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The Kid: A Season with Sidney Crosby and the New NHL
A Season with Sidney Crosby and the New NHL. A gripping account of the rookie season of the NHL’s next great saviour.
When Sidney Crosby was first drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins, we knew he was bright, photogenic, personable, and a media darling. The only question that remained was whether he could handle the big time. From an international advertising deal with Reebok to a season of personal triumphs and gut-wrenching challenges — with a little argument from Don Cherry along the way — Sid the Kid has proven that he is the man.
In the tradition of A Season on the Brink and Peter Gzowski’s The Game of Our Lives , Shawna Richer has had the exclusive assignment of chronicling Sidney Crosby’s incredible rookie season. Beginning with the NHL entry draft that almost never was, Richer follows Crosby to Pittsburgh, where he is greeted as the team’s saviour and moves in with living legend Mario Lemieux. Just eighteen, the league’s youngest player makes the leap to the NHL look easy and is named its best rookie in his first month, while performing under great expectations and intense scrutiny. He quickly becomes his team’s leading scorer and best player; there are triumphant openings in New York, Toronto, and Montreal. But like Gretzky and Lemieux, the young superstars who came before him, his first NHL season provides immense challenges. The Penguins struggle to win games and fire their coach early on, all with the threat that the team may be sold and leave Pittsburgh hanging over their heads. Through it all, Crosby rises to each challenge. His story is destined to become a classic.
With less than a minute left to play, and the game appearing to be headed to a shootout, Crosby vaulted over the bench for his final shift. At the same time, across the rink in the corner near the Penguins net, Ryan Malone pulled the puck onto his stick. The rangy sophomore forward looked around for an open man nearby, but then he spied Crosby near centre ice, just starting to head across the zone. The rookie was wide open and all alone. Malone fired a long lead pass to his teammate straight up the middle of the rink.
Just over the centre line, Crosby pulled the puck in and charged into the Flyers zone, all the anger from earlier contained entirely on the blade of his stick. The only thing between him and Niittymaki was less than ninety feet of well-worn ice. The Finnish goaltender shimmied out of his crease in an attempt to cut down the view of the net, but Crosby was churning so hard and so fast he quickly backed up. Sidney spotted an opening on Niittymaki’s stick side, and in an instant, he shot and scored.
He raised his arms and shouted. He circled back toward centre ice, all broken teeth and fat lip and unbridled rage and joy and sweet revenge in one package. The crowd roared its displeasure.
–From The Rookie
When Sidney Crosby was first drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins, we knew he was bright, photogenic, personable, and a media darling. The only question that remained was whether he could handle the big time. From an international advertising deal with Reebok to a season of personal triumphs and gut-wrenching challenges — with a little argument from Don Cherry along the way — Sid the Kid has proven that he is the man.
In the tradition of A Season on the Brink and Peter Gzowski’s The Game of Our Lives , Shawna Richer has had the exclusive assignment of chronicling Sidney Crosby’s incredible rookie season. Beginning with the NHL entry draft that almost never was, Richer follows Crosby to Pittsburgh, where he is greeted as the team’s saviour and moves in with living legend Mario Lemieux. Just eighteen, the league’s youngest player makes the leap to the NHL look easy and is named its best rookie in his first month, while performing under great expectations and intense scrutiny. He quickly becomes his team’s leading scorer and best player; there are triumphant openings in New York, Toronto, and Montreal. But like Gretzky and Lemieux, the young superstars who came before him, his first NHL season provides immense challenges. The Penguins struggle to win games and fire their coach early on, all with the threat that the team may be sold and leave Pittsburgh hanging over their heads. Through it all, Crosby rises to each challenge. His story is destined to become a classic.
With less than a minute left to play, and the game appearing to be headed to a shootout, Crosby vaulted over the bench for his final shift. At the same time, across the rink in the corner near the Penguins net, Ryan Malone pulled the puck onto his stick. The rangy sophomore forward looked around for an open man nearby, but then he spied Crosby near centre ice, just starting to head across the zone. The rookie was wide open and all alone. Malone fired a long lead pass to his teammate straight up the middle of the rink.
