When the Pittsburgh Penguins won the right to select first overall in the 2005 NHL draft, there was no doubt who they would pick -- Sidney Crosby, the most celebrated junior hockey player since Mario Lemieux.
Sidney Crosby was first to win Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year in the Canadian junior ranks, and first to win consecutive Player of the Year awards.
At age 16, he became the youngest Canadian player to score in the World Junior Hockey Championships.
At 17, he recorded an astonishing 168 points in 62 games, leading his Rimouski team to the Memorial Cup.
And in 2005, while not yet 18, Crosby landed a lucrative contract with Reebok, placing him in the same athletic stratosphere as Wayne Gretzky and Tiger Woods.
But how did a kid from Nova Scotia come to stand alone on draft day as the NHL's undisputed No. 1 pick? And how did a budding teenage superstar cope with the growing pressures of being dubbed "the next Wayne Gretzky"?
In this exciting hockey biography, award-winning sports journalist Gare Joyce retraces the incredible journey of hockey's wunderkind from age-group hockey in Nova Scotia to draft day with Mario Lemieux and his Pittsburgh Penguins. From Halifax to the Czech Republic, Minnesota to Quebec City and all places in between, Joyce explores the making of hockey's brightest star and all the obstacles this amazing young man overcame in pursuit of his dreams.
In 2003, Wayne Gretzky was asked if there was one player out there who might one day break his records. He responded "Yes, Sidney Crosby. He's the best player I've seen since Mario (Lemieux)."
Gare Joyce's riveting biography of hockey's 18-year-old sensation, retraces Crosby's incredible journey from the lacing up of his first pair of skates to his outstanding first season in the League. Joyce explores the making of a superstar and all of the obstacles this amazing athlete overcame in pursuit of his dreams.