple cups to show for it. Boston had Orr, Edmunton had Gretz, and Pittsburgh had Lemieux... and now they get Crosby too? IMO it's unfair to many other teams who should get their chance. (BTW, if Crosby turns out to be a cut below, maybe Sakic or Forsburgh type production, this and the next point are null and I have no problem with Pittsburgh getting Crosby)
Second of all, Crosby needed to go to LA or NY. I know a lot of Devils fans would disagree with me on this, but let's face facts. Hockey is slowly but surely going down the toilet in the U.S. Of course I would have loved to see NJD land that magical pick, but in truth, it would have been far better for hockey if he went to the Rangers. Far better to the point that I almost think they should have rigged the draft to that effect.
First of all, it seems like he's going to be a generational talent, and Pittsburgh has already had theirs (almost 2 with Jagr), and they have a couple cups to show for it. Boston had Orr, Edmunton had Gretz, and Pittsburgh had Lemieux... and now they get Crosby too? IMO it's unfair to many other teams who should get their chance. (BTW, if Crosby turns out to be a cut below, maybe Sakic or Forsburgh type production, this and the next point are null and I have no problem with Pittsburgh getting Crosby)
Second of all, Crosby needed to go to LA or NY. I know a lot of Devils fans would disagree with me on this, but let's face facts. Hockey is slowly but surely going down the toilet in the U.S. Of course I would have loved to see NJD land that magical pick, but in truth, it would have been far better for hockey if he went to the Rangers. Far better to the point that I almost think they should have rigged the draft to that effect.
DJ Spinoza
Registered User
- Aug 7, 2003
- 25,321
- 3,852
tom_servo said:
I'll third this. That doesn't make any sense at all, and I'll also add that the Pens have only "won" one first overall pick.
As for the question, obviously I'm thrilled. I guess I might be in the minority, but I'm not really too concerned with where Crosby would have ended up. To me it is 1/30 and almost the same any way it went. Certain hockey development considerations can be taken into account, but are almost moot because Crosby will either fufill his potential or he won't. Ovechkin doesn't have many stars to count on right now, but he and Crosby are both starting completely fresh in the NHL and will be able to make it or they won't.
I don't really like the dabble in the whole public relations/exposure side of this because frankly I think it is stupid. Without getting too long winded, I'll just say that I believe hockey can only be so successful in the US and by its nature has to be somewhat of a niche sport with many diehard followers. One player in any big city doesn't change that fact for me, thus I objectively view Crosby the same way were he in any market - great for that team's fans, and I'm jealous.
Big McLargehuge
Fragile Traveler
Dark Metamorphosis said:
Sundin, Nolan, and Lindros back-to-back-to-back.
Not bad. Not bad at all. Especially considering the 3 players who went #2 in those years were Dave Chyzowski, Petr Nedved, and Fat Balloon.
Big McLargehuge
Fragile Traveler
Blackjack said:
Well, I'm VERY happy we got Crosby, but to tell you the truth, I was actually hoping Los Angeles Kings would get him. (I'm crazy you say? : ).. Let me put it this way... I didn't even consider the thought of Crosby coming to Penguins, because that would be TOO sweet - so I didn't wanna get my hopes up. We need to spread out the hockeymap in North America ... Kings is after all a classic team a good fit marketwise too. I absolutely hate the NY Rangers, as a team and as an organization too. But if we disregard my personal feelings - NY Rangers don't exactly max out their talent. They'd probably trade him after a while too for an older super-talent (like say... Kovalchuk in 5 years? or something).
Los Angeles Kings all the way baby ... hockey is already big in the east. However Chicago would be a perfect candidate after that. There's a classic team who deserves more and they should get revitalized, hopefully they'll do good this year and hopefully Bill Wirtz gets fired.. (I was actually hoping a few months ago that Burke would get GM role in Chicago .. but no
)But with that said, I'm happy he came to Steel City, overwhelmingly happy
A quick summary, except Pens, my wishlist before the lottery:
1. Kings
2. Blackhawks
3. Sharks
cheers!
im glad he went there. hes gonna save a struggling franchise and bring hockey back to pittsburgh. On top of playing with Mario Lemiuex will really help him. Im kinda glad hes not in the west too. it would have sucked if hes in anahiem.
I'm over it, but I see the result as an incredible injustice.
Before the lotery, when talking about the team which don't deserve him, here is what I wrote here :
Pittsburgh with no hesitation.
There is 3 main reasons:
1. Lemieux. They tanked big time to get Mario Lemieux, who is arguably now the second greatest player in history and they had this guy for 20 years. This reason alone should be enough IMHO. This kind of player is so rare, it would not be fair at all if the same team got two generational talent in a row, especially considering they litteraly "stoled" Lemieux from the Devils.
2. An abondance of stars in the past. They had Jagr for years, and an history of great players. It's not all about Lemieux, there was plenty of great players in Pittsburgh over the years. Jaromir Jagr alone is close from a generational talent, they almost had 2 generational talents while some teams didn't even had one. It's time for other team to benefit of this kind of players to build around.
