In Defense of Sidney Crosby

Let’s get something out of the way right from the get-go. I like Sidney Crosby.

Yes, I like Sidney Crosby.

I say this in the face of the many haters out there. You know who you are. You’re the ones who call Sid “Cindy,” “Cinderella,” “Cry Baby” and a whole palate of unflattering nicknames that I’d rather not repeat here.

After the Pens’ recent game against the Wings, the haters were at it again. They didn’t like the crosschecks and cheap shots Crosby gave to Zetterberg in the dying seconds of a 3-1 Detroit win. I’ll say this as a Red Wings fan: I too didn’t like seeing Crosby take his frustrations out on one of our star players. Leave Z alone, Sid!

Playing without Malkin for a third straight game, the Pens showed little jump. Crosby himself was kept in check all night long. He scraped together three shots over 20 minutes of ice time and finished a minus-2.

Crosby is a competitive kid. He doesn’t like losing. What we saw at the end of the game was a mental breakdown on the part of no. 87 more than anything else. Am I excusing his behavior? No. But I also understand that Crosby is as susceptible to mistakes as anyone else. In this NHL game, he is, after all, still a kid.

Isn’t that what many call him? Sid the Kid?

Crosby is only 22 years old.

Perhaps we expect too much from a kid who was widely viewed as the “Next One.”

Has he tallied the same numbers as Gretzky? No. But the game has changed since Gretzky’s glory days. And unless the game changes in some other radical way (e.g. increasing the size of the nets), I’m not sure anyone will challenge Gretzky’s totals.

Still, he is what he is: a fantastic talent, the youngest captain ever of a Stanley Cup champion, an Olympic gold medalist, a superstar.

The haters:

“He’s talented, but… “

“He’s undeniably a superstar, but… “

“He’s one of the game’s best, if not the best, but… “

But nothing. Crosby, regardless of the expectations placed upon him, and regardless of the microscope and spotlight he’s been under since an early age, is playing his game the way he knows how at this point in his young career. I have news for the haters out there: it’s working!

Look, I get it. We all do. From his first year in the league, Crosby built a reputation as a complainer, a whiner who turned far too often to the referees. And from season one to season four, not much has changed. His penalty minutes have gone down from his rookie campaign, but his aggression and over-aggression still gets him in trouble… and he’s still over-reacting on the ice. He hasn’t won any fans among NHL players, who single him out as the game’s biggest whiner.

Without a doubt, he needs to whine less. He needs to temper his edge, but that will only come over time.

Again, he’s only 22 years old. He’s only four years into this NHL game.

At the conclusion of Crosby’s rookie year, CBC’s Jesse Campigotto wrote about The Education of Sidney Crosby. In this piece, Campigotto quotes Hockey Night in Canada analyst Kelly Hrudey, who predicted that Crosby will “mellow with age.”

At the time, Hrudey pointed out that Gretzky himself had a similar reputation to that of Crosby. “But over time he learned to temper that,” said Hrudey.

I agree with Hrudey. I believe over time Crosby will mature. He will learn to control his emotions, while not losing his aggressive edge on the ice.

I believe Crosby’s rival Alex Ovechkin will mature in a similar fashion. He will learn to play his own aggressive, all-out style, without crossing the line as we’ve seen him done on several occasions (the push on the Hawks’ Brian Campbell as the latest example).

Sid and Ovi are kids. They’re learning. And I believe at the end of the day, Crosby’s coming of age will prove the haters wrong.

Photo credit: puckdaddyblog on Flickr