The Sidney Crosby Injury Could Be a Wake-Up Call for the Pittsburgh Penguins

When Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan announced on Wednesday afternoon after practice that center Sidney Crosby was being evaluated for an upper-body injury, many Pittsburgh Penguins fans were already concerned. They were tweeting, hoping it was not another concussion for the 31-year-old.

He has had a history of head injuries throughout his career. Luckily Crosby was not diagnosed with one in his most recent incident. In 16 games played so far this season, he has scored eight goals and recorded 11 assists. His plus/minus rating so far this season is 7.

Sidney Crosby’s status for Thursday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at home is uncertain. If he misses any length of time for the Penguins, could this be a wakeup call for this team?

They already received a wakeup call when General Manager Jim Rutherford decided to trade Carl Hagelin to the Los Angeles Kings for Tanner Pearson. Both players were struggling and maybe a change of scenery will do wonders for them.

Pearson could actually help on the top lines. He could provide scoring depth even though he has yet to score a goal in 17 games with the Los Angeles Kings this season.

Speaking of yet to score, the third and fourth lines haven’t scored a goal in the past eight games. The last time one of those two lines scored a goal was on Thursday, Oct. 25 in a 9-1 road win against the Calgary Flames and the goal was scored by Matt Cullen.

Cullen, Bryan Rust, and Riley Sheahan are struggling to score goals so far this season. Daniel Sprong needs to be played more often. If Crosby is out for a lengthy period, Sprong could be used in a top-6 role.

The lines at Pittsburgh Penguins practice on Wednesday were: Bryan Rust-Mark Recchi (Penguins assistant coach filling in for Crosby)-Dominik Simon, Zack Aston-Reese-Evgeni- Malkin-Patric Hornqvist, Jake Guentzel-Riley Sheahan-Phil Kessel, and Garrett Wilson-Matt Cullen-Daniel Sprong.

The defensive pairings were: Jack Johnson and Kris Letang, Brian Dumoulin and Chad Ruhwedel, Olli Maatta and Jamie Oleksiak, and Jusso Riikola and Sergei Gonchar (Penguins assistant coach).

The third line on paper sounds like it has a lot of potential. Guentzel and Kessel are players that could put the puck in the back of the net. Aston-Reese and Hornqvist on a line with Malkin sounds interesting, but if Crosby is out, Malkin will most likely be on the top line.

It would not be surprising to see Sullivan go 11 forwards for Thursday’s game if Crosby is out. They would only have three healthy centers on the roster. Derrick Brassard continues to be injured. If he was healthy, the Penguins wouldn’t even have to think about going seven defensemen for the game against Tampa Bay.

Tanner Pearson is expected to play on Thursday night. If they only dress 11 forwards, Daniel Sprong will most likely be the odd man out, but this would be a mistake if Crosby is out. Wilson should be the one that sits because he doesn’t generate the offense like Sprong does, but Garrett Wilson is better defensively.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have done a tremendous job of using the phrase next man up under head coach Mike Sullivan. They will need to put a win together as their record so far this season is 7-6-3 with 17 points. Pittsburgh sits in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division and they have scored 53 goals and allowed 51 goals so far this season.

Evgeni Malkin steps up whenever Sidney Crosby is out and hopefully all of the lines follow his lead. If Crosby does play against the Tampa Bay Lightning, everyone needs to step up anyways because the top two lines can’t do everything. When the Pittsburgh Penguins won back-to-back Stanley Cups, depth scoring was one of the main reasons why. They can’t ask Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel to do everything night in and night out.

 Glenn Kaplan – Contributor

 

 

 

 

 

Tale of the Tape: Sidney Crosby vs Connor McDavid

It feels that once Connor McDavid came to the league, Sidney Crosby may actually need to care about being taken over as the best player in the world. So that brings us to the question that everyone continues to ask every single season now, who is the best player in the world, Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid?

Hey, let’s go with youngest to oldest. What has McDavid done in three seasons? Rookie season – Missed almost half the season due to injury, played 45 games, scored 48 points. I don’t know about you, but hey, pretty good start. Second season, which turned out to be his first full season. Connor played all 82 games, resulting in 30 goals, 70 assists, and a league leading 100 points. He brought the Oilers back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in years, and oh yeah, he won the MVP (Hart Memorial Trophy) when he got to play a complete season. There is something so special about McDavid at such a young age that it is almost like people forget that he is only 21 years old. At the age of 20, he was already a one time all-star. And this past season, he showed that he may be even better, if that is even possible. McDavid scored a new career high of 41 goals while adding 67 assists to lead the league back to back years with 108 points. He is a different specimen that it feels we have never really seen before on the ice. He won a second consecutive Art Ross Trophy as the leagues top scorer, as well as his second consecutive Ted Lindsay Award, as being chosen as the Most Outstanding Player by his colleagues and players around the league. The only reason he did not get MVP was because this isn’t like the MLB where they just give out the MVP for stats unfortunately, you have to put stats with team success to really get that recognition. However, still a special honor.

Now let us take a look at what Sidney Crosby has done so far in his career. First off, the scariest thing about Sidney Crosby is the fact that he turns 31 in August. He has done so much already, and thankfully he isn’t even close to being done. And you can say all that you want about Crosby, trust me, as a Bruins fan you hear it all the time. But do not be a hater, it just makes you look bad. He can be called “soft”, but when he is dominating game in and game out, I don’t think he really cares how you feel about him. What is more unfortunate is how much of “Sid the Kid” we missed out on for a few seasons there. He continuously had concussion problems and it starting to feel like he wouldn’t get over them ever. Oh, but he has. Crosby has done everything there is to do in the sport of hockey. He has captained three Stanley Cup winning teams, winning the Conn Smythe in the most recent two as the most valuable player of the playoffs. He has won World Junior Gold all the way back in 2005, captained Canada to two Olympic Gold Medals in 2010 and 2014 and helped lead Canada to the World Cup of Hockey Gold Medal in 2016, where he also was the leading scorer and MVP.

Crosby’s success isn’t just about points and MVPs (which he has two of), but he is a top leader who continues to lead his teams to success on the biggest stages every time. Crosby has been at the top of the mountain of greatness for what it feels to be forever, being the automatic answer for most people out there for years as the league, and worlds, top player. But now, for the first time in what feels to be a long time, he has serious competition in that regard. Look at what I laid out for you regarding Connor McDavid. He has played three seasons, two full in which those two he led the entire National Hockey League in points. McDavid has already left a huge mark on the league and in people’s minds. His ability game in and game out, the way he is able to use his league best speed:

See Ya.

His stellar passing:

Nope. Not Fair.

Oh My Nasty

And his unbelievable ability to score:

Oh.

Leaves people looking at McDavid as the best player in hockey right now.

Well, as great at he is, people would be wrong.

Leadership, the ability to play at your best year in and year out, and his ability in the playoffs (21 pts in 12 playoff gms this season) has Sidney Crosby still atop the entire NHL as the best in hockey right now.

And while it is only a matter of time McDavid takes over, Crosby will continue to prove that he is still the best and that he would do great in tomorrow’s home run derby:

So, what do you think? Do you take the proven winner in Crosby as the world’s best? Or do you think Connor McDavid has taken over as the best in the world today?

Whatever you are think, let us know!

-Scott Edwards, Creator of WTF Sports