Triple threat

In its next three games, the Lightning faces the NHL's top three young players.

By TOM JONES
Published October 15, 2005

It's one of the great bar stool questions: If you were starting an NHL team right now, who would be your first three picks?

A smart general manager might take, in order: Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk.

They are skilled. Dynamic. And young. Really young. Kovalchuk, the top pick in 2001, is 22 and the elder statesman of the bunch. Ovechkin, the top pick in 2004, is 20. Crosby, the No. 1 pick last summer, is the baby at 18.

Yet even at their ages, they are three of the game's new superstars.

The Lightning gets to see just how good they all are on its upcoming three-game road trip.

The trip starts today in Pittsburgh, where Crosby calls home. It moves on to Washington and a matchup with Ovechkin on Sunday. Then it concludes in Atlanta on Thursday, where Kovalchuk just returned from a contract dispute with a five-year, $32-million deal.

To get a head start, we asked Pierre Maguire, a former NHL coach and now an analyst for the Outdoor Life Network and Canada's TSN, to give us a brief scouting report on each.

PIERRE MAGUIRE'S SCOUTING REPORT: "The real deal. Poised beyond belief. Makes everyone around him better. The fact that he plays at all key times of the game is going to help his development. But he is the real deal."

THE DETAILS: Crosby, a 5-foot-11, 193-pound center, arrived in the NHL last week as one of the hottest prospects ever. Even Wayne Gretzky, upon seeing Crosby play junior hockey, said he had finally seen the one kid who might someday break his scoring records.

Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman also called him the "real deal," adding, "He can make a pass from anywhere and put it right on the stick. He's a special player."

So far, he has been everything he was billed to be.

He has two goals and six assists in six games and already looks like a 10-year veteran. Less than two weeks into his career, he is being labeled as a future Best Player in the Game.

"I think to be great, you have to prove that you're the best year after year after year and show that by winning," Crosby said. "I think that's something you have to earn. You have to prove that. I don't really think about it. I think that's something that's too far ahead for me."

PIERRE MAGUIRE'S SCOUTING REPORT: "A power player. Much more maturity in his game right now than (Sidney) Crosby has in terms of finishing a play. Has better speed than Crosby. Just wish he had a better supporting cast."

THE DETAILS: One of the benefits of having the worst team in the league is you get to pick near the top of the draft. One of the worst things about being the best prospect is you go to one of the worst teams. That's the good news-bad news scenario in Washington, where Ovechkin, a 6-2, 212-pound left wing from Moscow, is beginning his rookie year.

For as much attention as Crosby is getting, Ovechkin is off to just as hot a start with four goals and three assists in his first six games.

"He doesn't follow the puck," Caps television analyst and former NHL player Craig Laughlin told the Washington Post. "The puck follows him."

Ovechkin's numbers are even more impressive considering he plays on a sorry team that has allowed 31 goals in six games. But with Ovechkin to build around, the Caps believe it's only a matter of time until they are Cup contenders.

"I want to win the Stanley Cup," Ovechkin told the Post. "I want to be the best, just the best. I must work. I must learn. Help my team. Play hockey, that's all. Hockey is my life. If I do not play hockey, I do not know what I do."

PIERRE MAGUIRE'S SCOUTING REPORT: "He needs some discipline in his game, but he is very, very good. He should thrive in this new environment in the NHL as he gets more comfortable with his teammates. He's older than the other two, so he's a bit more polished."

THE DETAILS: Kovalchuk, a 6-2, 217-pound left wing from Russia, is a free spirit who is as skilled as he is undisciplined. Think Randy Moss. Think Terrell Owens. He cares about one thing: scoring goals.

"That's my job, to score goals and score as many as I can," Kovalchuk said. "I don't know if I'm going to be the leader of scoring or not. I just want to help my team win as many games as I can. Maybe I'm going to block the shot and we're going to win the game."

That last sentence was sort of a joke. Kovalchuk is all about scoring, and it shows in his numbers. In his four seasons, he has scored 42, 29, 38 and 41 goals. His 41 goals in 2003-04 tied for the league lead, and his 87 points were seven behind league-leader Marty St. Louis.

So this is what the Lightning faces over the next week. Crosby. Ovechkin. Kovalchuk.

"Those three along with (Columbus' and 2002's top overall pick) Rick Nash are the best players under 23 in the game," Maguire said. "If I had three picks to start a franchise and I ended up with Crosby, Ovechkin and Kovalchuk? I think I'd be okay with that."

[Last modified October 15, 2005, 01:15:22]