The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A few years ago I happened to catch an item on the news about a homeless family winning several hundred thousand dollars in the lottery. It was absolutely heartwarming to see these desperate souls who had absolutely nothing finally catch a break en route to a new life. I was reminded of this story on Friday after the Pittsburgh Penguins secured the right to pick first overall in this weekend's NHL entry draft. There's no suspense about who they will choose. Pens fans are salivating over Sidney Crosby, the teenage phenom whose name has regularly shared sentences with Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Of course Pittsburgh wasn't where the higher-ups within the NHL wanted Crosby to land. They would have loved nothing more than to see him pull on a New York Rangers or Los Angeles Kings jersey. They wanted him in a more visible market to help sell the post-lockout game. I'm pretty sure Crosby himself would have preferred a different result, too. Already carrying more than his weight in pressure, Crosby will literally be expected to save a franchise by getting a new arena built in Steeltown. And any team whose top scorers include Konstantin Koltsov and Richard Jackman isn't really an ideal location for any superstar-to-be. But when Commissioner Gary Bettman opened up that envelope and declared the Pens the winner of the Crosby sweepstakes, it was fate at work. Pittsburgh needed Crosby more than anyone else. They might have Mario Lemieux, but he'll be 40 this year and has reverted to his oft-injured ways. Beyond No. 66, there's Mark Recchi and a few promising and not-so-promising youngsters. And Ryan VandenBussche. Not exactly a recipe for success. The present-day Pens are in such dire straights they conjure up images of the 1983-84 edition of the club. Back then, they were a complete laughing stalk that appeared on the verge of leaving town unless things picked up. Then along came a highly-touted kid by the name of Lemieux. Within seven years they were sipping from Lord Stanley's mug. They say those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. Fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins are hoping the Hockey Gods have a short memory.
