Biography - Alexandre Crosby

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CHILDHOOD

 

 

Bored in Italy to parents that are scientists, Crosby moved to Canada when he was only 2 years old as his parents got better jobs there and settled outside of Toronto, where his parents worked, in a town called Brampton.  In the summers, he would play soccer of course being from Italy, but when he was 4, his parents got him into ice skating and learn to play hockey programs in and around Brampton. 

 

Crosby was able to pick up skating and hockey pretty easily and quickly moved into play club at the age of 6 while being able to travel around the Toronto area playing other teams.  He often found himself as one of the , if not , the biggest kid on the ice so he was able to do almost anything at will on the ice leading his team to many tournament championships.

 

By the time he was 8, Crosby was easily the biggest and fastest player on the ice at his age level which didn’t really pose any competition for him so he was moved up to the next age level to go against 10 year olds.  He didn’t miss a beat after a short transition time to get used to the more skilled players at that age group and still continued to rank up points and trophies, both individually and team, against the older competition and even traveling further north into Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec to play against the best players and teams in those cities.

 

It was pretty clear at this point of his young career that he not only needed to move up one level past 12 and under, but take on the very best at the 14 and under level which now introduces body checking for the first time.  Being that he was already as tall, if not taller, than most 14 year olds, he still needed to fill his frame out weight wise.  He was certainly targeted by both players and parents not only due to his age versus everyone else but also his skill level compared to this age group but Crosby held strong and was able to start to travel all over Canada to face different levels of competition.

 

MIDDLE YEARS

 

 

As more and more people saw him play, more and more people wanted to be around him and be a part of his hockey career.  However, Alexandre’s parents were pretty particular and protective of him and found a couple of trainers to continue to work on his skating and skills.  Being one of the higher ranked AAA players in the Toronto area led to lots of hours training along with school and not much time for anything else, but Crosby loved being on the ice, loved shooting the puck, loved scoring but most importantly, loved winning as a team and took the most pride in championship trophies.

 

His parents taught him to be humble and not act like he was the best player on the team to keep him grounded.  By age 12, Crosby was playing against 14 and 16 year olds all across Canada and even into the United States.  Through his training, he was starting to put some weight on and gain some strength which helped him to control the puck more and gain some speed on his shots and passes.  While he didn’t throw a lot of  body checks at this level, he learned he had to be more physical than most in order to send a ‘message’ to the other teams that he wasn’t a push over being the youngest player on the ice.

 

At the age of 14, Crosby was now 6’1” and about 180 pounds and was able to start to travel internationally as he tried out for and made Canada’s 16U team and play in the world championships in Europe.  While he only was able to score 2 goals and have 2 assists in 8 games, he got a taste of what major big league hockey was as Canada brought home the bronze medal.

 

He grew to 6’3 and nearly 200 pounds at the age of 15 and once again made Canada’s U16 team and played in the world championships which were held in Toronto and in front of his family and friends as the captain of the team due to his increasing strong leadership skills and the ability to connect to all his teammates.  Crosby just utterly dominated the tournament with his size and skills to the tune of 17 goals and 13 assists in 8 games as he helped Team Canada to bring home the gold medal just miles from the town he grew up in. 

 

DECISION TO JOIN VHLM

 

 

At age 16, Crosby had a lot of opportunities and offers to continue his hockey career from schooling in both Canada and the United States at the top academic institutions to various amateur leagues across both countries.  In the end though, the lure and idea of getting to go up against players the same age or a couple of years older and along the same skill level as Crosby was just too much to pass up.  He was lucky enough to hear from a few teams and hear a lot of great pitches to join a VHLM team.  After talking it over with his parents and former coaches that he is close to, Crosby decided to join the Miami Marauders and will end up playing about 15-20 minutes per game including time on the power play.  So far through 6 games, he has one goal and 7 assists for 8 points with 18 shots and 10 hits while being a -2 on the season as Miami looks to climb out of the 5^th spot and into a playoff spot in the second half of the VHLM season.