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All-Star Game: Frank Seravalli takes a swipe at Sidney Crosby
Credit: Capture d'écran / Screenshot

Since Thursday, the NHL has been vibrating to the rhythm of its Stars in Toronto. The league’s top players are taking part in the various festivities organized by the NHL, culminating in the 3-on-3 duels this afternoon.

The festivities start at 3 p.m. and finish around 6 p.m.

It all started on Thursday night, in fact, when the league held a draft to form the teams for the 3-on-3 clashes. We wanted to recreate the magic of the event, which had created some great moments in the past, but apart from Michael Bublé, who claimed to have consumed magic mushrooms, it was pretty… flat.

What we did notice was that Sidney Crosby wasn’t present for the draft. A young man named Ryan took his place to live the moment.

Meanwhile, Crosby was skating on a magnificent outdoor rink. The timing was a bit peculiar… but in general, nobody really paid attention.

Now, this obviously bothered at least one person, as yesterday, Frank Seravalli took advantage of his daily show to pick up Crosby :

Nobody ever criticizes Sidney Crosby. Everybody praises what he does for the game that we don’t see, and that’s fine, but why can all the players show up for the draft, and Crosby doesn’t show up and nobody cares? It drives me crazy. – Frank Seravalli

eravalli continues his point by explaining that “if any other player did something like that, they’d be crucified in the public square” and even hints that Crosby’s “plane problems” last year were mostly an excuse not to show up and talk to the media.

His co-host, Tyler Yaremchuk, then noted that Connor McDavid took part in the event more often than Crosby, even though Crosby is much older than McDavid.

Both guys’ points stand, but honestly, I feel like we’re dwelling on vulgar details here. Crosby may not be the biggest fan of the event… and you know what? That’s just fine.

If he were to publicly spit on the event, that would be something else, but I don’t really see the problem, personally. Alexander Ovechkin made fun of the draft a few years ago by wanting to be drafted last so he could get a new car, but that’s remembered as a funny moment and not as an affront to the league.

As Josh Yohe, who has covered Crosby and the Penguins for years, notes, Crosby is constantly involved in the community and is very accessible to the media. Is it really worth taking a shot at him for taking an extra day to appear at the All-Star Game? I don’t think so.

And once there, Crosby made sure to be the gentleman we all know. As well as taking time out to see Connor Bedard, whose idol he is, and have a quick chat with him, Crosby took time out to see a journalist after a scrum to have a more in-depth discussion on the subject of hockey culture.

This excuse is constantly used when a player doesn’t want to talk about a sensitive subject and simply ignores the journalist, but Crosby kept his word and went to talk to him in private.

If you really want to pick on someone for their lack of involvement in the festivities, Justin Bieber (who didn’t give a damn Thursday night) and Nikita Kucherov (who gave an even bigger damn last night) make a lot more sense than Crosby, who simply took the day off to arrive later.

Their point isn’t crazy… but we’ll pass on the necessity aspect.


In Brief

– Speaking of the All-Star Game.

– Of course he wasn’t going to miss the chance to tease his friend.

– We should send him back to Laval, hehe.

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