Just over the centre line, Crosby pulled the puck in and charged into the Flyers zone, all the anger from earlier contained entirely on the blade of his stick. The only thing between him and Niittymaki was less than ninety feet of well-worn ice. The Finnish goaltender shimmied out of his crease in an attempt to cut down the view of the net, but Crosby was churning so hard and so fast he quickly backed up. Sidney spotted an opening on Niittymaki’s stick side, and in an instant, he shot and scored.
He raised his arms and shouted. He circled back toward centre ice, all broken teeth and fat lip and unbridled rage and joy and sweet revenge in one package. The crowd roared its displeasure.
–From The Rookie
376 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
August 5, 2014
Very good account of Sidney Crosby's rookie season with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005-2006. I'm pretty sure that any use of the phrase "beestung lips" is too many - this book used it three times! As a Pens' fan, it was fascinating to discover the origin of the much-repeated taunt about Crosby diving (blame the Flyers) and disheartening to realize that several of the things Crosby knew he needed to work on during his rookie season (such as letting rival teams get him wound up to put him off his game) remain problems for him today.
September 19, 2009
How could anything with Sidney Crosby not be great?!
March 4, 2022
The writing was a little weird at times, as Richer would gloss over a specific time-like the Olympics or something-and then come back a few paragraphs later and explain it in detail, which could get a bit confusing, but it was still interesting.
As someone who grew up reading biographies of the "greats" that had retired (many of which are mentioned in this book) it felt a little funny to read about a player that began playing just a few years after I was born, and who is still playing.
Of course, it is a hockey biographies, so there are a few (1-2) mentions of taking the Lord's name in vain, several mentions of hockey players being fluent in profanity, whether they were French or English, mentions of injuries (mostly non-detailed), mentions of the rookie being allowed to have girls over to the Lemieux house, but not being able to have them sleep over.
Honestly, for a secular book about hockey players, it felt much cleaner than the Wayne Gretzky I read the other year. But that book was written by two men, and this one by a woman, which probably makes a difference in having less mentions of the locker room things.
As someone who grew up reading biographies of the "greats" that had retired (many of which are mentioned in this book) it felt a little funny to read about a player that began playing just a few years after I was born, and who is still playing.
Of course, it is a hockey biographies, so there are a few (1-2) mentions of taking the Lord's name in vain, several mentions of hockey players being fluent in profanity, whether they were French or English, mentions of injuries (mostly non-detailed), mentions of the rookie being allowed to have girls over to the Lemieux house, but not being able to have them sleep over.
Honestly, for a secular book about hockey players, it felt much cleaner than the Wayne Gretzky I read the other year. But that book was written by two men, and this one by a woman, which probably makes a difference in having less mentions of the locker room things.
August 23, 2023
Genuinely think this book reads best in hindsight. I’m sure it was still great and engaging in 2006, but it’s way more fun to read about Sid being left off the ‘06 Olympics roster and what he might do in 2010 when you know the answer is as good as it is. The same is true for all the hypotheticals posed in here about his and the Penguins’ future.
This was just a fun read, which really speaks to Richer’s ability to hone her narrative considering how disappointing the 05-06 season was overall. Problem after problem arises, but you never want to quit on the book or on the team. It really makes you appreciate how insane it was that he ended the season with 102 points. How insane it was that this 18 year old boy, already with more media pressure than a FOA had ever dealt with, was often the only player available to the media after countless horrible losses. Well. 60 horrible losses.
I could probably talk about this book for way longer than anyone should have to tolerate, so I’ll leave off here:
It’s not a perfect book, and I think it may “objectively” be a 4 star read, but Richer points out “to be objective in the literal sense would be to remove all emotion from the coverage, and sportswriting at its best can only be worthwhile by embracing and exposing emotion and all things that fuel it.” So. 5 stars. To me.
This was just a fun read, which really speaks to Richer’s ability to hone her narrative considering how disappointing the 05-06 season was overall. Problem after problem arises, but you never want to quit on the book or on the team. It really makes you appreciate how insane it was that he ended the season with 102 points. How insane it was that this 18 year old boy, already with more media pressure than a FOA had ever dealt with, was often the only player available to the media after countless horrible losses. Well. 60 horrible losses.