3. A stacked future. They had enough of high picks in the recent years. They finished last 2 years in a row, and even had a 5th overall pick the year before that. They now have a potential franchise goaltender, a franchise center, and some other very high regarded prospects. They was very "rewarded" for their failures over the recent years and have already more than enough to build in the future.
I don't really know who would really deserve Crosby (I've not even read this thread), but I'm sure of one thing : Pittsburgh doesn't deserve him.
I know I'll get flamed by Pens fans but let's face it, Pittsburgh already had his fair part of stars players, and they already have plenty to build around in the future.
And I'll add one last reason : The system was a joke, and seemed fixed for some teams to win it. Like usual the most influant persons had what they wanted. I could have lived with a system where the playoffs were penalized, although I didn't agree because failures were already rewarded and we start a new area, but the first pick stuff was just wretched and clearly here to destroy some teams chances (Caps and Panthers).
Do you think it's fair for the Panthers to be penalized for drafting Bouwmeester when Columbus draft Rick Nash ? Do you think it's fair for the Panthers to be penalized for drafting Nathan Horton when Pittsburgh draft Marc-André Fleury, or Columbus draft Nikolaï Zherdev ? Do you think it's fair for the Capitals to be penalized for drafting Alexander Ovechkin when Pittsburgh draft Evgeni Malkin ? Didn't these teams earned their right to draft a player conforming to their standings/lotery like everyone ?
If we follow this logic, why shouldn't we penalized Pittsburgh for drafting Malkin ? After all, isn't Malkin considered as a way better player than Barker ? And why shouldn't why penalized Pittsburgh for having the 2003 first overall choice ? Because the Panthers acquired the superstar Mikaël Samuelsson ? Is there a guy here to say Samuelson is as important as a playoffs spot ? It's better for me to stop here.
The system wasn't fair. Not even close. It's arbitrary at 100%. And I'm light with my words because in my opinion it was cheating at 100%. This is another reason I didn't want Pitsburgh to win it, I was rooting for a cheated team à la Caps or Panthers to win it.
Here was my opinion, why I think Pittsburgh didn't deserve him, and why I see the result as a complete injustice. Flame on if you want, I don't mind the opinion of the biased fans here...
Before the lotery, when talking about the team which don't deserve him, here is what I wrote here :
Pittsburgh with no hesitation.
There is 3 main reasons:
1. Lemieux. They tanked big time to get Mario Lemieux, who is arguably now the second greatest player in history and they had this guy for 20 years. This reason alone should be enough IMHO. This kind of player is so rare, it would not be fair at all if the same team got two generational talent in a row, especially considering they litteraly "stoled" Lemieux from the Devils.
2. An abondance of stars in the past. They had Jagr for years, and an history of great players. It's not all about Lemieux, there was plenty of great players in Pittsburgh over the years. Jaromir Jagr alone is close from a generational talent, they almost had 2 generational talents while some teams didn't even had one. It's time for other team to benefit of this kind of players to build around.
3. A stacked future. They had enough of high picks in the recent years. They finished last 2 years in a row, and even had a 5th overall pick the year before that. They now have a potential franchise goaltender, a franchise center, and some other very high regarded prospects. They was very "rewarded" for their failures over the recent years and have already more than enough to build in the future.
I don't really know who would really deserve Crosby (I've not even read this thread), but I'm sure of one thing : Pittsburgh doesn't deserve him.
I know I'll get flamed by Pens fans but let's face it, Pittsburgh already had his fair part of stars players, and they already have plenty to build around in the future.
And I'll add one last reason : The system was a joke, and seemed fixed for some teams to win it. Like usual the most influant persons had what they wanted. I could have lived with a system where the playoffs were penalized, although I didn't agree because failures were already rewarded and we start a new area, but the first pick stuff was just wretched and clearly here to destroy some teams chances (Caps and Panthers).
Do you think it's fair for the Panthers to be penalized for drafting Bouwmeester when Columbus draft Rick Nash ? Do you think it's fair for the Panthers to be penalized for drafting Nathan Horton when Pittsburgh draft Marc-André Fleury, or Columbus draft Nikolaï Zherdev ? Do you think it's fair for the Capitals to be penalized for drafting Alexander Ovechkin when Pittsburgh draft Evgeni Malkin ? Didn't these teams earned their right to draft a player conforming to their standings/lotery like everyone ?
If we follow this logic, why shouldn't we penalized Pittsburgh for drafting Malkin ? After all, isn't Malkin considered as a way better player than Barker ? And why shouldn't why penalized Pittsburgh for having the 2003 first overall choice ? Because the Panthers acquired the superstar Mikaël Samuelsson ? Is there a guy here to say Samuelson is as important as a playoffs spot ? It's better for me to stop here.
