Youthful Crosby leads Penguins to threshold of NHL title

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

DETROIT, Michigan (AFP) — Superstar Sidney Crosby leads a youthful Pittsburgh Penguins squad into the Stanley Cup Finals Saturday against the venerable Detroit Red Wings stocked with veteran players.

It's just the latest challenge for the 20-year-old Canadian, who has shouldered mammoth expectations since he arrived in the NHL in the wake of the 2004-05 season lost to labor strife.

At 18 years and eight months, Crosby became the youngest NHL player to score 100 points in a season.

As a rookie, he had 39 goals and 63 assists. In his second year, he became the first teenager in major North American pro team sports history to win a scoring title.

In May of last year he became the youngest captain in NHL history, and in July inked a five-year contract...