After All This Time I Think We Have Reached A Place Where Sidney Crosby Is Actually UNDERRATED In The Year 2022
After all this time, nothing has changed. Sidney Crosby is still quietly DOMINATING the NHL. Maybe it is a sign of strength for the league as a whole that nobody seems to be paying attention to what Sidney Crosby is doing this year. Maybe it is because the game has so many star players, maybe it's because there are so many compelling teams, maybe it's because there are new storylines, and maybe it's because fans and the media are bored with how consistently awesome Sid has been.
Crosby, at 35 years-old, is on pace for 47 goals and 110 points. HIs career high for points in a season is 120 when he was 19 years-old in 2007 and his previous high for goals is 51 which happened way back in 2010. And there is a chance that Sid is just scratching the surface this year because he and the Pens haven't figured it out on the powerplay yet. Crosby has a grand total of 6 power play points so far. By contrast, the league leader in points and most celebrated superstar in the game, McDavid, has 25 powerplay points this year.
Of his age group peers, Ovechkin is generating more headlines because he is chasing down the games most sacred record set by the games most revered player, Wayne Gretzky. Ovi is no doubt the most incredible goal-scorer whoever lived (I think that is true even if he somehow falls short of the record), but that doesn't mean he is better than Crosby. Crosby is still ahead of Ovi in points even with 170 or so fewer games played. That is one of the things that is a shame about Crosby's career. He played fucking hard and he played fearless and since he is the most average looking dude on the planet at 5'11 and 195lbs he missed a TON of games with injury. Crosby has played a full 82 games just once in his career. The absolute prime of his career he was robbed of nearly a full season because of concussion symptoms. If Crosby had been healthier and didn't miss so many games to injury he'd likely have another 300 points to his name. If you give him 82 games and just gave him his average points per game he'd another 270. Then there was the work stoppage in 2012-13 and all the games lost over the several years thanks to covid. My point is that there is an alternate universe where Crosby is on his way to chasing down a 2000 point career and there's only one other player ever who hit that milestone.
Crosby was hyped to the moon. A child prodigy. I remember reading about Sidney Crosby when he was 14 years old. He was tasked with saving the league after yet another lockout which cost the NHL the entire 2004-05 season. And...he basically did it. The game has never been better or healthier and a lot of that is because of Sid. He came in saved, the entire Pittsburgh market, got casual fans excited, and won everything he possibly could almost immediately. And he did all of that while looking like the most average athlete ever. Such an milky athlete that girls would auto-swipe left on his dating profiles because he doesn't look like anything special. Not big and not overly fast. Doesn't have the silkiest hands ever. Doesn't have a bomb of a shot. He's just got a genius hockey brain and an engine that won't quit. He probably gets more games played and points if he didn't have that engine/fire, but he can't help it. He's a prick and does things like this
That has a tendency to piss people off so they take little liberties against you. That was always fine with Sid and I loved him for it. That's what makes him a winner. He doesn't mind the hard areas or the mud. Don't forget about the time where he called PK Subban a fucking idiot either
That exchange makes me laugh every single time. PK sounds like Kermit the frog and Sid hits him with the most dismissive and cutting "fucking idiot" I've ever heard. PK Subban was a fucking idiot for the record. #SidWasRight
People don't like it when team achievements are used to measure an individual. Well fuck that because Crosby has led by example every step of the way with the C on his chest. Three Stanley Cups, two Gold Medals, and the Penguins haven't missed the playoffs since 2006. SIXTEEN STRAIGHT PLAYOFF APPEARANCES! That is absurd in the Salary Cap era. He did all of that by consistently getting the absolute most out of his teammates. Aside from PPs with Malkin and Letang, Crosby never really played with another Hall of Famer (Lebron had to read that sentence twice). He just took smart players like Chris Kunitz and Jake Guentzel and turned them into reliable first line players. I mean he got Ryan Whitney $24M. The guy was a miracle worker.
The league has been turned over to this younger generation with McDavid, Matthews, and MacKinnon and that is great for the overall health of the league. That doesn't mean we should forget what Crosby has done or ignore what he is currently doing in 2022. To me, he is truly one of the greatest players whoever lived. Gretzky and Orr will always be at the top of the list for the GOAT discussion, but after that I think we should start talking about Crosby. The points, the Cups, the awards, the Gold Medals. He has done it all. Crosby was a prodigy that lived up to every ounce of hype. Crosby was the face of the league at a time that the league DESPERATELY needed one and he delivered beyond Gary Bettman's wildest dreams. What he did for the Pittsburgh franchise and what he did for the entire league can't be duplicated. He could get into the Hall Of Fame as a player and as a builder. His impact is immeasurable. He might not get headlines or awards this year, but he's had the best career of anyone in my lifetime.