Hockey for the Ladies

REASON #22
His LOVE of the Game!

You KNOW he loves this game; you can see it everytime he skates onto the ice and you can especially see it everytime he or any of the Pens score a goal!! It's something special and I would imagine you would have to have it in you to make hockey your career (and would enable a player to know when to "hang up his skates" -- lose the love, no reason to play)!!

The Pens webpage had an interesting article posted yesterday about the "Crosby Effect" ('Crosby Effect' Sets Agenda for Pens' Success) talking to a few of his teammates -- here's what his linemate, Billy Guerin, had to say:

Sure, Guerin likes being on the receiving end of Crosby's pin-point passes and he loves the open ice he enjoys as opposition players make futile attempts at double- and triple-team coverage of Crosby.

But it is also just Crosby's love of the game. The zest with which he attacks practice and all the other stuff which players must do when they are not actually playing games was the tipping point for Guerin.

"It's his attitude toward the game," Guerin said. "He's competitive. He's got a lot of drive."

How much drive? Consider that Guerin admitted Wednesday that he is practicing harder than he has in years.

"I have to, just to keep up," he said, breaking into a smile. "I'm not kidding either. That's the God's honest truth. He goes so hard in practice, he pushes me and he pushes Chris (Kunitz, the other wing on Pittsburgh's top line). I think it makes us better."