|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NHL ALL-STAR WEEKENDJanuary 22, 2007Sidney CrosbyAlex OvechkinDALLAS, TEXAS MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Sidney, I'm here from the Kansas City Star. I was wondering what your thoughts are on this situation and what do you know about Kansas City? SIDNEY CROSBY: I don't know a whole lot. Obviously I think the players in our team are pretty content with being in Pittsburgh. We really enjoy it there. We get great support. That's where we want to be, but again, it's out of our hands. We have heard the rumor it's a possibility to go there, but I think we're quite content with being in Pittsburgh. Q. Sidney, All-Star game players tend to not exactly give 110 percent. What percentage would you say you're going to put out there? SIDNEY CROSBY: I don't know. I'm going to work hard obviously. Not going out there throwing hits everywhere, but it's still a time to have fun, show some creativity and go out there and try to impress some fans. So I think it's a fun time. Obviously, like I said, you're not going to be throwing your body around, but it's a time to have fun and show some skills. So I think that's what we're all going to try to do. Q. Both of you guys have been compared to each other so much. Are you looking forward to playing each other, how excited are you about that idea? ALEX OVECHKIN: I'm looking forward to play against, together with Sidney and it will be a great time to play with a great player and we're both young and I think we have the next game play together, too. It will be good. SIDNEY CROSBY: I'm looking forward to it, obviously. As he said it's always myself against him type of thing. It's always built up when we play against each other. It's nice to be on the same line. Obviously if you give him a puck he's scoring for us and not against us. So it's nice. Hopefully we can have some fun out there and create some things. ALEX OVECHKIN: I just wait one time. Q. Maybe you're smiling already, maybe you know what question is coming. Will you look for Daniel Briere, I guess he's having flight trouble. He's not in right now but will you seek him out before the game? ALEX OVECHKIN: Yeah, just fight in the locker room again. No, just shake hands, see how is everything. Go with practice. Q. Is it important to bury the hatchet for -- to make sure everything is okay? To get through this game and not have any bad feelings? ALEX OVECHKIN: No, everything is okay. It was just two moments, me and him. So I think everybody forget. But not you. (Laughter.) Q. What do you guys think of all the attention that you're getting? It seems like everybody is talking about the two of you as the future of the NHL and you guys are selling the game and marketing the game. What do you guys think about that at your ages? SIDNEY CROSBY: Me personally, I'm not too worried about it, obviously. There's a lot of things that go on and it's built up every time we play each other. But I think we're both focused on playing hockey. I can't speak for Alex but I can speak for myself. We're both playing hockey. We're still young. We still have things to prove. We can always get better. So try to approach it when things come. But away from that I think we're just worried about playing hockey. ALEX OVECHKIN: We're young and we just have fun and right now we're here in the All-Star game and it's unbelievable, I think. It's nice. Q. Sidney, was there something when you were growing up that allowed you to reach the elite level that you're at now as something -- that certain type of practice or a certain influence? SIDNEY CROSBY: I don't think so. I think the influence might have been always playing with older guys. I was lucky enough to be moved up at a young age and I was always playing against guys that were a little bit bigger, little stronger and older. So when I made the jump to the next level it was always able to make it a little more comfortable than other kids. So that's probably something that's helped me and just to have that confidence to be able to make the next step and still be successful. I think it helped me a lot just coming to the NHL. Q. Sidney, I asked Alex earlier at the press conference but wanted to ask you, do you have any tricks up your sleeve for tomorrow night or Wednesday? SIDNEY CROSBY: Don't plan anything. We'll see what happens. But just gotta react there. It's no different than a normal game. You have to react. I don't think guys are going to be shy to show their skill and be creative. It's a time to do it. And so a lot of people watching, lot of people interested. You want to make it fun. We'll see what happens. But there's no plans. Q. Sidney, they're calling you the golden boy of the new NHL. How do you like being the cat's meow of all things stick and puck? SIDNEY CROSBY: I can't answer that one serious. No, there's a lot of attention for sure. But alls I can hope is I put on a good performance. First time here. So hopefully the people of Dallas are welcoming. Q. That said, Sidney, I think that it seems to be a lot of hope that you -- the both of you especially will be the face of the NHL for a long time. We had Magic and Byrd and helped the NBA get big. How do you feel about that role right now for you guys? ALEX OVECHKIN: I feel fine. (Chuckling.) I feel comfortable. And I think Sidney feels comfortable, too. He's right. We concentrate on the game and don't think about our faces, NHL, or Magic Johnson or Larry Byrd. We concentrate on our game and our team. SIDNEY CROSBY: I think we have a strong group of players. We're able to show what the league's capable of and bring interest. I don't think it's up to one or two guys. I think there's a group of guys and I think we take it upon our responsibility to be good role models or to bring interest to the game. But for the most part it's going to be our on-ice performance that does that. So the focus has to be on playing, but at the same time you want to bring the fans and the interest. We all love to play. We want to see other people have that same experience when they see games. Q. Can I ask both players if they can win the MVP in the league if their teams do not make the playoffs? SIDNEY CROSBY: I don't know. It's not something I'm too concerned about. Making the playoffs is obviously the most important. But that's up for everyone else to decide, not us. ALEX OVECHKIN: Sidney is right. Q. This game is going to be on Versus, an anonymous network. Do you feel like you have an extent to grow their ratings? Is your scope that big that you guys can even have an impact on that? SIDNEY CROSBY: I think so. I don't see why not. Obviously, like you said, it's probably not as well known as some other things. That's where we come in. If that's the case, we can make it more known and bring more interest. But that's hard for us to answer. I think we're going to do our best to make that possible. But that's sometimes out of our control. Q. Who do both of you think the MVP of the league is so far this year? ALEX OVECHKIN: Crosby. (Laughter.) Q. Why do you say that as he's sitting next to you? SIDNEY CROSBY: I couldn't tell you. There's too many guys right now. I mean, the best answer would be Ovechkin right now, right? (Laughter) But it's too hard. The MVP, it's year-long. It's 82 games and it's such an honor to win that. There's so many guys that had great first halves, and as you said before, whether or not teams make the playoffs that makes a difference, too. You want to have someone that really helps their team get to that next level and be a winning team. So there's so many guys. There's so much great skill and guys who have had great starts. But as I said, it's a full-year thing. It's too hard to tell. MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|