www.post-gazette.com/pg/05257/571143.stmPenguins Notebook: Orpik agrees to $650,000 deal
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik plays it pretty tough in front of the net but apparently not at the negotiating table.
Orpik, who yesterday accepted a take-it-or-leave-it contract proposal worth $650,000 for one year, said he promised general manager Craig Patrick last week that he wouldn't allow the talks to force him to miss any of training camp.
"Basically, they knew what my decision was going to be," Orpik said. "Whatever they decided to give me was what I was going to take."
Orpik was the lone remaining free agent the Penguins showed interest in retaining.
Glad to get started
Rookie center Sidney Crosby doesn't expect to be nervous when training camp workouts begin this morning but acknowledges that he will be relieved.
Mostly because the start of camp means that the most grueling time of his year -- the time when games aren't being played -- is over.
"All the guys get excited about summer, but I can't say the same thing when I know I have to go train," Crosby said. "I like to play as long as I can in the season. That's good motivation."
Much of Crosby's offseason regimen revolves around running. Sometimes on a track, occasionally on a hillside near his home, often on sand dunes.
He regularly travels from his family's residence in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia to the neighboring province of Prince Edward Island for summer weekends near the beach. Not because he's after a tan or a good look at the latest in bikinis, but because running on the dunes enhances his skating.
And every now and then, he'll make the short trip to a particularly steep hill in nearby Halifax and spend time running across it. Moving at full speed across that kind of uneven terrain might not fully explain Crosby's exceptional balance on the ice, but it certainly helps.
"You're never really in a good position on the hill," Crosby said. "It's similar to hockey, where guys are always leaning on you and you're tilting."
In the spotlight
Crosby has had a national profile in Canada for a number of years, and various media outlets from that country have sent staffers to the Penguins' camp. One Toronto-based newspaper, the Globe & Mail, plans to station a reporter with Penguins all season.
Crosby has learned to deal with such intense scrutiny, but Mario Lemieux -- who will be Crosby's landlord as well as his teammate this season -- said he plans to monitor how Crosby is holding up under the off-ice rigors of his rookie season.
"My role might be to try to protect him a little bit this year, in some ways," Lemieux said. "I'm certainly going to listen to him, see if he gets tired of it."
That probably isn't necessary, though. Crosby has grown comfortable with being in the spotlight, even if he doesn't crave it, because he figures it's part of the job.
"I want to be the best," he said. "So whatever comes with that, I have to accept it."
Icy chips
The Penguins will put single-game tickets for the regular season on sale Saturday, although tickets for the home opener Oct. 8 against Boston will not be made available yet. The team will delay offering those until their season-ticket drive is complete. ... Forward J.B. Bittner, who played high school hockey at Seton-LaSalle before attending Ohio State, signed with Johnstown of the ECHL.
