Pittsburgh Penguins: Sidney Crosby, Morose?
By Mike Necciai
The Pittsburgh Penguins faced the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday in a game that saw Pittsburgh come away with a victory, despite a lackluster performance. But, after recent reports from Elliotte Freidman of Sportsnet, arguably the biggest question to come out of that contest is whether or not Sidney Crosby is beginning to buckle under the immense pressure placed on his shoulders.
The Penguins’ struggles thus far are no secret. And, these struggles aren’t unique to this young season, as Pittsburgh seemed to enter a downward spiral the moment the calendar flipped to January 1, 2015. While the Penguins did manage to sneak into the post season just a few months ago, it was a foregone conclusion that they would simply be a step in a greater team’s path to later rounds. No one expected them to turn things around and expected an early offseason. That’s exactly what we got.
Chalk last season up to injuries, a new coach and system or maybe just plain old bad luck. No matter how you shake it, last season was a failure. Another failure in a long line of disappointing finishes for the Pittsburgh Penguins throughout the Sidney Crosby era. So, why is anyone surprised that he’s bothered by the pressure?
Fast forward to the 2015-16 season and Crosby, playing alongside Phil Kessel, has zero points in five games. In fact, he has a mere eight shots throughout those five games which places him ninth on the Pens, behind both Beau Bennett and Daniel Sprong who have nine each. Those players are obviously playing much less of a role for the Penguins. Who would have predicted that Crosby, now playing with a world-class scorer like Kessel, would start the season with the longest consecutive scoreless streak of his career?
Crosby puts more pressure on himself than any coach, manager or member of the media. That’s actually the reason I see a light at the end of the tunnel. One solid scoring streak is all it will take to get Sid back on track. You can see that he’s second guessing himself and as Freidman observed, “holding that stick really tight”. Hockey isn’t a game that allows for doubt or over thinking your next move. Crosby is guilty of that right now. When you consider the amount of prime opportunities he has had in which his stick shattered on the shot or pass, it’s an omen to a hockey player that the hockey gods are stacking the odds against them. As you can imagine, it’s frustrating.
I’m not making excuses for Crosby. The Pittsburgh Penguins need him to dig himself out of this hole if they plan to be successful. Despite the depth Jim Rutherford added on offense this summer, the Penguins will live or die at the hands of Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. If they aren’t producing, the Pens aren’t going anywhere, it’s as simple as that. What I won’t do at this point is analyze every facial expression or hand motion to make an assumption about an individual’s feelings. Are we really at that point in the season already?
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