Super Sid
This mind-boggling hustle play is confirmation that Sidney Crosby really is a superhero
Sidney Crosby’s accolades speak for themselves. Three Stanley Cups, two Harts, two Conn Smythes, and two Art Rosses. He’s been named to eight all-star teams and racked up 1,312 career points. When the Pittsburgh Penguins, one of the NHL’s proudest franchises, were in the toilet in the mid aughts, Crosby arrived and turned them into a dynasty again, all while keeping his head down and his nose clean. If all of this makes him sound like some sort of hockey superhero, well, just wait until you see what he did last last night.
Crosby begins the play in the bottom left corner of the frame. Penguins defender Brian Dumoulin has lost his stick, so Crosby does what any self-respecting Avenger teammate would do, and hands him his. The Penguins quickly turn the puck over and, with Crosby’s stick in hand, Dumoulin finds the out pass to a streaking Kris Letang. Trying to keep up with the potential odd-man rush, Crosby hustles to the bench, swipes a stick from the equipment manager, and makes for the net as the rebound pops out to him to jam home. The whole sequence takes just 12 seconds, but sums up 16 years od Sidney Crosby hockey.
Say what you want about Gretzky or Jagr, or even Crosby’s Penguin peer Lemieux; they don’t make that play, and they ESPECIALLY don’t make that play in their 16th season. It is patented Super Sid all the way through. It has the intangibles like selflessness, hustle, and will, combined with the measurables, like speed and finishing ability. In one neat little nutshell, it’s why he is absolutely, unquestionably the GOAT of his time and, quite possibly, just the GOAT.
There, we said it.