I could probably talk about this book for way longer than anyone should have to tolerate, so I’ll leave off here:
It’s not a perfect book, and I think it may “objectively” be a 4 star read, but Richer points out “to be objective in the literal sense would be to remove all emotion from the coverage, and sportswriting at its best can only be worthwhile by embracing and exposing emotion and all things that fuel it.” So. 5 stars. To me.
December 18, 2021
Loved all the quotes and the day-by-day perspective.
Reading this in 2021, we know it all worked out! The Penguins stayed in Pittsburgh, Mario kept the team until just this month, the Penguins went to the Stanley Cup finals in 2008 and won 3 times, Sid won gold with Canada at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, etc.
Reading this in 2021, we know it all worked out! The Penguins stayed in Pittsburgh, Mario kept the team until just this month, the Penguins went to the Stanley Cup finals in 2008 and won 3 times, Sid won gold with Canada at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, etc.
did-not-finish
September 23, 2022Temporary DNF @ 25%
I was hoping to read this and then listen to Sidney Crosby's own audio book on his rookie year but scribd kicked me off my subscription early and I didn't get to finish it, hoping to source my own copy soon and finish it.
I was hoping to read this and then listen to Sidney Crosby's own audio book on his rookie year but scribd kicked me off my subscription early and I didn't get to finish it, hoping to source my own copy soon and finish it.
May 1, 2022
really enjoyed the ride along with Sidney & author on his rookie season.
October 26, 2024
Hell yeah
January 30, 2025
Huge Crosby fan! A fantastic insight to his first season!
December 22, 2007
great behind-the-scenes access to a team that comes out of the NHL lockout with great hopes but watches them crumble ... A season that saw the retirement of a legend (Mario Lemieux), the retirement of an enigma (Ziggy Palffy) and the firing of a coach (Eddi Olczyk) also saw Sidney Crosby prove himself in the NHL. The writing could have been a bit stronger, but the access and anecdotes are worth the price.
November 19, 2014
In a properly run world, more women would be writing about sports. Richer balances her hockey expertise with an eye for human nature to craft a fascinating book out of a single hockey season. She writes with humanity yet detachment, and never follows the party line like male reporters. I began with neutral feelings about Crosby, but by the end, I was cheering him on.
Read
June 16, 2010Quite a good read if you like hockey and even better if you are a fan of Sidney Crosby. The book talk about the NHl's tranistion into a faster pace. Another thing the book talks about is the new and upcoming star Sidney Crosby, more precisly how Sidney Crosby got to the NHL.
February 9, 2008
It's a good record of events for people who didn't follow the team, but a lot of what was written could've been gleaned from the local newspapers. It's decent for what it is, but not great.
June 26, 2008
i always liked crosby, but even more so after i read this book. a must read for any fans of hockey!
May 4, 2011
Regardless of your opinion on Sidney Crosby, this is an interesting look into his rookie year.
May 30, 2011
Great book amazing person
October 11, 2011
Outstanding sports book! (If anyone knows of any other other good Hockey books, please drop me a line!). Highly recommend this book to any Hockey fan or Sports fan.
February 3, 2013
A great book about a great player. I found this to be very enjoyable.
September 24, 2014
I liked this book.
August 8, 2014
A few repeated anecdotes, but all in all, a compelling and engaging read. It's a bit hagiographic, but since Crosby tends to attract either hagiography or hatred, I'll be satisfied with the former.
February 11, 2025
Review for The Rookie can be found on Hockey Blog In Canada.
August 13, 2015
This book made me see Crosby in a whole new light. It goes in depth with the struggles of the Penguins as well.
May 18, 2016
Task: #45 - A book related to a hobby or passion you have - 3/5 stars
October 11, 2016
My obsession with Sidney Crosby is officially off the rails. Still though, it was a super interesting read, it never got dull or overly technical and it was pretty insightful.
January 2, 2017
Decent. Crosby is basically LeBron James, but I just don't care enough about hockey to get gripped by a story that lacked intense drama. The account of Philly sports fans acting psycho was well-put.
Read
March 4, 2014I love him
November 10, 2014
Great book about an outstanding player.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews