Would you want Crosby on the Wings?

[Hockeymom1960 5,107]

I hate Crosby. But that has everything to do with his personality, not his talent. And considering I care a great deal about the talent that this team loads up with, of course I would want him on the team.

He better stay the f*** away from our As and Cs though.

That's not like T's and A's is it?

[eva unit zero 271]

you my friend are crazy, first of all, Malkin and Crosby hardly play on the same line. Second of all, If you would take Zetterberg Hossa or Datsyuk over Crosby because of all around game, I dont think you realize that Crosby is only 21 years old. Yzerman was not a great all around player at this age either.

Yzerman was a much better all-around player than Crosby was; in Yzerman's first 100-point season, at age 23, he also received a first-place Selke vote. The next season he became the only player in history to receive a first-place Selke vote in the same season as scoring 150 points, despite the numerous times Gretzky and Lemieux cleared that plateau, they never did it. Do you think Crosby will? I doubt it. People talk about him being one of the 10 best players ever in this thread. Right now, he is at BEST the third-best player aged 23-and-under, and he is also the worst defensively and physically and scored the fewest points of all of the three I am considering. He'll also have to compete with Gretzky, Lemieux, Howe, and Orr as the standards, plus whoever you want to put in as the filler for the top ten. How likely do you think Ovechkin and Malkin are to reach the plateau of top-ten all-time, and be compared with that group? Crosby has those same odds.

[BeeRYCE 2]

Yes, but if it meant getting rid of Z or Pav... NO.

[StevieY'sguy 1]

This thread makes me VERY sad panda.

It's enough to admit that Crosby has considerable talent. I'm no idiot. I know that the guy is going to be a monster on the ice. I just plain old do not like him. I think there's a certain caliber of person it takes to wear the winged wheel - and I don't think that Crosby is that type of person. I don't think it's just immaturity. For those of you excusing his actions by saying he's only 21, stop. I'm 20 years old and there's nothing more irritating than somebody excusing my ignorance or immaturity because I'm young. That's absolutely no reason to give someone a pass. At 21, he should know better. Hell, at 20, I should know better. Maybe in a few years, he'll change and I'd be comfortable enough to say sure - join our crew. But right now? No. I don't think he's the caliber of person I'd want in a Red Wings sweater.

For all of you who are out there calling Crosby immature, PLEASE give me one good example of how he has been immature, and no, "whining to the refs" is not a sign of immaturity, players and coaches of all ages in all sports do it so i'd love to hear what you mean by his "immaturity".....Also, Ms. Hockey, since it takes "a certain caliber of person" to wear the winged wheel, then please explain to me why Kirk Maltby, who constantly hits people then runs away from a fight, Chris Chelios, who (when he still actually played) was always cheap shotting people and running his mouth, Bob Probert and Petr Klima, who got into NUMEROUS problems involving drugs and alcohol, and Darren McCarty whose alcoholism pushed him into bankruptcy were fan favorites?......apparently it doesn't take such a "certain caliber of person" to play for the Wings......quit being such a homer and open your eyes, the Wings have had just as many knuckleheads on their teams as any other NHL franchise, most of us are just too biased to admit it.

[BeeRYCE 2]

Yzerman was a much better all-around player than Crosby was; in Yzerman's first 100-point season, at age 23, he also received a first-place Selke vote. The next season he became the only player in history to receive a first-place Selke vote in the same season as scoring 150 points, despite the numerous times Gretzky and Lemieux cleared that plateau, they never did it. Do you think Crosby will? I doubt it. People talk about him being one of the 10 best players ever in this thread. Right now, he is at BEST the third-best player aged 23-and-under, and he is also the worst defensively and physically and scored the fewest points of all of the three I am considering. He'll also have to compete with Gretzky, Lemieux, Howe, and Orr as the standards, plus whoever you want to put in as the filler for the top ten. How likely do you think Ovechkin and Malkin are to reach the plateau of top-ten all-time, and be compared with that group? Crosby has those same odds.

Well, is it worth mentioning that Crosby's defensive skills are far better than Malkin and Ovechkin? Yes, I said FAR better.

[Lovin Jiri Fischer 147]

For all of you who are out there calling Crosby immature, PLEASE give me one good example of how he has been immature, and no, "whining to the refs" is not a sign of immaturity, players and coaches of all ages in all sports do it so i'd love to hear what you mean by his "immaturity"

Punching a guy in the balls/butt while his teammate was holding him down? That's not exactly classy.

Publicly coming out and dissing Lidstrom and Pavel for staying home and nursing their injuries (something that he had no place discussing because he had no idea to what extent they were injured, and actually got Bettman to bend the rule for him).

He cannot handle pressure. He has not learned how to have a cool head yet.

