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For Dustin Wolf, it’s a reminiscence that can final a lifetime.
Understandably, Sidney Crosby can’t fairly bear in mind their first assembly. He’s met numerous youngsters in his 20 yr NHL profession, in any case.
Again within the early-2010s when the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrity was recovering from a concussion, he was skating in Los Angeles away from his crew. With him, as an alternative, was a younger Wolf and his pal Brendan Brisson – the son of Pat Brisson, Crosby’s agent and Zary’s agent now.
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For a child like Wolf, who was 10 or 11-years-old on the time, it was a surreal second.
“As a child, you both need to maintain in your pleasure or explode with pleasure,” Wolf defined. “Possibly it could have been a bit completely different if I used to be a participant that skated out and was a ahead, it’s a bit completely different being on the opposite aspect of the puck.
“He most likely has no concept, no recollection.”
Wolf’s not improper. The L.A. skate wasn’t as memorable for Crosby because it was for him, however that’s not precisely a shock. We’re speaking about one of many best hockey gamers ever and a man with 1,289 NHL video games to his identify previous to Tuesday evening’s matchup with the Flames on the Saddledome.
“I don’t know, I’ve bother remembering a number of years in the past,” Crosby mentioned with a smile. “I skated for some time (again then), these skates had been robust. I skated alone for a very long time.
“It tells you how briskly issues go and the hockey world’s small, you by no means know once you’re going to cross paths or play towards completely different guys. At this level I’m enjoying towards guys who I performed towards their dads, as properly. That’s how it’s.”
Assembly or enjoying towards Crobsy is all the time an enormous deal for younger NHLers, although. He was the league’s marquee star when guys like Matt Coronato and Connor Zary had been rising up. They bear in mind his Golden Purpose in Vancouver in 2010 – Zary a bit extra fondly than Coronato, absolutely – and doubtless spent numerous hours attempting to duplicate his strikes on the ice.
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For Wolf, Tuesday marked his first probability to really play towards Crosby as a professional.
He’s hoping to cease a number of extra pucks than he did a decade-and-change in the past.
“I used to be so younger, so it was extra simply letting him do his factor and sit within the background and watch,” Wolf mentioned. “For actual, being that younger and seeing a man who had already gained a few Cups at that time, it was fairly cool.
“(Now), I do know his patented play is the net-side tip, so I’ll be fairly cautious of that.”
There’s no fear about Wolf feeling starstruck on Tuesday evening the best way he was as a child, however he admitted it’s a cool expertise to be tasked with attempting to cease a participant you grew up idolizing.
That’s true of his younger teammates, too. It isn’t essentially intimidating, however enjoying towards a man like Crosby for the primary time is … properly, we’ll let Coronato clarify it.
“Undoubtedly certainly one of my favorite gamers rising up, so being on the ice with him is tremendous cool,” mentioned Coronato, who performed towards Crosby and the Penguins final season. “Final yr I really feel prefer it positively was, this yr, I really feel like perhaps a part of maturing is realizing the cool a part of enjoying towards a man like that however realizing what’s necessary, which goes out and competing for 2 factors.”
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That time was reiterated by Zary, who additionally performed his first sport towards the Pens in 2023-24. You’ve received to permit your self to benefit from the second after which transfer on and deal with the job at hand.
“It doesn’t matter what, it’s all the time cool,” Zary mentioned. “That’s somebody you grew up idolizing and somebody who clearly has finished so many particular issues on this league, it’s all the time going to be cool. Clearly, you’ve received to focus by yourself sport and every thing that goes together with that, however there’s all the time going to be that a part of you that assume ‘Yeah, that is fairly cool.”
daustin@postmedia.com
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