Pittsburgh Penguins: Sidney Crosby Excels at the Little Things in a Big Way

The Pittsburgh Penguins are a team loaded with superstar talent for the upcoming season. And, each of those players are very unique in their own way. However, there likely isn’t another ‘superstar’ that is as unique as Sidney Crosby, considering how his style of play differs from most.

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Crosby, though he has made it known that he hates this phrase, is often referred to as a skilled grinder. He plays a hard-nosed, two-way game unlike most upper echelon players in the NHL.

When I reference his hard-nosed approach, I’m not referring to hitting or fighting. I’m referring to his ability to wear down defenders on the boards and below the goal line. He’s normally the hardest working player on the ice and while his vision, hockey IQ and speed put him on a level of his own, the small things that he does so well are often overlooked.

Crosby’s strength on the puck is nearly unrivaled when it comes to players of his stature. He’s nearly impossible to beat in 50/50 battles and can be quite frustrating to try to defend in those situations. Consider the following video where Sid is battling Brad Marchand during offseason training.

Despite Marchand being one of the smaller players in the league, it’s a great example of the strength and skill combo that Crosby possesses. Even after he loses the puck up the boards and Marchand is free to take possession, Crosby battles back and separates him from the puck to take over yet again.

Jason Spezza, one of the game’s better skaters also had the privilege of facing Crosby in a similar situation, except it actually counted this time.

The cat and mouse game that Sid can play with the puck on his stick is truly something to marvel. His edge work and lower body strength combine to make a defender’s life miserable. This is just one of the small pieces of Crosby’s game that sometimes goes unnoticed, or at least under-appreciated.

The other aspect of Sid’s game that isn’t talked about enough is his two-way play. Head Coach Mike Johnston implemented a new system with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season that focused primarily on possession. When healthy, this team isn’t dumping and chasing. The other part of this system was revamping how they play in the defensive zone and Crosby benefitted from it.

Ben Lovejoy, in an interview shortly after his trade to Pittsburgh, stated that the defensive scheme was “different, but makes a lot of sense”. Last season was arguably Sid’s best when it comes to defensive zone support. He’s determined on the backcheck and it actually feeds into his ability to attack with speed through the neutral zone on the rush due to the way they transition our of their zone.

Chris Kunitz, Patric Hornqvist and David Perron were Crosby’s most common line mates last season and each one of them saw a boost in corsi-for percentage (percentage of total shot attempts). Some look at that as a given when playing alongside someone of Sid’s caliber but his defensive game is a large reason for that. When your center has the type of impact in your own zone shot suppression suddenly becomes much easier.

Below is the highlight video of the overtime win against the LA Kings last season. Crosby puts on a show with some impressive stick handling and body control on two occasions in these highlights but watch the mostly unnoticed decision that he makes around the 2:40 mark.

He’s faced with chasing the puck carrier like so many forwards will do in that situation in order to provide support to their defenseman or picking up the second forward entering the zone. He chose option B and took away any passing option the Kings may have had, which in turn created an innocent puck to the corner with no passing lanes available.

Crosby is known for his offensive dominance and production on the score sheet. But, he should also be recognized for the small things that elevate him to that next level, beyond anyone else in the NHL. The debate often arises on whether or not Sid’s the best player in the world. Well, there’s really no question that he is.

Next: Pressure Cooker: Marc-Andre Fleury

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