Crosby: 'Mum's the word'
PHILADELPHIA -- If
Sidney Crosby has any tricks up his sleeve, he's not dishing on them. At least, he's not telling me.
Despite some prodding during an exclusive interview Tuesday morning at the Wachovia Center, Crosby wouldn't tell me anything he might already have planned for the Scotiabank NHL Fan Fav Breakaway Challenge, which is the main event of the Honda/NHL SuperSkills Competition next Saturday night in Montreal.
He actually
claims that he doesn't have anything in mind right now.
"I was actually saying that today. I don't have anything to really do," Crosby told NHL.com. "I'll probably just go out there for a minute and have fun. Whatever kind of comes just comes I guess. I'll do a few things leading up to know I can do something, but other than that I'll try to have fun with it."
The League announced Tuesday that Crosby,
Ryan Getzlaf,
Patrick Kane and
Alexei Kovalev will all challenge reigning Breakaway Challenge king
Alex Ovechkin, who won last year's event thanks to his crazy spin-o-rama followed by a baseball swing.
Each shooter will get as many attempts he desires in one minute to work his magic. He can go anywhere in the offensive zone to complete a routine that ends with a shot at the net. The fans are the judges. They will vote via text messages.
"For sure you have to try stuff, but there are only so many ways you can flip the puck up," Crosby said. "You want to be original if possible, but there is not too much that guys haven't done. If there is, somebody will find it."
Maybe it will be Crosby, but he's not making any public predictions.
"We have all grown up trying stuff in practice, goofing around," he said. "Hopefully somebody can pull something off."
Even though he wouldn't give any of his tricks away, Crosby did say he plans on trying a number of moves during his minute of air time. He suspects some guys will try the same move over and over until they get it right.
"If you try only one thing, you might get it only one out of 20 times," No. 87 said, "and you've got to hope it's the one out of 20 that you're able to do because that's what the fans want to see."
To really get the fans stirring, Crosby said the Bell Centre ice needs to be smooth. It should help that the League plans to shave down the current sheet, put in new logos and build a fresh surface, but Crosby was talking more about smooth ice that night.
"You can't have guys skating over it," Crosby said. "It's got to be a fresh sheet. You want to get the most out of it. If the ice is good, you can do so much more."
What he means remains to be seen?
-- Dan Rosen - NHL.com Staff Writer
Alexander Ovechkin has scored 190 goals in his first four NHL seasons, but the loudest ovation he's ever gotten may be for one on which he whiffed.
It was during the Breakaway Challenge at last year's All-Star Game skills contest. Ovechkin was tailor made for the event, which debuted last year, and he didn't disappoint. Ovechkin dribbled the puck like a basketball on the end of his stick, smacked it high in the air, spun around while the puck came down and took a mighty baseball swing.
That he hit nothing but air meant little to the fans and judges, who voted him the winner. This year, the shooters’ task will be to impress in-arena fans and those watching on television across North America, who will determine the winner by voting via text message for the player whose performance they deem most astounding.
"He was going for style points," said
Chris Osgood, the goalie who faced Ovechkin last year. "He had some great moves."
Ovechkin will bring his magic bag of breakaway tricks to the 2009 Scotiabank NHL Fan Fav Breakaway Challenge as part of the 2009 Honda/NHL All-Star SuperSkills Competition in Montreal on Saturday, Jan. 24 at Bell Centre.
Some of the NHL's best have signed on to try to take the title away from him. Anaheim's
Ryan Getzlaf, who Ovechkin topped in last year's final, returns for another shot. Joining him will be the Penguins'
Sidney Crosby, who's been known to score a highlight goal or two in his time in the League, plus the hometown favorite, the Canadiens'
Alex Kovalev, and Chicago super soph
Patrick Kane..
"I want to defend this title," said Ovechkin. "It's a pretty cool title. I'm happy I have it."
Each shooter will get one minute to work his magic and wow the Bell Centre crowd and viewers around North America (7 p.m. ET, RDS, CBC, VERSUS). Upon taking possession of the puck, a shooter can go anywhere he wants in the offensive zone and make as many attempts as he desires within that minute to complete a routine that ends with a shot at the net. When each shooter has taken his turn, the polls will open and the fans will have their say.
Crosby, Getzlaf, Kovalev and Kane already are working on their routines and wracking their brains to come up with moves neither their competitors nor their fans have seen. They’ve allowed NHL cameras to capture glimpses of their preparations, but are planning to pull off some surprises, especially Ovechkin.
Recently during a video shoot following his practicing for the event, Ovechkin threw down the gauntlet for anyone trying to take his title.
“Right now, I’m going to show you my old trick,” Ovechkin said before performing the puck-flipping, spin-o-rama swat that won last year's competition. “But I have one more trick that probably I don’t want to show you right now. You’ll have to wait for the All-Star Game.”
The Scotiabank Fan Fav NHL Breakaway Challenge will be the second event on the six-competition card that comprises Honda/NHL SuperSkills on NHL All-Star Weekend 2009 in Montreal. The evening will begin with four of the League’s blazers competing in the Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater.
Following the Breakaway Challenge, the League’s top rookies will take on its best sophomores in the NHL YoungStars Game presented by Upper Deck. At the conclusion of that wide-open, non-stop game of three-on-three, the 2009 winner of the Breakaway Challenge will be crowned. The McDonald’s Accuracy Shooting and Cisco Hardest Shot then will test the All-Stars’ ability to pick corners and blast away.
The evening will come to a rousing end with all 36 NHL All-Star skaters and all six goalies competing in the Gatorade NHL Elimination Shootout -- the NHL All-Star version of the score-and-stay-alive game with which youth hockey players throughout the world traditionally end their practices.
Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected].