The Pittsburgh Penguins won the lottery in more than one way when their ping-pong ball was chosen by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Jul. 22, 2005.
Sidney Crosby would reverse the fortunes of a Penguins franchise that was one poke check away from closing up shop and moving to another city. (Sadly, a move to my hometown, Hamilton, ON did not come to pass, thanks to Jim Balsillie)
With a plethora of impact first-year players joining the league in 2005-06, (Alex Ovechkin, Henrik Lundqvist, and Ryan Miller to name a few) Crosby wasted little time in getting to work on a record-setting rookie season and a hall-of-fame career.