A Playoff Without Sidney Crosby

 The Pittsburgh Penguins, after losing to Chicago and seeing the Islanders beat the Habs, have missed the playoffs. The last time they missed the playoffs was in 2006. Sidney Crosby was 18 years old. 

For the Penguins, this might just mark an end of an era. Before I get into the rest of this post, I will say that this will not be a what's next for Pittsburgh post, like I've done for Vancouver and St. Louis in the past. Check those out, by the way. I simply want to highlight Sidney Crosby and the Penguins impressive 16 year playoff streak and marvel at how this may truly be the end of an era for the Pens. 

Sidney Crosby is the epitome of superstardom in the NHL. With 1500 points in 1150 games, Crosby is by far the best player of his generation, and if not for McDavid, he would certainly still be the best player of the last 5-7 years. He's led this Penguins team to three Stanley Cups, and to the playoffs in 16 of his 17 completed NHL seasons. Now that number is 16 of 18, as the Penguins, following an embarrassing loss to a Bedard-contender - the Chicago Blackhawks - no longer had the destiny in their hands to make the playoffs, and the Islanders took advantage, beating the Habs last night and clinching their spot as one of the 16 in the playoffs. This leaves the Pittsburgh Penguins out. This leaves Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, and Evgeni Malkin out. This post is a dedication to the last 18 years of Sidney Crosby we have gotten.

Crosby got so many across the US and Canada to watch and love hockey. His efforts as a competitor, person, and player are unmatched in the NHL and he is fun to watch night in and night out. In his first NHL season, he put up 102 points and, while Corsi was not tracked yet, I'm sure he was fantastic in that metric too. Since then, he's put up 100 points 5 times, and never once has he had a season below a point per game pace. He also has a 60+ Corsi% in 9 of the 16 seasons it has been tracked, and never once has his season Corsi% fallen below 57. He is truly one of the best hockey players to ever live, and the best of his generation by a wide margin.  Another crazy stat is that Sidney Crosby has never been on pace for less than 30 goals over an 82 game season. He's had seasons below 30 due to injuries/lockouts, COVID, etc, but never has he been below that pace.

Another thing Crosby brings to the table is his roaring playoff success. The playoffs are supposed to be a time where defense clamps down and games get more and more even. Not when Sidney Crosby is on the ice, though, as his Corsi% in every single playoff season has been above 55, with ironically his worst showing being in a year the Penguins won the cup, 16-17. He's put up 32 goals in 82 career playoff games, consistent all the way through. Even when the Penguins lose, he is there fighting to the end. He finds ways to break unbreakable goalies, and he is pivotal in all facets of the Pens game. Sidney Crosby has been to 4 Stanley Cup Finals and won 3 of them. He seemingly finds his best when he needs to.

Of course, there's also the streak. Sidney Crosby, before last night, had led the Penguins to the longest active playoff streak in all of the big 4 sports in the US. No team even came close. The level of domination the Penguins (and Crosby) have put up is downright insane. And I thought that streak was going to hit 17. I really did. But, painfully for the Penguins, they lost 5-2 to the Blackhawks, and the Islanders beat the Canadiens, ending this streak. It's surreal to think about a Stanley Cup Playoff without Sidney Crosby. Without the Penguins. It's going to be weird. Sidney Crosby means so much to me and to the game of hockey in general, so watching the playoffs without him will be different. But that doesn't mean there's still nothing to celebrate in relation to Crosby. He's seemingly not retiring anytime soon and the Penguins obviously still have another cup run in mind. Hopefully we get to see them go on one last run before it's all said and done. They don't even have to win it. The hockey world just needs to see Sidney Crosby for a lengthy amount of time in May one last time. And that's why, even though these playoffs are shaking up to be very exciting, they will still feel different without Crosby. 

Thank you, Sidney. We'll see you next year. Hopefully once more fighting for Lord Stanley.

This post is a lot shorter, because there's simply not much to say. Like the Penguins broadcast crew after their defeat to the Hawks, there are no words to describe what I am feeling right now. But I felt obligated to at least write a little piece about Crosby and the Penguins. 

Coming soon on BCI will be all 8 playoff preview rounds, and starting soon will be offseason previews for teams that are not in the playoffs, and maybe teams that get eliminated early as well. A lot is in store in the next few weeks here, so give me a follow on Instagram! It would be greatly appreciated, and you'll get notified when a new post comes out.  As always, thanks for reading, and I'll see you in my next post.