When the Pittsburgh Penguins drafted Sidney Crosby first overall in the 2005 NHL entry draft, expectations were high. Crosby was set to become the next phenom in the league. In his draft year, he played a total of 67 games with the Rimouski Oceanic. In those 67 games, he put up an incredible 179 points. However, the impact that he’d have at the NHL level couldn’t have been predicted. Sidney Crosby has scored his 500th goal.
To say that Sidney Crosby has had a great career is almost an understatement. He started things off with a bang as he ended his first year, the 2005-2006 season, with 102 points in 81 games. While that is an incredible performance, his next season was even more dominant with 120 points in 79 games. Right off the bat, Pittsburgh knew they drafted the right guy.
Image Courtesy of Joe Sargent/Getty Images
Right after his sophomore season, Crosby was named captain of the Penguins. At the time, this made him the youngest captain in NHL history as he was only 19 years old. That same season, he led the team to a Stanley Cup finals appearance where they lost to the Detroit Red Wings. In the season that followed, the team made it to the finals yet again, against the same opponent, but this time they walked away with the Cup.
Throughout his illustrious career, Crosby has won nearly every single award there is to win. He went on to lead the team to two more Stanley Cup victories, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy in both. From there, he’s also acquired the Ted Lindsay Award, the Hart Memorial Trophy and Art Ross Trophy multiple times. As of right now, he’s accumulated 1,371 points in 1,077 games, which is an incredible feat.
While he’s had an amazing career, Crosby has suffered numerous injuries. Just this season, he missed 12 games due to a combination of surgery recovery and COVID. In the past, he’s dealt with a flurry of concussions, so much so that he missed large chunks of the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 seasons. An astonishing fact that fans may not know is that he played his first full 82 game year in the 2017-2018 season. Despite this, he isn’t showing many signs of slowing down.
Image Courtesy of Joe Sargent/Getty Images
As previously mentioned, he’s already missed 12 games this season. Even then, he is already over a point-per-game player. His dominance, vision and playmaking abilities are rivaled by few, if not none. While his performance in recent years has led plenty of hockey fans to question his dominance, he’s certainly proving all doubters wrong.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Sidney Crosby couldn’t have been a better match. He’s led the organization to an astonishing three Stanley Cup victories. What could be even better is that the current team has all of the components to win a fourth during Crosby’s tenure. They have depth and scoring ability, not to mention unrivaled leadership. It’ll be interesting to see how the organization progresses this year.
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