Junior hockey star Sidney Crosby has defended his decision to skip Wednesday's Top Prospects Game, saying he would be in Vancouver if he was healthy enough to play.
Crosby said Tuesday while he knew he would be disappointing hockey fans, he was stunned by criticism from Vancouver Giants owner Ron Toigo that the 17-year-old Rimouski Oceanic forward had let down the game.
''It's easy to say some of that stuff,'' Crosby told The Canadian Press. ''Anyone who knows me, and I don't think that a lot of the people who are making some of those comments know me that well, but the people who know me know I'd be there if I could.
''It's not an easy decision not to go, but I'm not going to have an injury that's going to last me a while here at that cost. I'll take the heat and try and move on.''
Crosby declined to detail his injury, saying opposing players will try to take advantage of that when he returns to the ice.
''I can't be sure that won't happen,'' he said.
But he said he was hurt during the gold-medal game of the world junior hockey championship on Jan. 4 in Grand Forks, N.D. Crosby had six goals and three assists in six games at the tournament and helped Canada win the gold medal. He played in four of five Oceanic games after the tournament.
The Top Prospects game features 40 of the Canadian Hockey League's top players eligible for the 2005 NHL entry draft and Crosby is by far the No. 1 prospect. He was marketed heavily by game organizers.
The game (Rogers Sportsnet, 10 p.m. EST) is expected to be a sellout with 16,000 fans.
''For the guy who wants to be the next Wayne Gretzky ... the history of Wayne Gretzky is that he would be here with one leg if that's what it took because it's good for the game,'' Toigo told reporters Monday.
He said the teenager's withdrawal was another knock on hockey already suffering under the current NHL lockout. Toigo also blamed Oceanic general manager and coach Doris Labonte for Crosby's withdrawal saying it was ''unfortunate, very small-market minded and a real disappointment to all of us here.''
Labonte waded in Tuesday with a passionate letter to the Vancouver Sun, which published Toigo's comments, in defence of Crosby and the Oceanic.
''Mr Toigo, everyone is sorry for the fans, but the fans and you can only blame it on something nobody has control on,'' Labonte said in the letter, which Rimouski sent to other media outlets. ''You have shown no respect for L'Oceanic de Rimouski.
''Apologize for what you have said on our organization.''
Labonte pointed out that Crosby has never said he wanted to be the next Gretzky and asked how the Giants could have sold tickets promising something they had no control over.
While Toigo said Tuesday that the Gretzky comment was perhaps unfair, he continued to blame the Oceanic, saying that Crosby should have been given a week off upon his return from the world junior tournament.
''If he had been given the required rest he was entitled to, this wouldn't be an issue at all,'' Toigo said. ''It should have been planned for him to be here. They see him in Quebec all the time. CHL teams give up their players for the good of the game.''
Crosby said he intended to travel to Vancouver on Monday morning and play through his injury during the skills competition and game.
But his condition worsened over the weekend and he decided Sunday night he would be risking aggravating the injury if he tried to play in Vancouver.
''It's hard,'' Crosby said. ''It's not an easy choice. It's my draft year, you know what I mean, and I'm a competitive person as well and I was looking forward to that challenge and it would have been fun for me to go there. I was looking forward to the opportunity to prove myself against those other guys as well.
''I don't really see how some of those comments are coming out, but they're going to say that. It's kind of tough. That's the way it has to be.''
Crosby hopes to play Friday when Rimouski hosts Moncton.
The five-foot-10, 193-pound forward is the leading scorer in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for the second straight year (32 goals, 57 assists in 39 games) and he takes a fair bit of pounding from opposing team's top defensive units. Oceanic management threatened to pull the league's top-drawing player out of road games last season if officials didn't crack down players taking liberties with their star.
The players on the Canadian junior team have all been given some time off by their club teams following the tournament, which takes a mental and physical toll because of its intensity.
Crosby spent a few days at home in Halifax last week, but remained in the spotlight when the jersey that he wore in the championship game went missing en route to Rimouski after the tournament. The shirt was later recovered and an Air Canada employee is facing charges.
Crosby, however, said post-tournament fatigue and the brouhaha over his jersey wasn't a factor in his decision.
''Fatigue is something that, mentally, I've always overcome that,'' he said. ''That's not something that made me not go at all.
''Definitely it's the injury over fatigue for sure.''
When his red jersey went missing, Hockey Canada pulled Crosby's white jersey from an EBay auction - where the bidding was up to $20,000 - to raise money for the both Canadian Hockey Foundation and tsunami relief efforts in Asia.
Once Crosby's red jersey was returned, the white jersey went back on EBay and as of Tuesday, the price was at $16,100. Crosby intends to keep his red jersey where he can see it.
''I'll hang it up. I think I'll just make sure it's in my view,'' he said.