How good is Sidney Crosby?

[Drak]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Congratulations. Excellent refutation of the active imagination of a 12-year-old.

They could be brothers. Some similarities for sure.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Drak

They could be brothers. Some similarities for sure.

Especially in their talent and on-ice playing style.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

This was a reputation not performance based pick as the performance on the score sheet wasn't there. Not a single goal in the finals for example. I get that he was a good leader and played a good two way game but they should call that the Samuel Pahlsson 2-way playoff MVP award.

Lol. Assists, scoring chances, possession, leadership be did it all.

Your insistence on going against the grain has you way off base here

[PepsiFree]

I don't even like Crosby and I can recognise how completely dominant he was every time he was on the ice. The MVP is for the most valuable player, what's more valuable than a player that dominates the other team's best players during every single shift?

[DuffMan]

I don't understand the hate for Sid.
I think he's an awesome player, and a professional

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

I don't understand the hate for Sid.
I think he's an awesome player, and a professional

I don't have a hate on for him, but I do find he is a whiner. Always beaking off to the refs yet does the exact same things to others when he has the chance. I know many players are like this but I hold him to a higher standard and in that regard he fails my test.

[Hockey_Ninja]

Sooo I think most people will agree that he's at least Yzerman/Sakic tier by now right?

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by Hockey_Ninja

Sooo I think most people will agree that he's at least Yzerman/Sakic tier by now right?

Maybe even higher. He has more hardware. Only one Cup behind Yzerman

Definately ahead of Toews though.

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

I don't have a hate on for him, but I do find he is a whiner. Always beaking off to the refs yet does the exact same things to others when he has the chance. I know many players are like this but I hold him to a higher standard and in that regard he fails my test.

I find this to be the parrot effect of people having said this ad nauseam early in his career (when like Gaudreau he was probably one of the most hacked at players in the last 20 years) but in the last few years I don't think it's true at all.

Especially in these playoffs, he was one cool customer. Constantly skated away from guys trying to get him off his game with zero effect.

[CliffFletcher]

Good to see voters didn't go for the obvious Kessel choice. The fact the Penguins rolled three scoring lines really helped Kessel, and Crosby was given a lot more defensive responsibility.

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Whenever the discussion of Gretzky/Lemieux comes up, I feel obliged to mention that Wayne Gretzky doesn't need a single one of his league leading 894 goals to be the league's all-time leading scorer.

Gretzky had the better career. Lemieux was the better player. If I'm playing a game 7, I take peak Lemieux over peak Gretzky, no question.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Oh, come on. Sammy Paulsson??

Unlike Pahlsson, Sidney Crosby was dominant every single time he was on the ice. He was regularly matched against the Thornton line, and completely neutered them. He spent most of his time in the offensive zone creating opportunities and skating circles around the Sharks. Yes. Other players appeared more frequently on the scoresheet, but the Penguins do not win the 2016 Stanley Cup without Sidney Crosby.

Maybe you forgot the 2007 playoffs but Paulsson was a beast for the Ducks.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Lol. Assists, scoring chances, possession, leadership be did it all.

Your insistence on going against the grain has you way off base here

He was a total non-factor in too many games for me to jump on the wagon. I don't go against the grain I simply don't get emotional about players.

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

He was a total non-factor in too many games for me to jump on the wagon.

This just isn't true. There wasn't one game where his 2-way play and possession / play-driving in the offensive zone equated to his being a "non-factor". Especially when he was on the ice for a third of each game +.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

He was a total non-factor in too many games for me to jump on the wagon. I don't go against the grain I simply don't get emotional about players.

So who did you pick?

[Flamenspiel]

I've always been a Sid fan, saw him score the winner in Vancouver 2010 after Luongo almost gave it away and he outclasses every player of this generation. Thornton was so preoccupied staying with Sid that he forgot about his own game.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Hockey_Ninja

Sooo I think most people will agree that he's at least Yzerman/Sakic tier by now right?

Toews and Kopitar are in that tier by now.

Crosby is a tier above.

[icecube]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Toews and Kopitar are in that tier by now.

Crosby is a tier above.

