Never doubt the kid with the golden stick

Add on his 37 assists from this season and he's well over 300 assists in less than five years.He simply makes everyone around him better, and has done so since his days in Boston. When he is around the net, he is one of the most dangerous players in the NHL; He's able to find the open man no matter how the play is shaping up. He could take on your grandmother in a speed-knitting competition and put up a solid fight. He molds clay into the profiles of his teammates heads in his spare time. His clean, hard passes are placed in the right spot every time and he has a knack for surprising even his own players with a sudden deft touch pass that seemed impossible mere seconds ago.It is for these reasons that Thornton finds himself as the second most prolific passer in the NHL..

Could it really be anybody elseSidney Crosby is without a doubt the most prolific passer in the NHL.He has vision that rivals the greatest of all time; he is able to send a crisp, clean pass to anyone on the ice in the most difficult of situations; and his flair for the dramatic when setting up a teammate is second to none. He is simply the best at what he does.Coming into the league, he was known as a top-notch playmaker, but one who was just as able to score a goal as get an assist. He has lived up to that billing, but Crosby has become the most dangerous in the league when he has the puck in his hands You really have no idea what he's going to do with it. He could embarrass you with a cornucopia of moves, but he's more than likely to sift a pass through your legs, over a stick, and onto the awaiting tape of a teammate before you can say "Rimouski."You may recall an early game in the 2006-2007 season when Crosby and the Penguins were playing in Philadelphia against the hated Flyers. Crosby broke in over the line on a two-on-two with teammate Dominick Moore. As they neared the net, it looked as if both Crosby and Moore were completely covered, and Sid's only opportunity would have to be a weak shot through the defender and hope it hit the net.Well, that's what everyone else though anyways.

By the time the play was over and the puck was in the net, sports networks were already scrambling to have that play on their nightly highlights over and over again.Just as Crosby hit the bottom of the circle, mere inches from the defender, he stopped on a dime while doing a spin-o-rama. As his back was to Moore and just as his eyes caught the selection of cotton candy in the crowd, he fired a no-look pass past the first defender and through the legs of the second, forward Randy Robataille, right onto Moore's stick.Moore was so surprised it took himself a second to recover and gain control before back-handing it over the sprawling pad of Antero Nittymaki. It was just one of many insane passes Sid the Kid has made in his career in the NHL, but as he continues to rip it up in the points department this season, we can no doubt expect more from the wonder kid in the near future Without a doubt, Crosby is the best passer in the NHL. Just when you try and say otherwise, he will once again make your jaw drop, and leave you praying to the hockey gods for forgiveness for ever doubting him.Never doubt the kid with the golden stick.. TAIPEI, Jan 8 (Reuters) - HSBC (0005.HK) (HSBA.L), Europe'sbiggest bank, said on Thursday U.S. stocks were the best bets in2009 due to the healthy profits some U.S. firms had made over thepast two years, though a big sell-off was possible through March.

Stocks China Arjuna Mahendran, managing director and head of investmentstrategy at HSBC's private bank in Asia, told reporters on thesidelines of a company event that he favoured China and Indiastocks in emerging markets because of their long-term growthpotential. (Reporting by Faith Hung; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner) Stocks China. Currently with 1,998 wins, the University of Kentucky needs two more victories to become the first NCAA basketball team to outscore their opponents 2,000 times. The closest team to the Wildcats is the Tarheels, with 1,992 wins. This year's Kentucky team is as good as all the others that contributed to the current 1,998 wins. This is the first year since 1930-31 that Kentucky and their first year head coach have began the season 10-0. The last coach to win his first 10 games in his first year with the Wildcats was Kentuckys Hall of Fame coach Adolph Rupp. In 2009, head coach John Calipari has set Kentucky and their young and talented group of freshmen to be on pace for a record of 15-0 heading into SEC play Jan. 9. To end the month of December and the 2009 year, the Wildcats will face four opponents at home in 10 days: Austin Peay (7-4) on the 19th, Drexel (5-5) on the 22nd, Long Beach State (5-4) on the 23rd, and Hartford (2-9) on the 29th.If all goes as planned, at the beginning of the 2010, Kentucky could easily be 14-0 with 2,002 university wins.Calipari has done an effective job molding his freshmen into a winning system on a team with returning talent. Whats even more impressive about Calipari and his young bunch is that he has them playing at a high level of intensity and skill.Freshman DeMarcus Cousins has followed the lead of junior forward Patrick Patterson, who led the SEC last year with 15 double-doubles, and already has four double-doubles, trailing Pattersons five. Freshman guard Eric Bledsoe will have to cut down on his early foul troubles and turnovers, but the kid has a keen sense of when to step up and make big plays. Bledsoe is averaging double-digit points, 11.1 ppg, and is second on the team with three assists per game while leading the 'Cats in scoring twice this year. Speaking of freshmen leading Kentucky in scoring, John Wall has led the Wildcats in scoring in half of the games played. With one game-winner under his belt, Wall leads the team in scoring and assists, with 18.1 ppg and with 7 apg, respectively. In his 10 game career as a freshman, Wall has shown improvements on top of his already dominating play. The countrys top high school prospect has lived up to his hype by receiving the SEC Freshman of the Week for his fourth straight weekthe first time in league history a freshman has won the weekly award four consecutive weeks.