What was the reaction on here when we drafted Sid?

[Rohit]

I was bartending at a popular local place and when we the announcement was made I starting yelling "we got him, we got him!"

Noone in the place cared or knew who Sidney Crosby was.

It's amazing how far we've come since then.

If the pens won the right to draft tavares, even at the peak of his hype which would have been at last year's draft, people still wouldn't know who he was. Thats not an indictment on how much they pay attention or care about hockey, its just that everyone doesn't spend all their time following lower levels of hockey, not to mention the fact that he's up in Canada. If an American kid was lighting it up somewhere in the region, everyone would know about them.

wouldnt that kid be phil kessel. how many people really knew about him?

[JoseCuervo]

I was bartending at a popular local place and when we the announcement was made I starting yelling "we got him, we got him!"

Noone in the place cared or knew who Sidney Crosby was.

It's amazing how far we've come since then.

If the pens won the right to draft tavares, even at the peak of his hype which would have been at last year's draft, people still wouldn't know who he was. Thats not an indictment on how much they pay attention or care about hockey, its just that everyone doesn't spend all their time following lower levels of hockey, not to mention the fact that he's up in Canada. If an American kid was lighting it up somewhere in the region, everyone would know about them.

That's why we have Jesse.

[Idoit40fans]

I was bartending at a popular local place and when we the announcement was made I starting yelling "we got him, we got him!"

Noone in the place cared or knew who Sidney Crosby was.

It's amazing how far we've come since then.

If the pens won the right to draft tavares, even at the peak of his hype which would have been at last year's draft, people still wouldn't know who he was. Thats not an indictment on how much they pay attention or care about hockey, its just that everyone doesn't spend all their time following lower levels of hockey, not to mention the fact that he's up in Canada. If an American kid was lighting it up somewhere in the region, everyone would know about them.

That's why we have Jesse.

Exactly.

[JoseCuervo]

I feel that if I could watch Canadian Juniors, I would.

As far as international prospects go, I'm SOL.

[Idoit40fans]

I feel that if I could watch Canadian Juniors, I would.

As far as international prospects go, I'm SOL.

I'd do the same. If I could watch more college hockey I would do that too. I can't afford to order stations that would allow that though.

[littlemoonboot]

To be honest I barely knew my butt from my elbow about that time. I was moving overseas for the first time following my mom's death and headed off to get my master's in London so I was really distracted aside from bits and pieces news snippets about the Penguins and something about "some Crosby kid who's supposed to be good" but a lot of that time is a weird blur.

[Gaucho]

I was on vacation and only heard about it about a week after the draft. I didn't think about the draft at all, as I didn't expect us to win the lottery anyway. It was a nice surprise, to say the least. It was the icing on the pizza.

[purelebo84]

I was bartending at a popular local place and when we the announcement was made I starting yelling "we got him, we got him!"

Noone in the place cared or knew who Sidney Crosby was.

It's amazing how far we've come since then.

If the pens won the right to draft tavares, even at the peak of his hype which would have been at last year's draft, people still wouldn't know who he was. Thats not an indictment on how much they pay attention or care about hockey, its just that everyone doesn't spend all their time following lower levels of hockey, not to mention the fact that he's up in Canada. If an American kid was lighting it up somewhere in the region, everyone would know about them.

I actually know a lot more about Canadian juniors (OHL, Q, WHL, OPHL, etc.) than American juniors (USHL, Central, NAHL etc.)

I find those games a lot more interesting just because the level of play in Canada is so much higher.

[pressure=9Pa]

I came home from work, saw the headline on espn.com or similar, and promptly changed my fantasy baseball team name to "Sydney Crosby". I'm still embarrassed about the mis-spelling, but my baseball team got hot so I never changed it back.

[Pens15]

A while ago I felt like reliving the moment when Bettman opened the envelope and it was confirmed that Crosby was a Penguin. I looked on youtube and elsewhere but I couldn't find it. Wonder it's it out there somewhere.

