He was being touted as the greatest player since the Great One himself.<\/p>\n
It all began on Jul 22, 2005. Because of the season being cancelled due to the lockout, each team had a chance to pick the most anticipated young player to grace the NHL entry draft in more than a decade. Every franchise was given three balls in the lottery, with one being removed from those teams that had been to the playoffs or had drafted first overall in the previous four years.<\/p>\n
The New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins went into the 2005 NHL Draft Lottery with the best shot at the first overall pick \u2014 and a generational talent.<\/p>\n
That young player was #87<\/strong> Sidney Crosby, born on the 7th<\/sup> day of the 8th<\/sup> month of 1987<\/strong>, and the team that got him was the Pittsburgh Penguins.<\/p>\n When Pittsburgh won the right to draft the best player of the new millennium, hockey fans everywhere immediately formed a grudge fueled by pure, green envy. This jealousy gave life to the stories that the NHL had rigged the lottery in favor of the Penguins \u2014 the thinking being that, because Crosby and Lemieux were work-out partners,<\/a> it was arranged for the kid to end up on Mario\u2019s team.<\/p>\n With Crosby, their third top-two pick in three years, Pittsburgh would be one step closer to building a powerhouse dynasty. What better way to spur hockey interest in the United States and create new American markets than with a young, electrifying team in classic Penguins silks?<\/p>\n The town of Coal Harbour has a population of roughly 25,000. Sidney Crosby, arguably the best player in the game today, grew up there. But he isn\u2019t the only first overall pick to have come from the small maritime town.\u00a0[sc:NHL250 ]<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Nathan MacKinnon \u2014 also from Coal Harbour \u2014 was drafted first overall by the Colorado Avalanche. Could it be that this quaint Nova Scotian coastal village is a super hockey breeding ground?<\/p>\n Since 1969, the NHL Enty Draft has seen 10,178 players get picked, and since then, there have been 47 first overall picks. If the players were selected randomly, the odds of being the first player chosen in any given year are roughly 0.5%. It\u2019s a slim shot, even before factoring in the genetic lottery you\u2019d need to win to be that naturally gifted.<\/p>\n 74% of the first overall picks since \u201969 have been Canadian. Consider that Coal Harbour represents about 0.07% of the population of Canada. That means that, genetics aside, there\u2019s roughly a 0.026% of a first overall pick coming from Coal Harbour, Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n The odds of two coming from that town? Roughly 0.000007%.<\/p>\n Though it\u2019s widely believed that much of the hoopla about the NHL favoring Crosby in this modern rivalry is generated by Caps fans, one might wonder whether or not the league is actually rooting for The Kid in some fit of anti-Russian bias.<\/p>\n Some fans claim<\/a> that the Capitals have never had more power plays than the Pens any time the two teams have met since Crosby joined the league. Others wonder if the doctors in Pittsburgh might sometimes purposely take their sweet time<\/a> when handling the health of the Capitals phenomenon.<\/p>\n Who can say for sure if Bettman really does want Crosby to win and OV to lose? All we can point at is the fact that the Pens have been to the finals twice in the last decade and have a Cup to show for it. The Capitals have zilch.<\/p>\n5 Best Conspiracy Theories Regarding Penguins’ Sidney Crosby<\/h2>\n
1.\u00a0 The NHL rigged the 2005 Draft Lottery<\/h3>\n
2. There’s something in the water in Coal Harbour, Nova Scotia.<\/h3>\n
3. Gary Bettman Loves Crosby, Hates Ovechkin<\/h3>\n
4. Crosby\u2019s Concussion was Misdiagnosed<\/h3>\n