As Sidney Crosby nears 500th goal, defining his scoring style is hard to do
As the All-Star break ends and the Pittsburgh Penguins get back on the ice, Sidney Crosby continues his quest for his 500th career goal. He’s currently sitting on 498.
During the All-Star break, I gathered some quotes and spoke with a few people that have played with Crosby or covered his career, and I asked them for the best descriptions of Sidney Crosby as a goal scorer.
Teammate Kris Letang: “Different angles. He’s on one knee on the ice. Real hockey I.Q. He sees things we don’t necessarily see. He’s able to change his angle. Quick release that can fool the goalie also. It’s a combination of a lot of things.”
Penguins radio analyst Phil Bourque: “Backhand shelf. There’s not many that can shoot the backhander like him.
“And he scores all different ways. That’s the other thing. You can’t pigeonhole him and say he scored most of his goals in front of the net. Or he scored most of his goals off the rush. Or he scored most of his goals with a slapper from long range. He scored so many different ways, and he’s got so many different dimensions to his game.”
Hall of Fame play-by-play man Mike Lange: “Creativity. The ability to score in many different ways. Successful at it.
“What he can do with his stick and his body and his mind.
“The ability to read the game and pick up nuances. I don’t know if there is anybody better in the history of the game at picking up loose pucks in situations than Sidney Crosby. Traffic jams around the net. Behind the net. That is his strong suit to me. He’s got goalie eyes. To find the puck on a consistent basis.”
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Former teammate and NHL analyst Colby Armstrong: “That little chop deflection at the side of the net. He can deflect it between his legs. He can chop it short side. He can chop it far side. He can put it where he wants it. The best understanding of his stick of anyone in the league. Angle play. Exact touch. No one else does that.
“He scores it all the time.”
Penguins television analyst Bob Errey: “Improvisational. Finds a way. Takes whatever is available.
“He grew up with that straight blade. He scores from the knee because he can elevate the puck with that flat blade. He’s got a better backhand than other players. He gets down to one knee to get leverage to raise the puck. That’s why he goes down.
“You don’t go down to shoot it along the ice. You go down to shoot it under the bar.”
Former teammate Ryan Malone: “I think of that straight stick. It suits his game. I picture his one (goal) his rookie year. Falling down, he went bar down, backhand, against the Coyotes. It’s a weapon.
“He makes you think about math out there. The angles, the little things that he does. Maybe his favorite spot is standing back door on the post, the puck seems to find him there.
“He is a play or two ahead of everybody out there. That signature tip in between the legs with that stick out behind him, those angles. Very few guys can do that because of the stick. Most guys have a big toe-curve now. He thinks about the game at a different level.”
Former teammate and NHL analyst Mike Rupp: “If you draw a line on the right side of the ice from the post out to the faceoff dot, that’s where I think of Sid. That’s where he has all of those open-faced deflections. He has his patented drop to one knee one-timer. I always felt that was his primary (goal scoring spot).
“But he’s not just in one place. He’s everywhere. Even behind the net. I mean, how many goals has this guy banked off of goaltenders?
“He is always one step ahead, mentally, for what he is seeing offensively.”
Brian Metzer of the Penguins Radio Network joins Tim Benz to talk about the Penguins versus Bruins as the two teams come out of the All-Star break Tuesday night. They also dive into potential traded candidates, the All-Star weekend, and Sidney Crosby’s quest for goal No. 500.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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