NEWS AND MEDIA

Rbk Players Enjoying On-Ice Success

13 Apr 2007

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (April 13, 2007) - As the hockey season moves into the exciting grind of the 2007 playoffs, Reebok athletes are on top of the hockey world! Rbk superstar Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins improved on his impressive rookie campaign last year by winning the Art Ross Trophy this season as the NHL's leading scorer, registering 120 points in 79 games. In doing so he became the first teenager in major pro team sports history to win a scoring title. The 19-year-old Crosby took over the NHL scoring lead on December 13, 2006 with a 6-point performance against the Philadelphia Flyers and never looked back.

Crosby's Penguins finished the season with a record of 47-24-11, resulting in a 47-point increase over last year's totals, and clinching the team's first playoff berth since 2001. The impact that Sidney's had on Pittsburgh's success is quite clear as their record stands at 40-10-9 in games where he recorded a point, and the team went winless in the three games Crosby missed due to injury.

While Crosby was enjoying success in the East, Pavel Datsyuk helped the Detroit Red Wings clinch the top seed in the Western Conference. Datsyuk registered 73 points in 56 games after switching to the new Rbk 9K O-Stick on December 1st, and finished as the Red Wings top scorer for the third consecutive season. The technologically advanced O-Stick features Power Ports made up of two mirroring arches engineered into the shaft. This unique construction is not only more aerodynamic but significantly reduces shaft rotation, giving the shooter more accuracy.

In the net, the new Premier II and XPulse Goalie lines could be seen in creases throughout the NHL as the Michel Lefebvre inspired designs combined to make Rbk the #1 goalie brand in the NHL for the second consecutive year. A trio of Rbk goalies backstopped their teams to great success this season: Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils, Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks and Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins paced the NHL in wins this season finishing 1-2-3.

Brodeur registered a league high 48 wins this past season, eclipsing Bernie Parent's 33-year-old NHL record of 47 in the process. Following closely behind was Roberto Luongo who recorded 47 wins in leading the Canucks to a Division Title. The Penguins Fleury had a breakout season of his own, finishing in a tie for third with 40 wins.

Other Rbk players had outstanding seasons as well, including Daniel and Henrik Sedin from the Vancouver Canucks. The Sedin twins finished first and second in team scoring and both set career highs in points. Dion Phaneuf led the Calgary Flames defenseman in scoring, notching 50 points in 79 games, while Alex Tanguay averaged over a point a game for the Flames ending up second in points. In Anaheim, the Ducks received stellar netminding from J-S Giguere, while defenseman Chris Pronger was once again a force scoring 59 points in only 66 games.

The 2006-07 NHL regular season saw the launch of a number of new advanced Rbk hockey products including the Rbk Edge Uniform System, which was unveiled at the 2007 NHL All Star Game in Dallas and will be used by all NHL teams in 2007-08. The innovative Edge Jersey consists of lightweight advanced materials to provide increased range of motion, ventilation, durability and comfort. Other new products recently launched at the NHL level include the Rbk 9K Glove being used by Sidney Crosby, the Rbk 9K White Pump Skate, as well as the 7K Sickick Stick. These products are either already available at retail or will be in the very near future.