So thats the new argument people are clinging too now to downplay crosby..."only 2 art rosses" ?
Not looking at how many games/seasons he missed due to injury?
Would have easily won more. Even in seasons where he missed out by a few points but played 7-8 less games. Not just the 2010 thru 2012 seasons.
He also was always making the playoffs, resting towards the end of the season at times instead of having the coach stack his line with another center...to pad his stats at the end.
Made the finals in his 3rd season..won it in his 4th. Go check out the numbers he put up.
His career goes way beyond stats anyways, but he still has those as well to show how great hes been.
Anyone throwing the " hes only won 2 art rosses" to downplay his career...is hard to take seriously. Nobody can be that dumb to actually believe he wouldnt have won more.
Its like saying Jim Brown and Barry Sanders were avg compared to Emmitt Smith.
He absolutely would have won more if not for injuries, but look at the number of times he was outscored/beaten in PPG by at least one other player.
2008: Beaten in PPG by Ovechkin
2009: Beaten in PPG by Ovechkin and Malkin
2010: Beaten in PPG by Ovechkin and Henrik Sedin
2015: Led the NHL in PPG but lost the scoring Title to Jamie Benn. He missed five games that season. Jagr missed 19 games in 2000 and still won the Art Ross that year. Lemieux missed 24 games in 1993 but won the Art by 12 points. Crosby was at a prime age during the 2015 season.
2016: Beaten in PPG and outscored by 21 points by Kane. Beaten in PPG by Benn
2017: Beaten in PPG by McDavid
2018: Outside of the top 10 in PPG and points.
You have six seasons where he was outpaced by at least one other player and a season in which he missed only five games but lost the Art Ross to a player no one would ever claim is one of the all-time greats (Tavares outscored him as well). Some claim Ovechkin isn't a generational player and he beat Crosby in PPG three seasons in a row. Some say McDavid isn't generational and he's beaten Crosby in PPG three seasons in a row (well, that will be the case soon anyway). Kane, H. Sedin and Jamie Benn have also outpaced him.
He had a four season stretch where he could have dominated the Art Ross race from 2010-2014 but missed significant time due to injuries. Gordie Howe owned the Art Ross from 1951 to 1954. Jagr owned it from 1998 to 2001. McDavid may win at least four in a row.
You can argue Crosby > Jagr due to his Conn Smythes and leadership, but they are comparable all-time. Some believe he is better than Howe, but I think many conservative historians would rank Howe above him. He's a tremendous player and should be a top 10 player all-time if he isn't already.
However, he has no business whatsoever being in the "GOAT" conversation. None.
Hockey was very competitive when Jagr was winning his Art Rosses - from a pure talent standpoint, the argument can be made that he is better than Gretzky and Howe for the reasons one would try to argue Crosby is better than either, but I don't see anyone making that claim.
If the "continual evolution" of the sport is a thing, then there's no reason McDavid shouldn't be in the conversation for "most talented to ever play" if people want to put Crosby there based on the idea that the NHL has evolved significantly since the glory days of Gretzky, Lemieux and Jagr considering he will be the reigning two-time Art Ross winner and the NHL is supposedly the best and most talented it has ever been.