With all the hullaballoo about Sydney Crosby not shaking Nicklas Lidstrom’s hand following Pittsburgh’s Stanley Cup win last week, I can’t help but get frustrated with the way everyone has missed the point.
The best player in the National Hockey League – the league’s ultimate golden boy and its best representative in Canada, the US and everywhere else won the biggest prize in the sport.
Should he have gone out of his way to shake Lidstrom’s hand? Yeah, that probably would’ve been the right thing to do, but really, who cares?
It’s not as if he went out of his way to avoid Detroit’s captain.
He’s a kid who has been performing on the public stage at a level above his peers since he was barely old enough to skate, and you know what, he just got caught up in the celebration.
I’m the first guy to shake hands after a win or a loss and I firmly believe in sportsmanship and treating others well.
But again, let’s bring a little perspective to the situation.
Crosby didn’t avoid Lidstrom – in truth, he just didn’t get to Lidstrom fast enough for Lidstrom’s liking, so the Red Wing captain simply left the ice, hand unshaken.
Should Crosby apologize now?
No. I like what he said, which was basically “yo, back off. I was celebrating and I got caught up a bit. By the time I got around to him, he left, so that sucks, but it’s not the end of the world.”
Seems like everyone’s getting on the kid’s back for nothing to me.
NDG Baseball is preparing to host two invitational tournaments in the next two weeks, starting with the sixth-annual Robert & Steve Michelin Memorial Tournament.
A six-team contest for the under-14 age group, the tourney will showcase teams from Lac St Louis, St. Albans, Vermont, Cornwall, Ottawa, Valleyfield, and of course, NDG.
Named in memory of two devoted volunteer coaches who passed away from cystic fibrosis during the 2003 and 2004 seasons, the Michelin takes place from June 19-21 at Loyola Park in NDG and Trudeau Park in Côte St. Luc.
The tournament was won last year by Philadelphia, New York’s North Country Athletics, who are actually the two-time defending champions after also winning in 2007.
NDG won it in 2006, while North Country was tops in 2005 and a team from Khanawake won the inaugural edition in 2004.
The following weekend, June 26-28, will be the second-annual Senior Classic for 15-16-year-olds, also being played out of Loyola and Trudeau.
With teams from Ottawa, St. Albans, VT, Cornwall, Kanata, Orleans, ON, Lac St-Louis, and two from Montreal, including one from NDG, this tournament is sure to be competitive and entertaining.
NDG Soccer is probably doing something, but as usual, hasn’t particularly gone out of its way to share with anyone, while NDG Baseball and even NDG Hockey have taken three seconds to contact us to say “hey, here’s what’s going on so you can share it with your readers.”
Again, this isn’t about me. I don’t feel personally slighted that no one at NDG Soccer feels the need to share with me.
I just feel bad for the hundreds of kids who aren’t getting coverage because of this.
So I ask you, the parents and kids who play soccer in NDG, to email me at the address below with your schedules or highlights so that you can have your time in the sun!
Please email me any time at noahsidel@gmail.com.
