Sidney Crosby nestled into a chair at a New York hotel at the end of the busiest summer of his young life.

The latest in a stream of countless interviews was taking place, and the youngest captain of a Stanley Cup champion couldn’t have been happier.

There’s a big difference, after all, between winning and losing the Stanley Cup.

Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins avenged a loss in the 2008 finals by rallying from a 3-2 series deficit and wresting the Stanley Cup away from the champion Red Wings in Detroit in a stirring Game 7. That helped erase the sting of the previous year, when the Red Wings celebrated following a clinching Game 6 victory in Pittsburgh.

“The mood was a lot better,” the 22-year-old Crosby said in typical understated fashion. “It was a pretty tough summer sitting on a loss in the finals and not knowing when I was going to get the chance to get back there or if it would ever happen.

“I am really happy we were able to get back there and finish it off right this time.”

Don’t be surprised if these two powerhouses go for a three-peat in a rubber match in June.

“For both teams to get there in back-to-back years, it’s amazing,” Crosby said. “Both teams kind of defied the odds in getting back there, but now both have to try to do it again.”

The regular season begins Thursday with four games, including the Vancouver Canucks playing at rival Calgary.

The Capitals likely pose the biggest threat in the Eastern Conference to Pittsburgh. With a lineup that boasts Alexander Ovechkin, the NHL leader in goals the past two seasons, fellow forwards Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin, and high-scoring defenseman Mike Green, Washington hopes to make its big splash.

Ovechkin forced Crosby and the Penguins to a Game 7 in the second round.

The Boston Bruins figure to have something to say about who comes out of the East as they try to build off a season in which they surprisingly vaulted from the No. 8 playoff seed in 2008 to No. 1 in 2009. They were eliminated in the second round by Carolina.

The San Jose Sharks can relate to a disappointing quick exit. They posted the best record in the NHL before bowing out early — again. The Sharks lost in the first round to Anaheim.

General manager Doug Wilson was angry and didn’t sit back. In a big move just before the season, the Sharks plucked disgruntled star forward Dany Heatley from Ottawa in a deal that sent forwards Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek to the Senators.

Detroit is still the team to beat out West – even if on reputation.

“We all understand how long the journey is,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “We’re fortunate that we’ve got a real good core, so we’ve still got a chance to win.”

While it’s fun to talk in September about what might happen in May and June, the NHL season has much to offer before it even gets to the playoffs.

The Philadelphia Flyers will meet the Bruins in Boston’s Fenway Park in the Winter Classic — about a month before the league takes a two-week break for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Sid vs. Alex

The rivalry between Pittsburgh’s Crosby and Washington’s Ovechkin sure looks good and heated in various TV promotions and billboard-like advertisements. But does it really exist?

“Circumstances kind of make those rivalries,” said Crosby, who captained the Penguins to the Stanley Cup last season. “For us individually, yeah, I think there is but there is always a bigger story line.”

They both entered the NHL in the 2005-06 season. Crosby put up 39 goals and 102 points, and Ovechkin countered with 52 goals and 106 points to capture rookie of the year honors.

Crosby, at age 20, came back the next season with an NHL-best 120 points and was named MVP. Since then, Ovechkin has had the upper hand as far as individual awards go. He earned his first scoring title during the 2007-08 season with 65 goals and 112 points, garnering the first of his two MVP awards. Ovechkin had 56 goals and 110 points last year.

Head to head they both posted hat tricks in Game 2 of last season’s second series — a game won by the Capitals, 4-3. The Penguins got the final say with a Game 7 win in Washington.

The only thing Ovechkin is missing now is his name on the Stanley Cup. Ovechkin’s Russian countryman Evgeni Malkin already crossed that one off his list with Crosby and the Penguins.

Malkin won the scoring title in the regular season and playoffs.

“No. It’s the Capitals and Pittsburgh. It’s not about me and those two guys. Well, the league has to make some money,” said Ovechkin, when asked if a personal rivalry brews.

Canucks send back Hodgson

The Canucks sent highly touted Cody Hodgson back to the Brampton Battalion of the junior Ontario Hockey League.

Hodgson, selected 10th overall in the 2008 draft, was expected to make the Canucks as a 19-year-old center after earning Canadian Junior Hockey Player of the Year honors last season while playing for Brampton. He won the award ahead of John Tavares, the No. 1 overall pick by the New York Islanders at this summer’s draft.

But because he is not yet 20, the Canucks could not send him to Manitoba of the American Hockey League, and had to keep him or return him to the OHL.