[superconan]

I came home from work, saw the headline on espn.com or similar, and promptly changed my fantasy baseball team name to "Sydney Crosby". I'm still embarrassed about the mis-spelling, but my baseball team got hot so I never changed it back.

In "The Spectacular Sidney Crosby: Reaching for the Great One" his name is spelled wrong (with a Y). It is the first word in the first paragraph of the book.

[dman66]

i remember watching the entire thing on tv. it was just me at first, and they went 30-21, 20-11, 10-3, then the last two. my main thoughts were two things, if the pens got him, that would be awesome, if they didn't, i hoped the flyers and rangers didn't get him. plus, i wanted the pens to get a good draft spot. as they went through the teams, i got more and more excited. my sister and mom and dog came in the room about half way through. when they got down to the last two, i was like, well, we are either going to get him or he's gonna be out west and we won't see him. when we got him, i jumped about five feet in the air. the dog followed suit. it was a great celebration. right after i went to icejerseys.com, bought a crosby jersey, called my dad and girlfriend. it was crazy

[Kicksave]

I was like "Thats Cool". I didn't know anything about Crosby. I do have a question. Why is there alot more hype when a canadien superstar is drafted then a European/Eastern European

You were like, 12, when it happened.

[Idoit40fans]

I was bartending at a popular local place and when we the announcement was made I starting yelling "we got him, we got him!"

Noone in the place cared or knew who Sidney Crosby was.

It's amazing how far we've come since then.

If the pens won the right to draft tavares, even at the peak of his hype which would have been at last year's draft, people still wouldn't know who he was. Thats not an indictment on how much they pay attention or care about hockey, its just that everyone doesn't spend all their time following lower levels of hockey, not to mention the fact that he's up in Canada. If an American kid was lighting it up somewhere in the region, everyone would know about them.

I actually know a lot more about Canadian juniors (OHL, Q, WHL, OPHL, etc.) than American juniors (USHL, Central, NAHL etc.)

I find those games a lot more interesting just because the level of play in Canada is so much higher.

So do I, but that doesn't change the fact that the average person out there is only going to hear about someone from their region thats playing extremely well if they hear about anyone at all.

[Jesse]

I don't remember much about this places reaction about Sid, but I remember having to prevent some people from mass suicide when the Capitals won the draft lottery in 2003. No one wanted to believe (maybe even myself included, at times) that Malkin could go blow for blow with Ovechkin in this league.

Thanks for the Kudos, Cuervo & 40.

[Mongoose87]

I don't remember much about this places reaction about Sid, but I remember having to prevent some people from mass suicide when the Capitals won the draft lottery in 2003. No one wanted to believe (maybe even myself included, at times) that Malkin could go blow for blow with Ovechkin in this league.

Thanks for the Kudos, Cuervo & 40.

Wait, wait, we've got Malkin..? I thought we won the lottery?

[SolidSnake]

I don't remember much about this places reaction about Sid, but I remember having to prevent some people from mass suicide when the Capitals won the draft lottery in 2003. No one wanted to believe (maybe even myself included, at times) that Malkin could go blow for blow with Ovechkin in this league.

Thanks for the Kudos, Cuervo & 40.

Wait, wait, we've got Malkin..? I thought we won the lottery?

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic lol but no Caps won the lottery and took AO. We took Geno with the 2nd pick.

[Big Easy Pens Fan]

I live in New Orleans. At that time we had very little NHL coverage on cable (now we have NHL Network) and I went to work (I work swing) and the only other guy at work who is a hockey fan told me we had gotten Crosby. I said "no way"...he said "yea." I did the ole fist pump. I had actually known about Crosby since he was about 14 or 15 via an article in Sports Illustrated where Gretzky had spoken about him. In fact, if memory serves, I believe they called him "the next one" in that article.

When AO & Geno went 1-2 in the previous draft, I was kinda disappointed we didn't get AO. Not anymore. Geno is the man!

