First Call: Sidney Crosby is the Michael Jordan of hockey, former Penguins star says

Let’s hope we are a long way off from “The Last Skate” when it comes to Penguins star Sidney Crosby.

But in the wake of the successful ESPN “The Last Dance” documentary about Michael Jordan, Sportsnet.ca asked Penguins assistant coach Mark Recchi for a hockey comparison to Michael Jordan.

And he said Sidney Crosby.

“Sidney is probably about as close as you’re gonna get,” Recchi said. “Except he’s not as confrontational as Michael Jordan was.”

Recchi knows. He’s not only a coach for Crosby, but he’s also a former teammate.

Recchi added: “Sid’s work ethic is the hardest. The teammates have no choice but to follow.

“Our practices are unbelievably fast. When we get new guys in, they’re not used to practicing at that pace, and it takes them about three weeks to a month to catch up to that pace, and Sid leads the way every day,”

Like Jordan, Crosby has a maniacal desire to improve.

“After practice, he tries to get better at something every day. It’s almost, like, lead by example: ‘Guys, you gotta stick with me and follow along and do the things I’m doing and we’re gonna get there.’ ”

Not bad praise considering Recchi shared a locker room with someone who currently writes his checks and used to be a teammate wearing No. 66 back in the early 1990s while Jordan was dominating on the hard court.

That quote dovetailed nicely with a feature Sportsnet.ca published about Crosby over the weekend. Author Sonny Sachdeva compiled a long list of interviews with Crosby’s linemates dating back to his early junior hockey days to talk about what made him as good as he is.

I found the way Sachdeva introduced the piece to be an excellent way to describe Crosby.

“Even after a decade-and-a-half of watching that greatness play out in the NHL, there’s still something about the Penguins captain’s presence that’s difficult to quantify. Ask a room full of hockey lovers what it is that makes No. 87 great, and you might get 10 different answers. There’s a nuance to his talent that can be tough to parse.

“It’s the way Crosby can receive a pass at top speed regardless of where it happens to arrive, catching it in his skates or knocking it out of the air. It’s him wading into the corner with the puck and somehow grinding and dancing his way back into open space with it still on his stick. It’s the backhands, the deflections, the edgework.”

That’s an extremely well-crafted way of saying the sum of Crosby’s game is somehow even greater than its considerably gifted parts.

When I think about Wayne Gretzky, I think of his vision, hands and poise. When I think of Mario Lemieux, I think of his physical dominance and goal-scoring acumen from any part of the rink. When I think of Jaromir Jagr, I think of his incredible reach, leg drive and handle in traffic.

When I think of Crosby, I think of all those far more subtle traits that Sachdeva describes. They are less daunting to picture in the mind’s eye. Yet they manifest into the talent that Crosby has become. His game is a nexus of God-given gifts and desperately honed skill.

And that tone is evident in all the quotes from his linemates mined for the story.

Click the link. It’s a good read.