[eva unit zero 271]

Yzerman was a much better all-around player than Crosby was; in Yzerman's first 100-point season, at age 23, he also received a first-place Selke vote. The next season he became the only player in history to receive a first-place Selke vote in the same season as scoring 150 points, despite the numerous times Gretzky and Lemieux cleared that plateau, they never did it. Do you think Crosby will? I doubt it. People talk about him being one of the 10 best players ever in this thread. Right now, he is at BEST the third-best player aged 23-and-under, and he is also the worst defensively and physically and scored the fewest points of all of the three I am considering. He'll also have to compete with Gretzky, Lemieux, Howe, and Orr as the standards, plus whoever you want to put in as the filler for the top ten. How likely do you think Ovechkin and Malkin are to reach the plateau of top-ten all-time, and be compared with that group? Crosby has those same odds.

Well, is it worth mentioning that Crosby's defensive skills are far better than Malkin and Ovechkin? Yes, I said FAR better.

I would disagree. I would say Crosby is worse than either defensively. In fact, I did in the post you quoted.

Edited April 26, 2009 by eva unit zero

[Yzerfan1999 81]

In a word, no. I'd rather have 20 guys like Pasha than one like Crosby.

Seeing as not that much separates the two in talent and importance to their team, i am sure every one in the NHL would rather have 20 Datsyuks on their team rather then one Crosby.

I read this thread as a simple question:If the Wings could have Crosby, would you want him on the team?

The only logical answer is YES. Not taking into account salary implication, there is no way Crosby would make this team worse. To think that is just retarded.

Its not a question of whether or not you like the kid - believe me, you have all expressed your hatred of Crosby a billion times already in this forum. We know.

[Doc Holiday 0]

He's the kind of guy who seems like he'll go for the paycheck rather than the cap space to make the team around him better, so that right off the bat dosen't lend me to believe he'd work in Detroit's system. Besides, our offense is stacked to high heaven as it is and he dosen't play two-way hockey. It's a moot point.

Where do you get this idea from?

[StevieY'sguy 1]

Punching a guy in the balls/butt while his teammate was holding him down? That's not exactly classy.

Publicly coming out and dissing Lidstrom and Pavel for staying home and nursing their injuries (something that he had no place discussing because he had no idea to what extent they were injured, and actually got Bettman to bend the rule for him).

He cannot handle pressure. He has not learned how to have a cool head yet.

Punching a guy while his teammate was holding him down is not exactly classy, you're right BUT it's not the first time it has happend in the NHL and it has absolutely nothing to do with immaturity, Todd Bertuzzi basically ended a guy's career by punching him in the back of the head and was lambasted (for good reason) nationally by all kinds of analysts, they called him dirty, a thug, classless, cheap, said he had anger issues,etc. but not once was it called immature because it had nothing to do with maturity, once again stuff like that happens from pee wees through the nhl.

Calling out Lidstrom and Pav.....wrong of him to do it? of course, the right thing to do? no ,but once again that has nothing to do with maturity, in fact i'd say it takes some stones to call out the best defenseman and most all around player in the game today.

He cannot handle pressue? Are you kidding me? He's been expected to resurrect the NHL since the age of 18, He's been compared to Gretzky since he was 16, He was handed the captaincy at 19 when every single player on his team was older than him. How has he responded? He has had 3 100 point seasons (and would have surely had a 4th had he not missed 30 games), has won a scoring title and an MVP, led Pittsburgh to the playoffs in only his second season, played in those same playoffs with a broken foot, In his third season led Pittsburgh to the Stanley Cup Finals, tied for the playoff scoring lead, and just led Pittsburgh to their 4th playoff series win in two seasons yesterday......and he's only been able to buy beer in Pittsburgh since August!!.......yea he's choking on the pressure alright

Also for everyone that would love to give all the credit to Malkin, he's played on a line with better wingers than Crosby the majority of his time there, and isn't matched up against the other team's top line like Crosby always is, if you don't think that has helped his numbers out than you are crazy. Also Malkin doesn't have to deal with being the NHL's poster boy and he can hardly speak English, and im betting the Pens didn't all learn Russian during last year's playoff run so Evgeni could do the locker room talking.....Malkin's a great player and deserves a lot of credit but all in all Crosby is the most important player to the Pens hands down.

Edited April 26, 2009 by StevieY'sguy

[Hockeymom1960 5,107]

Punching a guy while his teammate was holding him down is not exactly classy, you're right BUT it's not the first time it has happend in the NHL and it has absolutely nothing to do with immaturity, Todd Bertuzzi basically ended a guy's career by punching him in the back of the head and was lambasted (for good reason) nationally by all kinds of analysts, they called him dirty, a thug, classless, cheap, said he had anger issues,etc. but not once was it called immature because it had nothing to do with maturity, once again stuff like that happens from pee wees through the nhl.

