Kevin Dupont

NEW YORK - Their glory days are long gone, their funky rink with retractable roof is all but obsolete, and the Pittsburgh Penguins in recent years have appeared in bankruptcy court more frequently than they've been spotted in the playoffs.

An itsybitsy Ping-Pong ball changed all that.

The Pens won the Sidney Crosby draft on July 22, capping a day in which the NHL rubber-stamped its new CBA with its players and also gave its rule book an extreme makeover. Crosby, the 17-year-old phenom forward from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, officially became Pittsburgh property Saturday when the back-in-business NHL held its down-sized (seven-round) amateur draft in Ottawa.

Contrary to popular thought, Crosby is not the NHL's savior. He could be, someday, but for the moment he is not even the Penguins' savior. If ever two entities could use a baby-faced building block, though, Exhibit 1 and 1A would be the NHL and the Pens — the league because of the '04-'05 season it lost to lockout, and the Pens because their chronic financial woes have forced them in recent years to deal away some of the game's greatest stars (witness: Jaromir Jagr's sendoff to Washington).

“I'm overjoyed,” said Oilers president and CEO Pat Laforge, moments after the Pens edged out the Anaheim Mighty Ducks for the No. 1 pick in the league's first 30-team lottery. “There've been a lot of times we thought they'd have to turn the lights out in Pittsburgh.”

Crosby, already “sponsored up” with long-term deals with both Reebok and Gatorade, will be shielded some in his Pittsburgh debut. He'll have the long shadow of superstar/owner Mario Lemieux to shade him from what at times will be intense media heat. It won't be the same in Pittsburgh as it would have been in Toronto or New York or Philly, or even in Detroit (Hockeytown in the NHL's pre-cap era), and that also is much to Crosby's advantage. Just as Lemieux had plenty of elbow room to shape his game — not that he needed much of any room to do that — Crosby will be able to concentrate on making the adaptation from junior hockey (the Quebec League's Rimouski Oceanic) to the NHL.

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For its part, the NHL would have much preferred that Crosby land in one of the continent's media megacenters. The Original 30, with its season lost to labor strife, could use a young, fresh and engaging face to talk the talk and skate the skate these days. Even if he had landed in moribund Chicago, where the maddeningly-inept Hawks nearly qualify as “Top Secret” status these days, the league no doubt would have received some decent media pop.

Not so in Pittsburgh. At least not yet. It could change, if Crosby is the real deal and the Pens, with the likes of veterans Mark Recchi and Lemieux, get on a roll reminiscent of the early-'90s when they won two Stanley Cups. But it's not very likely, with Lemieux to celebrate his 40th birthday on opening night in October, and a roster dotted with fine young talent that needs to be seasoned.

As Crosby develops, so will the Pens.

“Personally, I'm worried about hockey,” Crosby said, when asked after the draft if he were concerned with his place in the league's marketing order. “I wasn't thinking a whole lot from the marketing standpoint.”

Meanwhile, the Pens will have Crosby at the center of a paramount marketing task of their own. They have to replace their home, the quirky and funky Igloo, and thus far they have not been able to wring the needed financial support out of city, county and state governments. Their new rink is tethered to a state of Pennsylvania gaming initiative, and while in recent months the outlook has been promising, the deal has yet to be finalized.

“If there is any doubt in Pittsburgh about the future of the Penguins,” said a beaming Ken Sawyer, the Pens' president and governor, “it's been resolved with a new CBA and Sidney Crosby. We will get [a new arena], but it will take more time.”

Pens GM Craig Patrick arrived at the lottery, held at a midtown hotel, carrying in his palm what he described as his lucky four-leaf clover.

Asked to elaborate on the good-luck charm, he only said he has had the piece of clover for years, but not so long that it was with him when he and Herb Brooks helped direct Team USA to the Olympic gold medal win at Lake Placid in 1980.

Like all league GMs these days in the immediate wake of the new CBA, Patrick has been deluged by tasks, relating to his roster. He has many decisions to make as he tries to cobble together a roster that now must fall somewhere between a $21.5 million floor and a $39 million ceiling. As he walked down Seventh Avenue prior to the lottery, clutching his clover, said Patrick, he refused to entertain the thought of capturing the No. 1 pick.

“I really didn't factor it in at all,” admitted Patrick. “I really didn't think it was going to happen. I didn't factor Sidney being in our plans — but it sure solves some problems for us.”

The clover tucked back in his pocket, Patrick left Manhattan, pointed toward the Pennsylvania Turnpike with the draft's pot of gold in tow.

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