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Penguins Notebook: Crosby gets an apology from Blake
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DALLAS -- At a news conference yesterday concerning the new NHL uniforms that will debut tomorrow in the All-Star Game, Penguins center Sidney Crosby sat next to Jason Blake.
That would be the New York Islanders winger who speared Crosby in the final minute of a Penguins 5-2 win Jan. 16 at Mellon Arena, an action that brought Blake a $1,000 fine from the NHL.
"He said sorry," Crosby said later yesterday. "There was no need to go into it or go over it. Things happen. I do things on the ice sometimes that I wish I wouldn't have done, and every player has been in that situation. It doesn't really matter now."
Alex and Sid
At a dual news conference, Crosby and Washington winger Alex Ovechkin were asked who should be the NHL's MVP.
"Crosby," Ovechkin quickly blurted.
Crosby hesitated.
"I couldn't tell you," he said. "There's just so many guys right now. The best answer [in this situation] would be Ovechkin, right?
"The MVP is yearlong, 82 games, and it's such an honor to win. There's so many guys who have had a great first half ... and whether or not teams make the playoffs, that makes a difference, too."
Ovechkin beat out Crosby last season for the Calder Trophy as the league rookie of the year, but Crosby this season is beating out Ovechkin -- and everyone else -- in the NHL scoring race.
Crosby has 72 points. Ovechkin is tied with two others at 65 points, with Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis running second with 66.
Because Crosby and Ovechkin were voted starters for tomorrow's game, they will play on the same line.
"It's always me against him, so to be on the same line trying to help each other is kind of nice," Crosby said. "You always want to set up guys like that."
Family time
The All-Star activities are a chance for Jordan and Eric Staal to have some brother time.
Jordan, a rookie for the Penguins, is playing in the YoungStars game tonight. Older brother Eric, of Carolina, is playing in the main game.
Yesterday, the two starred in the filming of an NHL promotional spot that had them staging a pillow fight in a hotel room.
"It got a little messy," Eric Staal said. "There were feathers everywhere. I was hacking them out of my throat when we were done.
"It was a good time."
Stars of the '90s
As part of the All-Star celebration, the league had a 1999 Dallas Stars Stanley Cup reunion and an "NHL Salute to a Generation of Stars."
Perhaps not surprisingly considering the Penguins won two Stanley Cups and had other strong teams in the 1990s, four of the 11 players honored are former Penguins -- Mario Lemieux, Paul Coffey, Larry Murphy and Luc Robitaille.
First Published January 23, 2007 12:00 am
