Tribute Which Half of Crosby's Career was the Best for his Legacy?

[Peat]

Kinda tangential, but I wonder what Sid's legacy looks like if they'd kept him with Geno. His numbers from what was a semi regular thing are insane. He's not losing that Art Ross in 2010 to Sedin, put it that way.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Kinda tangential, but I wonder what Sid's legacy looks like if they'd kept him with Geno. His numbers from what was a semi regular thing are insane. He's not losing that Art Ross in 2010 to Sedin, put it that way.

Always wondered this, too. People say they never really meshed but I don't agree.

I don't get too worked up about individual trophies so long as the team is far better overall for it. But the issue to me for a lot of those years is that they weren't going QUITE deep enough in Sid's prime AND he didn't get the direct line support to enable him to fill out his case a bit more. But for all Disco's faults he at least tried to get those two out on the ice together far more than we see these days.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Crosby burned so incandescently bright in the first half it was kind of unreal. Young phenoms are exciting in sports in ways that older players can’t be I think. There’s a sense of the unknown of what this brilliant player will do next. I’ve never really seen anybody do those kamikaze sliding redirect goals quite like that ever since.

In the second half he demonstrated a consistency and depth of the game - this is the best guy in hockey in every way that matters, his commitment to winning so absolute it borders on religious devotion. The generation of players who grew up watching him started to filter into the game and it revealed him to be one of the rarest of things - the positive sports role model.

Once in a lifetime player folks, enjoy it while it lasts. I’m a Penguins fan so I don’t have to choose an era, I got ‘em both and will never let go!

You said it better than I could have. It's been magical and I've enjoyed every moment of it.

Crosby's name was set in stone within a few years of his career beginning and that's when he played his best hockey, but I do think his lasting reputation will be largely sustained by the ways his game changed as a result of injuries and aging...and, more importantly, those back-to-back Cups. I don't have to choose between those eras and I won't, they're both beloved and I'm cherishing what we have while we still have it.

 

[Peat]

Always wondered this, too. People say they never really meshed but I don't agree.

I don't get too worked up about individual trophies so long as the team is far better overall for it. But the issue to me for a lot of those years is that they weren't going QUITE deep enough in Sid's prime AND he didn't get the direct line support to enable him to fill out his case a bit more. But for all Disco's faults he at least tried to get those two out on the ice together far more than we see these days.

In 09, Sid posts 2.8 p/60. He spends 366 minutes with Geno, in which time it jumps to 3.93.

In 10, Sid posts 3.37 p/60. He spends 170 minutes with Geno, in which time it jumps to 5.27.

The jump in numbers is quite spectacular for guys who didn't mesh.

And while I'm generally more of a fan of team success than individual trophies, when it comes to Sid's legacy, people will be talking about the points and trophies. Sid's legacy is, in many ways, how far short he fell of Gretzky and Lemieux in terms of dominance of their peers, and how much further beyond him McDavid can go. Which is measured in points and trophies.

Which go through the roof with the numbers he posted with Geno. But then maybe the team success goes down. Hard to say.

 

[pistolpete11]

You said it better than I could have. It's been magical and I've enjoyed every moment of it.

Crosby's name was set in stone within a few years of his career beginning and that's when he played his best hockey, but I do think his lasting reputation will be largely sustained by the ways his game changed as a result of injuries and aging...and, more importantly, those back-to-back Cups. I don't have to choose between those eras and I won't, they're both beloved and I'm cherishing what we have while we still have it.

Coward.

Spoiler

j/k

In 09, Sid posts 2.8 p/60. He spends 366 minutes with Geno, in which time it jumps to 3.93.

In 10, Sid posts 3.37 p/60. He spends 170 minutes with Geno, in which time it jumps to 5.27.

The jump in numbers is quite spectacular for guys who didn't mesh.

And while I'm generally more of a fan of team success than individual trophies, when it comes to Sid's legacy, people will be talking about the points and trophies. Sid's legacy is, in many ways, how far short he fell of Gretzky and Lemieux in terms of dominance of their peers, and how much further beyond him McDavid can go. Which is measured in points and trophies.

Which go through the roof with the numbers he posted with Geno. But then maybe the team success goes down. Hard to say.

They could have played together in the regular season, had some fun, and then centered their own lines come playoff time.

 

[Hockey 4 everyone]

You said it better than I could have. It's been magical and I've enjoyed every moment of it.

Crosby's name was set in stone within a few years of his career beginning and that's when he played his best hockey, but I do think his lasting reputation will be largely sustained by the ways his game changed as a result of injuries and aging...and, more importantly, those back-to-back Cups. I don't have to choose between those eras and I won't, they're both beloved and I'm cherishing what we have while we still have it.

this is a really good post. Having watched crosbys whole career, I do think he played his truly best hockey those first few years of his career. I personally don’t think he ever fully recovered that explosiveness after his high ankle sprain, I think it was in a game against Tampa. I think Crosby had more offensive potential coming into the league that he ever really had a chance to demonstrate, largely due to injuries.

But he’s a winner and 3 cups kinda makes up for his lack of individual hardware.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

My favorite thing about Sid, aside from him being a genuinely good dude, is that he's so fanatically driven that he can just do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, on the ice.

"Man, I'm becoming too pass-first. Let me work on my shot this summer." Rocket Richard trophy.

 

[LOGiK]

Post injury for sure.

Pre 2013-14
Scoring finishes 1,2,3,3,6
Hart 1,2,3,

Post
Scoring finishes 1,2,3,3,5 10,10
Hart 1,2,2,2,4,5

Does that matter though?
His numbers got better because he wasn't playing with dog doo as the years went along.
Early in his career it was basically just him (and geno) blazing through entire teams like he wasn't playing fair. Some of his early day stuff is just magic... he had to go wild early on and he got to have to do less as he got older and the team around him got better.

Early days for sure were way more exciting to watch.... up and coming days were way more important imo.

 

[Malkinstheman]

My favorite thing about Sid, aside from him being a genuinely good dude, is that he's so fanatically driven that he can just do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, on the ice.

"Man, I'm becoming too pass-first. Let me work on my shot this summer." Rocket Richard trophy.

Pretty remarkable that Sid won two Rocket Richard's during the career of potentially the greatest goal scorer ever. OV also hasnt missed much time to injuries which makes it crazier.

 

[Peat]

They could have played together in the regular season, had some fun, and then centered their own lines come playoff time.

Coulda been the answer. Coulda been they failed to adjust. Coulda been they were the sort of line that wins cups near single handed anyway, and maybe Staal grows into the great 2C of the age. All unknown.