Sid the Cardiac Kid, The Next Great One, Captain Canada and Little Magnifique these are just a few names Penguins captain has been called in the nine years he’s been in the NHL and the Steel City.
This season Crosby has shown why he’s a four time All Star, two time Ted Lindsay Award Winner and a perennial contender for the Hart Memorial Trophy (NHL MVP), The Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophy and the Art Ross Trophy, given to the league’s top goal scorer and points leader respectively. Through 47 games this season The Kid has registered 25 goals, assisted on 42 others ranking him second in both categories while giving him a league leading 67 points surpassing his totals in each of the last three seasons which he has seen shortened by injury.
When the Pens do find themselves without their captain, as the often have in the past few years, they have found themselves relying on other All-Star quality talents like Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Chris Kunitz and many others. Looking at this season injuries and suspensions have limited the effectiveness and playing time of other big name Pens like Kris Letang, Rob Scuderi, Beau Bennett and both Malkin and Neal leaving Crosby as one of the few healthy veterans on the bench.
This season has led to some fans asking, if he didn’t have a full cast of supporting players that each play their role to either enable him, keep him safe or take the pressure off of him in some tight spots, where would he be?
An old adage in the realm of hockey is that a player is only as good as his line mates and looking at Crosby’s typical line mates, the saying seems to be the line mates are as good at their centerman. In the case of Pascal Dupuis until he was injured this season, he has seen his point total rise every year he has been in Pittsburgh especially when he is on the ice with Crosby. For his efforts he was rewarded with a four year, 15 million dollar deal this past off season.
Chris Kunitz, the other winger on the Pens top line, was brought to Pittsburgh to add a much needed scoring punch during the 2008 season. Typically a more prolific scorer than Dupuis, Kunitz has benefitted from opposing defenses paying more attention to Crosby leaving him open and in more recent times, defenses adjusting to him leaving the captain open to rip a one timer to the roof.
The additions to and subsequent maturation of Penguins second line mainstays Evgeni Malkin and James Neal, and for arguments sake Jussi Jokinen have also eased the pressure on Crosby allowing him to focus on scoring more than preventing close games for being tied up. For most teams, this line could and for most cases would be the top line but the Pens find themselves in the unique position of having what in essence is a #1 line and a 1A line.
Not only has Sidney Crosby formed a symbiotic relationship with the players around him, but recent moves made by the front office have brought a few bruisers to Pittsburgh to keep Crosby safe and off the ice during most penalty killing situations.
Fans in other cities claim The Kid is soft or gets special treatment to enable his scoring, but the numbers show, the success of the Penguins isn’t solely because of him playing at levels above Gretsky or Lemeuix but a combination of The Kid and his crew working off each other to play at a consistent level leading to much success.
