Sidney Crosby's teammates know he's a much better player now than when he was a rookie
Thursday, October 04, 2007
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Sidney Crosby's teammates have watched him pile up 222 points in his first two years in the NHL and establish himself as the finest player in the world before his 20th birthday.
Stands to reason, then, that they would have some outrageous expectations for him during the season that begins when the Penguins visit Carolina at 7:08 p.m. tomorrow.
Perhaps that Crosby will purge every reference to Wayne Gretzky from the record book before the Christmas break. Or that he'll skip the team charters and fly to road games under his own power. If so, they are not letting on.
While the consensus in the Penguins locker room is that Crosby is the best -- and getting better -- no one is willing to predict what the statistical payoff for him will be in 2007-08.
The closest anyone came after practice at Mellon Arena yesterday was when defenseman Ryan Whitney volunteered that the 120 points Crosby earned while claiming his scoring title last season won't go down as the highest total of his career.
Real gutsy prediction, that. Kind of like suggesting that the warmest day in March won't be the highest the temperature gets before the calendar year ends.
When he was pressed for specifics about the number of goals and assists he thinks Crosby could generate, Whitney balked.
"I'd definitely say he could put up more [than last season]," he said. "But, at the same time, he could have a better year and put up fewer."
Right winger Colby Armstrong also declined to pinpoint any statistical objectives for Crosby, although he did frame his refusal in an intriguing way.
"You never know what you're going to get out of him, greatness-wise," Armstrong said. "He does something crazy every game."
And it generally leads to a goal for the Penguins. But even though Crosby is the cornerstone of this team -- a distinction formalized when he was named captain this summer -- his teammates recognize that it would be folly to expect him to single-handedly carry them through 82 games.
Some Penguins teams in the past were guilty at times of leaning too heavily on all-world talents such as Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, but the reality of the NHL is that one player, no matter how extraordinary, cannot do enough to guarantee success for his club.
"I think Sid knows what he brings to our team," Armstrong said. "Everyone knows. But, at the same time, everyone in here knows that we have a job to do."
Crosby grasps that better than most. Much as he embraces the challenges that come with being his team's designated leader and top player, Crosby understands that contributions must come from every corner of the depth chart.
"I think we realize that if we're going to win, it's going to take everyone," he said. "Not one guy, not two, not three are going to be the reason our team wins.
"That's how you win consistently, have everyone contributing. There's no doubt your big players have to be big, but everyone has to contribute."
Crosby treats points as a byproduct of his game, not its primary objective, so it's no surprise that he has not set statistical objectives. If he surpasses his personal-bests of 39 goals and 84 assists, it won't be because he entered the season with those numbers, or any others, in his crosshairs.
"There's no point," he said. "I don't think it really achieves anything."
Crosby broke into the NHL in 2005 as the most-celebrated young player in years and lived up to every bit of the hype. Two years later, he's stronger, better defensively and, most important, as motivated as ever to improve every facet of his game.
That's why he does not hesitate when asked if he feels he can be better this season than he was in 2006-07.
"I do," he said. "I do every year. I'm going to try to learn as I go, and if I'm learning, there's no reason I shouldn't be."
First published on October 4, 2007 at 12:00 am
Dave Molinari can be reached at DWMolinari@Yahoo.com.
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