Calling out Lidstrom and Pav.....wrong of him to do it? of course, the right thing to do? no ,but once again that has nothing to do with maturity, in fact i'd say it takes some stones to call out the best defenseman and most all around player in the game today.

He cannot handle pressue? Are you kidding me? He's been expected to resurrect the NHL since the age of 18, He's been compared to Gretzky since he was 16, He was handed the captaincy at 19 when every single player on his team was older than him. How has he responded? He has had 3 100 point seasons (and would have surely had a 4th had he not missed 30 games), has won a scoring title and an MVP, led Pittsburgh to the playoffs in only his second season, played in those same playoffs with a broken foot, In his third season led Pittsburgh to the Stanley Cup Finals, tied for the playoff scoring lead, and just led Pittsburgh to their 4th playoff series win in two seasons yesterday......and he's only been able to buy beer in Pittsburgh since August!!.......yea he's choking on the pressure alright

Also for everyone that would love to give all the credit to Malkin, he's played on a line with better wingers than Crosby the majority of his time there, and isn't matched up against the other team's top line like Crosby always is, if you don't think that has helped his numbers out than you are crazy. Also Malkin doesn't have to deal with being the NHL's poster boy and he can hardly speak English, and im betting the Pens didn't all learn Russian during last year's playoff run so Evgeni could do the locker room talking.....Malkin's a great player and deserves a lot of credit but all in all Crosby is the most important player to the Pens hands down.

[Pensfan 0]

I would disagree. I would say Crosby is worse than either defensively.

Then you would be wrong.

Edited April 26, 2009 by Pensfan

[Carman 387]

Don't like Crosby? Fine. Don't want him on your team? Fine. Saying he sucks and is worse defensively then Ovechkin is absolutely laughable. The ignorance in this thread is sad yet hilarious. To answer the question. Yes I would take Crosby on my team without a second thought. I think he is going to be the best player of this generation whether people like him or not.

[Kwame_Kilpatrick 0]

crosby is a good player he is a guy who is not shoot-first like ovechkin or semin or even parise ok. he will make his teammates better that is why i am surprised most of this forum thinks ovechkin is god when crosby is actually probably a better player for our style (and a better leader). also u can teach a player to be smart defensively but offensive skill is natural, he obviously is clever guys cmon. when is tha last time crosby dropped his stick on ice and pretended it was hot

[Ms_Hockey 0]

For all of you who are out there calling Crosby immature, PLEASE give me one good example of how he has been immature, and no, "whining to the refs" is not a sign of immaturity, players and coaches of all ages in all sports do it so i'd love to hear what you mean by his "immaturity".....Also, Ms. Hockey, since it takes "a certain caliber of person" to wear the winged wheel, then please explain to me why Kirk Maltby, who constantly hits people then runs away from a fight, Chris Chelios, who (when he still actually played) was always cheap shotting people and running his mouth, Bob Probert and Petr Klima, who got into NUMEROUS problems involving drugs and alcohol, and Darren McCarty whose alcoholism pushed him into bankruptcy were fan favorites?......apparently it doesn't take such a "certain caliber of person" to play for the Wings......quit being such a homer and open your eyes, the Wings have had just as many knuckleheads on their teams as any other NHL franchise, most of us are just too biased to admit it.

I don't find Crosby as immature as I do irritating. Anybody who can sit in a post-game press conference and discredit Zetterberg's play when he not only helped kill a 5-on-3, but took the puck and shot it on the Pens goal is just flat out stupid. Immature? A little bit. Irritating? Incredibly so. I have yet to hear a single player on the Detroit Red Wings bash anybody on another team in a public interview. They're always respectful and maybe even give the other team way more credit than they should.

Maltby doesn't have to fight after making a hit. That's not a sign of not being a high caliber of person. Clearly, you'd appreciate a little fight. Frankly, I couldn't care less about hockey fights. So if he wants to skate away, so what? I would never bash a player for skating away from a fight.

Chelios hardly plays anymore. Running his mouth? What player DOESN'T jaw-jack their opponents on the ice?

I know nothing about Probert or Klima. I'm only 20, need I remind you.

Darren McCarty was traded away from the Red Wings and only taken back when he agreed to enter rehab and sober up first. Apparently, I'm not the only one that thinks this team has a reputation to uphold.. and McCarty wasn't fitting that reputation - so bye bye.

And lastly, don't ever insult me again. It doesn't get your point across and doesn't make your case... at all.

Edited April 26, 2009 by Ms_Hockey

[Lovin Jiri Fischer 147]

Darren McCarty was traded away from the Red Wings and only taken back when he agreed to enter rehab and sober up first. Apparently, I'm not the only one that thinks this team has a reputation to uphold.. and McCarty wasn't fitting that reputation - so bye bye.