The system wasn't fair. Not even close. It's arbitrary at 100%. And I'm light with my words because in my opinion it was cheating at 100%. This is another reason I didn't want Pitsburgh to win it, I was rooting for a cheated team à la Caps or Panthers to win it.
Here was my opinion, why I think Pittsburgh didn't deserve him, and why I see the result as a complete injustice. Flame on if you want, I don't mind the opinion of the biased fans here...
Hunter Gathers
The Crown
Pittsburgh was the only team besides Montreal that I didn't want him to go to.
Solely because the city sucks, and Lemiuex is a smug POS, and a bunch of other ****.
If he went to Montreal I'd just be sick of hearing how much better he is than any player ever.
Solely because the city sucks, and Lemiuex is a smug POS, and a bunch of other ****.
If he went to Montreal I'd just be sick of hearing how much better he is than any player ever.
Legionnaire
Help On The Way
So you've got this guy, he wins the lottery in 1984. He then parlays his lottery winnings and becomes the richest guy in the world. After a series of bad investments, he files for bankruptcy and starts collecting welfare. A few years later then wins the lottery again. Doesn't seem to fair to me.
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KeepitinPitt
Registered User
Legionnaire said:
What does Baldwin have to do with this? He doesn't own the team anymore, Mario does.
Legionnaire
Help On The Way
Sykie said:
That is the biggest load of whiny crap I've read on any of these boards in a long time.
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Duane Allman said:
And honestly this is not a flame, this is the truth.
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octopi said:
I'm also in the 4th group. At least partially, Obviously i was hoping for the habs to get him. When the habs were given the 5th pick, I immediatly take a look at which teams were still on the boards
Carolina, Anaheim, Minnesota and Pittsburgh. A massively easy choice, really.
So from the 5th pick and on, i was cheering for Pittsburgh to see him.
Because: a) the only team deserving in the east (Sorry Carolina fans, but a team there is a joke).
b) Anaheim and Minnesota are in the west + i dont considered The Mighty ducks a deserving nhl team and dont like Minnesota style of play (although the fans base might have deserved a high pick)
c) Mario Lemieux. Obviously, i'm from Quebec. So i was rather happy looking forward to see him play a bit with Lemieux. A decent consolation prize for Crosby to going to Montreal.
Brooklyndevil
Registered User
I would have preferred Carolina, which needed him just as much, if not more. And I doubt their fans would be as smug as some of the Pittsburgh fans have gotten since the lottery and free agent frenzy.
Jon Prescription said:
Who are you to claims the city of PGH sucks?
I am a life long Pittsburgh resident and I think it really sucks that you can just come off and say something like that like it's nothing.
Do you know anybody in PGH personally and have you ever been in PGH to make those comments?
Let me ask you, where are you from? Philly?
Well let me tell ya I've been to Philadelphia before and there are a ton of true opinions about the city that I could write in this post, but the thing is if I post my opinions here I'd probably be banned from HFboards for life.
Plus also, I don't have terrible opinions of the majority of the Philly residents like I have about you.
Take that as you may.
shakes
Pep City
Meh.. there were probably the only team that I didn't care got him. Really, all those "draft fix" paranoia theories and not one person mentioned the Pens.. The "next one" skating alongside one of the greats in Mario. Makes for great press.
hockeyfan125
Registered User
- Jul 10, 2004
- 20,017
- 0
As a Canuck fan, Pittsburgh is the perfect team to get him (besides us).
We rarely play the Pens, and they are a struggling franchise. I would have been pissed off if he went to our Division, or anywhere in the Western Conference.
We rarely play the Pens, and they are a struggling franchise. I would have been pissed off if he went to our Division, or anywhere in the Western Conference.
habs_24x
Registered User
Besides hoping to see him in Montreal, Pittsburgh is a great destination for Crosby.
You know that Lemieux will take great care of him and show him the ropes the correct way not to mention teaching him some secrets that only Le Magnifique knows! Truly happy for Crosby. but im not sure how much the Pens "deserved him"
considering all the top picks they had in the last couple years...
You know that Lemieux will take great care of him and show him the ropes the correct way not to mention teaching him some secrets that only Le Magnifique knows! Truly happy for Crosby. but im not sure how much the Pens "deserved him"
considering all the top picks they had in the last couple years...
I think the lottery was fixed, but for all the right reasons
Pittsburg has been rewarded for serving the league since it's inception and will get another chance to build from the groud up with a generational talent on a fair economic ground.
Pittsburg has been rewarded for serving the league since it's inception and will get another chance to build from the groud up with a generational talent on a fair economic ground.
Hunter Gathers
The Crown
Duane Allman said:
I have been there a number of times and the city sucks. Ranks up there with Providence and Hartford as the worst cities in the US. I've been there a NUMBER of times to visit friends and such, unfortunately. I hate the city and everything about it. Sorry to you if you like it, but it's not for me. You shouldn't get so offended that I hate your city. I don't know why you would.
And I really don't care what your opinion is on me, either. Why would I? This is the internet.
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