Pittsburgh Penguins: It’s OK if Sidney Crosby Doesn’t Win the Art Ross

We’re nearing the end of the season and Sidney Crosby has put up 82 points so far. With these numbers, will he win the Art Ross Trophy? Probably not. But is this OK? It’s perfectly fine!

In the hype of this amazing season by Sidney Crosby, I feel like lots of us have gotten caught up with the idea that Crosby will catch up to Connor McDavid in points and take home the Maurice Richard Trophy, Art Ross Trophy and the Hart Memorial Trophy.

As we get closer to the end however, this may not be the case. The Maurice Richard Trophy will most likely end up in Crosby’s hands, however McDavid (89 points) has created a sizeable lead between him and Crosby in the scoring race that it might be too hard to catch up. Not to mention, Patrick Kane is also now sandwiched between the two generational players with 84 points.

I’m not saying I’m counting Crosby out yet, but given the amount of games left and the current losing trend of the Penguins, I’m going to say it’s likely it may not happen.

But like I said, winning the Art Ross isn’t everything. It would be nice, but there’s no reason to be envious of McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers because of that. Here’s a few reasons why.

We’re Winning

Let’s keep in mind here that individual player awards are just bonuses. The Stanley Cup is what every player really plays for.

The scoring title and MVP award may be a measure of a player’s calibre yes, but they don’t necessarily reflect the player’s impact on the team exactly. Sidney Crosby makes everyone around him better, whether he is racking up points or not. As a result, the Penguins are winning, which will eventually lead us to the Stanley Cup hopefully.

Let’s keep this in mind. Crosby’s stats don’t matter as long as he’s leading us to victory. I’d take a superstar with less scoring and more winning than a superstar with more scoring and less winning.

Pittsburgh Penguins

A Solid Team All Around

Let’s face it, the Penguins are currently a far better built team than McDavid’s Oilers, and we may even arguably be better than Kane’s Chicago Blackhawks. This forces the points to be spread across the team rather than on one line.

Connor McDavid is a spectacular player. Just like Sidney Crosby, he makes everyone around him better while doing spectacular things in their own right. The difference here is that McDavid’s team may not be as strong as the Penguins right now, which forces him to take matters into his own hands a lot. The Oilers are definitely trending upwards, but as of right now McDavid tends to find himself having to make plays all on his own, which helps his point total in the end.

Crosby on the other hand has a pretty solid team in front of him. Despite injuries, most of the team has been carrying themselves high in their own rights. Crosby can allow others to make big plays most of the time because of this, which doesn’t reflect in his numbers as much.

Crosby knows this. All of us know this. Let’s not allow letting the Art Ross slip away blind us from the fact that we have a good thing going here, even if it’s not shown through awards.

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