This is exactly right. This team does have a standard to uphold, and it's very clear. I mean how many of you have said "I'm so glad Avery is gone from this team"? I know that most of you are saying this because Avery has a bad reputation not that he is a terrible player. Skills and stats are great, but so is a positive locker room atmosphere. Why do you think so many players want to come here when they could be making more money elsewhere? Our reputation of being a classy, positive, and mature organization from management to waterboys.

[Kwame_Kilpatrick 0]

i agree but crosby is a good guy he is just still a kid... zetterberg is 28 and crosby is like 22 right? he still having much time to learn. and u cannot say he is a negative force in the locker his team are always good for the most recent couple years and everyone looks like have fun in pittsburg

[Rivalred 630]

I don't find Crosby as immature as I do irritating. Anybody who can sit in a post-game press conference and discredit Zetterberg's play when he not only helped kill a 5-on-3, but took the puck and shot it on the Pens goal is just flat out stupid. Immature? A little bit. Irritating? Incredibly so. I have yet to hear a single player on the Detroit Red Wings bash anybody on another team in a public interview. They're always respectful and maybe even give the other team way more credit than they should.

Maltby doesn't have to fight after making a hit. That's not a sign of not being a high caliber of person. Clearly, you'd appreciate a little fight. Frankly, I couldn't care less about hockey fights. So if he wants to skate away, so what? I would never bash a player for skating away from a fight.

Chelios hardly plays anymore. Running his mouth? What player DOESN'T jaw-jack their opponents on the ice?

I know nothing about Probert or Klima. I'm only 20, need I remind you.

Darren McCarty was traded away from the Red Wings and only taken back when he agreed to enter rehab and sober up first. Apparently, I'm not the only one that thinks this team has a reputation to uphold.. and McCarty wasn't fitting that reputation - so bye bye.

And lastly, don't ever insult me again. It doesn't get your point across and doesn't make your case... at all.

Being called a "homer" is not really a insult... Might want to get some thicker skin.

And to be honest, McCarty and Probert had their share of problems. I think McCarty was cleaning himself back up even before the Wings decided to take him back; I think you may have your facts wrong.

[Ms_Hockey 0]

i agree but crosby is a good guy he is just still a kid... zetterberg is 28 and crosby is like 22 right? he still having much time to learn. and u cannot say he is a negative force in the locker his team are always good for the most recent couple years and everyone looks like have fun in pittsburg

I'd just like to point out that I said down the road, after he's grown up a bit, I'd be more than happy to reconsider putting him on the Wings. It's just that RIGHT NOW.. I wouldn't want him to be.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

The fact that some of you believe the impact Lidstrom, the veterans, the coaching staff and management would have on Crosby couldnt turn him into a Red Wing is ridiculous. The fact that you talk like Red Wings s*** dont stink and most other players on other teams do, is ridiculous. I mean, we traded for dirtbag Chris Chelios, Ulfie Samuelsson, Todd Bertuzzi. Were those guys Red Wings? Nope, were they worsely regarded then Sid? Hell yeah, Chelios was the only one to stay and become a Red Wing, the way he was early in his career was so much worse the Crosby it isnt even funny. Sid would act just like Yzerman did with a summer and training camp in the organzation, no doubt about it.

I mean, I understand some reasons for it, like him not being mature enough NOW, but to say he couldnt act and behave like a Red Wing if we indeed traded for him, is ridiculous.

Edited April 26, 2009 by Detroit # 1 Fan

[Ms_Hockey 0]

Being called a "homer" is not really a insult... Might want to get some thicker skin.

And to be honest, McCarty and Probert had their share of problems. I think McCarty was cleaning himself back up even before the Wings decided to take him back; I think you may have your facts wrong.

I don't have thick skin. Never have - probably never will. (It's one of the most irritating things in the world, but I make due.)

Also, I don't have my facts wrong. Whether he was sobering up or not - the Wings made perfectly clear that until he entered/finished rehab and was clean for a certain period of time, they weren't going to bring him back to the team. I did a report on him in high school. (Got a 96% - so it was worth it.)

[Ms_Hockey 0]

I mean, I understand some reasons for it, like him not being mature enough NOW, but to say he couldnt act and behave like a Red Wing if we indeed traded for him, is ridiculous.

I don't think it's that he couldn't. I think it's that I wouldn't be willing to take that risk.

[uk_redwing 495]

I know nothing about Probert

But....what....how?

[sixer 37]

If he takes less money we'll consider him!

[Ms_Hockey 0]

But....what....how?

Just never been in a situation where he was discussed, I guess. I know he was one of my dad's favorite players and that he was a hardass. That's all I know.