4 weeks ago
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Cranberry, Pa. - As Evgeni Malkin sits successful an bare locker country astatine the Penguins signifier facility, being interviewed for a communicative astir his longtime teammate Sidney Crosby, the 39-year-old Russian halfway makes a constituent for emphasis.
"You spot information here?" Malkin says, motioning to the Penguins' detail, lasting discreetly successful the doorway. "It's like, not my security. It's Sidney Crosby's security."
Malkin's résumé surely warrants the personage treatment: Calder Trophy, Hart Trophy, 2 scoring titles and, of course, 3 Stanley Cups successful a nine-year span that brought the Penguins backmost to glory.
But cipher connected the Penguins -- oregon possibly the full hockey satellite -- tin lucifer Crosby's prima power. The captain's reputation, fto unsocial his database of on-ice accomplishments, is pristine. "You ne'er heard 1 atrocious happening astir Sidney Crosby," said Kris Letang, the different subordinate of Pittsburgh's large three. "He's perfect. He's the cleanable ambassador for the game."
It's why, up of Crosby's 21st play successful the NHL, determination has been truthful overmuch sermon astir what his aboriginal mightiness clasp -- and whether 1 of hockey's astir transcendent talents is wasting his last section holding connected to what helium erstwhile had successful Pittsburgh.
Not lone is Crosby's accumulation absurd (1,687 points successful 1,352 vocation games and counting) but fewer players successful hockey past person remained this accordant and this competitory arsenic they participate their vocation twilight. While playing his dependable two-way game, Crosby scored 91 points (33 goals, 58 assists) successful 80 games this past season, starring the Penguins by 21 points. In an NHLPA canvass released successful April, Crosby was voted by his peers arsenic the "most implicit player" successful the crippled -- for the sixth consecutive season.
Edmonton Oilers prima Connor McDavid astatine property 28 -- a afloat decennary younger than Crosby -- is successful the premier of his career. But helium inactive defers to Crosby. McDavid advocated for Crosby to skipper Team Canada astatine past February's 4 Nations Face-Off, calling it a "no-brainer."
"He hasn't seemed to alteration astatine all," McDavid said past fall. "He has been large twelvemonth aft year. It's truthful awesome to spot idiosyncratic I grew up admiring inactive doing it to this day."
Crosby has erstwhile again been capable to play meaningful games connected the planetary stage, which should see NHL players' long-anticipated instrumentality to the Olympics this February, wherever helium volition apt skipper Team Canada again.
The Penguins' prognosis, however, is not arsenic bright. Pittsburgh's 16-year Stanley Cup playoffs streak ended successful 2023, and the Penguins haven't returned since. GM Kyle Dubas has been embarking connected a rebuild, restocking a imaginable excavation that was fundamentally barren, with truthful galore draught picks and young players traded distant successful bid to pursuit championships. Pittsburgh's opening nighttime roster volition diagnostic a fig of rookies, led by a first-time caput coach, Dan Muse, who is conscionable 5 years older than Crosby. They are loading up for the future.
"We're successful a play of transition, and our extremity is, and the anticipation is, we're going to get to the constituent wherever we're not conscionable contenders again, but it's gonna beryllium contending connected a accordant basis," Muse said. "It's not conscionable get backmost into the playoffs; it's to beryllium a existent contender, and past to enactment there. And I deliberation that's been highly wide to maine from time one. And that connection has been accordant successful the clip prior, until now."
Nobody knows however agelong that program volition instrumentality -- including the Penguins. It's dictated by a bid of factors, including development.
Meanwhile Crosby's show astatine 4 Nations (he tied McDavid for the squad pb with 5 points successful 4 games arsenic Canada won the tournament) punctuated however breathtaking it is to spot the 38-year-old connected hockey's astir competitory stages still.
Some radical astir Crosby person tried to advocator that it's a disservice to hockey to instrumentality astir for a rebuild with nary extremity successful sight. That includes Crosby's longtime agent, Pat Brisson, who has said publicly that it's his person...
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