It's Crosby's Time To Shine

Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins

May 18, 12:23 PM | Hype this story!

Throughout the majority of the playoffs — and the second half of the season, for that matter — Sidney Crosby has taken a backseat to Evgeni Malkin.

It’s not that Crosby has been playing bad. He’s not. But he also is not playing dominant style fans are accustomed to seeing.

Some have said he doesn’t like playing second fiddle to Malkin. Others have suggested his ankle is still bothering him, even after missing a significant amount of time during the regular season.

Whatever the problem is, the Philadelphia Flyers just might have awoken a monster Thursday with their constant attention given to the young phenom.

Jason Smith was heard at one point yelling at Crosby: “You whine after every play!”

Mike Richards and his cronies hit, slashed, tripped, etc. Crosby at every chance — especially late in the game.

And the fans booed and taunted him during each and every one of his shifts.

Don’t take this as complaining on my part. It’s far from it.

In fact, I encourage it.

You see, when Crosby gets mad, he kicks it into a whole new gear, one that makes “typical” Crosby look pedestrian.

When Thursday’s game ended with a series of scrums, some of which included Richards and Crosby, I thought to myself, “Haven’t the Flyers learned anything from their experiences with Number 87?”

Crosby has had two days to think about the end of that game, and you better believe all the attention he received has been channeled.

This afternoon, when the Penguins and Flyers take the ice at Mellon Arena, we’ll see exactly where he channeled it, and I have a feeling the Flyers won’t be happy with the results.

Crosby didn’t want Game Five, and neither did his teammates.

When the young centerman is fired up, his team follows in pursuit.

So, when Crosby and his crew come out flying and take their play to a whole new level, you know who to thank (or blame).

Comments

  1. Ashley Gallant

    May 18, 01:02 PM

    You know what was something else that I noticed in games 3 and 4 – not only did Flyer fans boo Crosby every time he was on the ice (nothing new), they spent a good part of the game chanting ‘Crosby sucks’. It just struck me as a bit odd that a fanbase would spend so much time and effort putting down one player on the opposing team than cheering for their own team. If I was Crosby, hearing that would only fire me up to really rub it in the faces of those fans – something, as you said, that often happens when the Pens play against Philly.

  2. teri

    May 18, 01:56 PM

    The only think about Sid that sucks for the Flyers fans is that he doesn’t play for the Flyers. As for resenting taking a backseat to Gino- puleeeze. Sid is not prone to fits of egoism.

    But piss him off- I really would like to see a poster of Kitty Foreman (That 70’s Show) where she is telling (not Eric and Hyde) players from other teams: “How many times do I have to tell you…..DON’T POKE THE BEAR!” Yes, Sid responds well to being mistreated.

    So Philly- keep at it- you’ll REALLY piss him off and then you will be sorry!

    teri

  3. Matt Bodenschatz

    May 18, 09:13 PM

    Ashley, very interesting point. I never really thought of it that way. I think it just further proves how good he really is. You don’t hear fans booing Adam Hall or chanting “Hall Sucks.” That’s because he is a dime a dozen player. Crosby is elite, and, as Teri said, he’s a player every team wishes it had.

    Teri, I’m with you. Crosby could care less what role he serves on his team, so long as it’s winning. He seems, to me, like a Saku Koivu, who leads his team despite not being the best player. Now, keep in mind, I’m not suggesting Crosby is at Koivu’s skill level, just that they have a similar mentality.

    Oh, and by the way, Crosby finished with “just” two points, but he had a spectacular game, as did Hossa, Dupuis, Malkin, Malone and Fleury. I can’t say enough about the team effort!

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