Close but no cigar. Sakic and Yzerman were more skilled than Toews or Kopitar.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

So who did you pick?

To be clear there wasn't a performance for the ages from anyone in a Penguins uniform. I watched almost (hard to catch everything in the first round) every single game of the playoffs and IMO Couture, Burns, and Pavelski were probably the best three players in the first three rounds by a longshot but for various reasons (stage fright, Penguins, ran out of gas, etc) all really struggled in the finals.

A lot of individuals for the Penguins stepped up from time to time as Bonino was huge at times as was Kessel when Malkin and Crosby were held in check but from the first round right to the finals Matt Murray was consistently very good never losing two games in a row. I don't think they get past Tampa Bay or Washington if Fleury is starting those series. I realize the politics involved influenced giving it to the marketable big name over the "out of nowhere" rookie.

[wittynickname]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

I don't have a hate on for him, but I do find he is a whiner. Always beaking off to the refs yet does the exact same things to others when he has the chance. I know many players are like this but I hold him to a higher standard and in that regard he fails my test.

Did you actually watch the Penguins in the playoffs this season? That is bar none the biggest change. Crosby was the consummate professional in these playoffs. He skated away from slashes and crosschecks and Joe Thornton ripping his helmet off, without even a single glance in Thornton's direction. Even last night, there was a shift when Thornton was just going in on Crosby, crosscheck after crosscheck, and not a single reaction out of Crosby.

Sid took a single 2 minute penalty in these playoffs. He was intensely focused and disciplined, and the team followed suit, especially in the SCF. The Pens all followed his example and skated away from scrums, didn't retaliate, etc. This team in years past fell apart with a little bit of pushing and shoving (keep in mind the Pens/Flyers series from like 5 years ago), but this year you had Sid's ability to move above the BS, the rest of the team followed his lead.

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

To be clear there wasn't a performance for the ages from anyone in a Penguins uniform. I watched almost (hard to catch everything in the first round) every single game of the playoffs and IMO Couture, Burns, and Pavelski were probably the best three players in the first three rounds by a longshot but for various reasons (stage fright, Penguins, ran out of gas, etc) all really struggled in the finals.

A lot of individuals for the Penguins stepped up from time to time as Bonino was huge at times as was Kessel when Malkin and Crosby were held in check but from the first round right to the finals Matt Murray was consistently very good never losing two games in a row. I don't think they get past Tampa Bay or Washington if Fleury is starting those series. I realize the politics involved influenced giving it to the marketable big name over the "out of nowhere" rookie.

While I agree completely that the Penguins don't make it past Tampa or Washington with Fleury in net--Murray wasn't the better goaltender either against Tampa or San Jose. He made saves when he needed to, absolutely, but he didn't need to be stellar. He just had to make the right saves at the right time, and he certainly let in a few ugly ones also. Now if SJ came back an won this series? Jones should have that CS, hands down. He did everything but score for the Sharks.

Murray was just as solid as he needed to be, but he didn't need to be perfect.

Without an insanely dominant effort from a single player, with a team win like this, it makes sense that the MVP goes to the biggest name. Again, there is absolutely a case to be made for Murray, Kessel or Letang, but Crosby winning it is certainly not a poor choice.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

To be clear there wasn't a performance for the ages from anyone in a Penguins uniform. I watched almost (hard to catch everything in the first round) every single game of the playoffs and IMO Couture, Burns, and Pavelski were probably the best three players in the first three rounds by a longshot but for various reasons (stage fright, Penguins, ran out of gas, etc) all really struggled in the finals.

A lot of individuals for the Penguins stepped up from time to time as Bonino was huge at times as was Kessel when Malkin and Crosby were held in check but from the first round right to the finals Matt Murray was consistently very good never losing two games in a row. I don't think they get past Tampa Bay or Washington if Fleury is starting those series. I realize the politics involved influenced giving it to the marketable big name over the "out of nowhere" rookie.

You had me until that last sentence. Pretty clear that there wasn't any one obvious choice, but to conclude that it was basically given to Crosby because of his name, is a stretch. Unheralded goalies can win it, and sometime do, even in a losing cause. I would have no problem with Murray winning, I just think Crosby edges him out.