Hard to say which was more incredible, the Penguins winning the draft lottery, or Sidney Crosby, in his first post-lottery interview, acknowledging a guy from Greenfield. Crosby mentioned only two people -- Mario Lemieux and Donald "Dee" Rizzo, an Allderdice grad who was watching on the Internet, who still lives in Greenfield and who has, against all odds, become one of the top talent recruiters in hockey. "I have a friend in Pittsburgh - Dee Rizzo," Crosby told TSN. "Rizz, if you're watching, maybe I'll see you next season." Actually, the two plan to meet Wednesday in Ottawa, three days before the Penguins draft Crosby first overall. Rizzo, 43, is director of player development for IMG, a powerful agency that represents the likes of Joe Thornton, Rick Nash, Sergei Fedorov, and, thanks largely to Rizzo's tenacity, Crosby, whose agent is Pat Brisson. IMG could have seven first-round picks, including, perhaps, three of the top five in Crosby, defenseman Jack Johnson (not yet signed) and center Gilbert Brule. "Everyone in the hockey world should have their hat off to Dee," said Steve Reich, Lemieux's agent. "He isn't totally responsible for this, but he has a lot to do with it. For a little guy from Pittsburgh to pull off a draft like this, it's stunning." Four summers ago, when Rizzo was working with Reich and Brisson in a Pittsburgh-based agency, an associate from Toronto suggested he take a look at Crosby, then 13 and playing for the major-midget Dartmouth Subways in his hometown of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. "I was embarrassed going to watch a 13-year-old," Rizzo said. "I felt like putting on sunglasses. The pathetic thing was I wasn't the only agent in the building." Crosby finished, as usual, with about seven points. It wasn't long before just about every agency in the world wanted a piece of him. Rizzo and Brisson beat them all. After that first game, Rizzo introduced himself to Crosby's father, Troy, and soon developed a rapport with Sidney. If you know Rizzo, you know it doesn't take long to develop a rapport. Like maybe 30 seconds. Crosby was invited to the agency's summer camp in Los Angeles, where top prospects and veterans train together. "Everything about him was impressive," Rizzo recalled. "We went to Luc Robitaille's house to play roller hockey, and Sidney was really intense, really into it." Rizzo knows intensity when he sees it. He was a 5-foot-7 dynamo of a defenseman on Michigan State's 1986 NCAA championship team. His father, Donald, played on the 1962 U.S. national team. In 1993, Dee Rizzo was conducting clinics and considering a career in pro scouting, but he wanted to stay in Pittsburgh, so he approached Steve and Tom Reich, who represented Lemieux and other established players. Rizzo figured he could help expand the business to recruiting prospects. "He was very persuasive," Steve Reich later recalled. "He said if we didn't like what he did, we didn't have to pay him." It would be the first of Rizzo's many prize-winning sales jobs -- and he delivered, combing the planet for prime clients such as Alaska native Scott Gomez. The Reichs later sold their business to IMG, which wisely retained Brisson and Rizzo. Without them, the Crosby Show might be playing within some other agency. Steve Reich chuckles when he remembers Rizzo gushing about a 13-year-old center. "At that point, it sure sounded ludicrous," Reich said. "But you know what• It sure doesn't now."

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