[Indyman]

I remember being on holidays in Saskatchewan - (that's Canada btw )- hanging out in my parents basement - the draft came on ....I watched with interest knowing we had the best odds of landing Crosby out of all the teams - but that the odds were still against us. With each pick my excitement level went up - by the time it got to the top 10, i found my self pacing around the room. By the time it came down to us and Anaheim, i remember thinking we have a 50/50 shot. When Bettman (finally) drew our card, I knew that the Penguins franchise was going to become the talk of the league for some time, and we landed a player with Lemieux-esq talents and potential.
I cracked a frosty beverage, and started phoning all my buddies to brag.
I knew it was one of those moments in my life that i will always remember...

[jimjom]

I remember Hans Bremer walking to the podium and just saying "Ladies and gentlemen...we got him." And then the whole room erupted in applause!

Oh wait that was the Hussein presser.

I kept hitting "reload" on NHL.com and couldn't believe it came down to us. Remembering the unbelievable luck that it took us to get Sid. I bought a Sher Wood pattern wood stick earlier in 05 or even o4 and thinking that this kid must be something special to be an OHL player and have his own pattern...anyways, when I saw that we got him over Anaheim, I walked outside and called my dad, a lifelong Pens fan then got on gmail and agreed to buy a season ticket package with a few of my bros that we still have now.

[jimjom]

I remember being on holidays in Saskatchewan - (that's Canada btw )- hanging out in my parents basement - the draft came on ....I watched with interest knowing we had the best odds of landing Crosby out of all the teams - but that the odds were still against us. With each pick my excitement level went up - by the time it got to the top 10, i found my self pacing around the room. By the time it came down to us and Anaheim, i remember thinking we have a 50/50 shot. When Bettman (finally) drew our card, I knew that the Penguins franchise was going to become the talk of the league for some time, and we landed a player with Lemieux-esq talents and potential.
I cracked a frosty beverage, and started phoning all my buddies to brag.
I knew it was one of those moments in my life that i will always remember...

I love that you live in SK and refer to the Pens as "we"...you rule, man. I like that style. If you ever come to Pgh for a game pm me I'll buy you a beer!

[westside]

I was at work and got a text from a friend who is not even really a hockey fan but knew I always watched the Pens. I had only first heard of Crosby during the previous season, and had seen that sick wrap around goal he had in juniors. So I was still stoked and knew that after 2 seasons of forcing myself to sit through all the horrible Pens games, they were finally going to be exciting again.

[E 14 Hornblower]

I got a text from my friend when I found out. I never thought we would of had the chance of getting the number one pick. After he texted me I texted back and said B.S.. Then he said turn to FSN and Stan was on there with videos of Sid. I couldnt believe what I was seeing. I called the Pens right away and ordered season tickets. I also answered all my phone calls with "Its a great day for hockey". My girlfriend at the time had no clue what I meant. So I explained to her who Sid was and she just laughed and said the pens are just like the pirates. Two weeks later I dumped her ***.

[Idoit40fans]

I got a text from my friend when I found out. I never thought we would of had the chance of getting the number one pick. After he texted me I texted back and said B.S.. Then he said turn to FSN and Stan was on there with videos of Sid. I couldnt believe what I was seeing. I called the Pens right away and ordered season tickets. I also answered all my phone calls with "Its a great day for hockey". My girlfriend at the time had no clue what I meant. So I explained to her who Sid was and she just laughed and said the pens are just like the pirates. Two weeks later I dumped her ***.

I've sometimes wondered how many ticket plans were ordered that day.

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

On draft lottery day, which of course what not the same day as the draft, I was still living near Pittsburgh as I had just graduated that summer. I was visiting my girlfriend in Philadelphia. We were staying at her sister's place and she only had basic cable. When I turned on the TV and found out about it, I was so exicted that we won that I screamed and scared both my girlfriend and her sister. I was very happy for the rest of the trip to say the least.

On draft day, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that we were drafting Sid. I still couldn't wait until the draft began and Craig Patrick and Mario went up to the podium to do the announcement. What a great day for hockey.