Tim Benz: Sidney Crosby's arrival was Pittsburgh's most consequential sports event of the past 20 years

Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Penguins drafting Sidney Crosby. You could argue (in fact, I think I will right now) that Crosby’s arrival was the single most consequential event in Pittsburgh sports over the past two decades.

If the Penguins don’t win the lottery to draft Crosby, we wouldn’t have seen three Stanley Cups over these past 20 years, unless you think Evgeni Malkin could’ve won them as the team’s best player all these years.

Frankly, I’m not certain he would’ve led them to one.

Without Crosby, PPG Paints Arena wouldn’t have been built as early as it was. Without Crosby, the Penguins might be holding out hope for Gavin McKenna in Kansas City or Las Vegas right now.

That’s what I mean by “consequential.” I’m not just saying “greatest moments,” “most memorable games” or “best athletes.” I’m talking about events in Pittsburgh that have had continuing ripple effects, altered the course of history or withstood the test of time of seismic events that force you to never forget them.

In my mind, Crosby’s arrival in Pittsburgh tops that list over the past 20 years. Ben Roethlisberger had already been drafted. The two new stadiums had already been built. Mario Lemieux had already purchased the Penguins and returned to the ice, and Jaromir Jagr had long since been traded.

But in the years since Crosby was drafted by the Penguins, no event has been as important as that one for the reasons I listed above.

THIS DATE IN 2005: The @penguins select Sidney Crosby first overall in the 2005 #NHLDraft. The center from Rimouski of the QMJHL goes on to win three Stanley Cups and 12 individual awards with Pittsburgh. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/XVhyWvRWKS

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) July 30, 2025

What are the other considerations? Let’s run through a few:

• The NHL opens 2005-06 with a salary cap: Technically, the lockout ended a week before Crosby was drafted. But you can’t tell one story without the other. If the lockout doesn’t end in 2005 — and end with a hard cap in place — the Penguins wouldn’t have survived, and who knows how the NHL would be operating today.

• The Steelers win Super Bowl XL: The Steelers would win another one in 2008 and would attend a third in 2010. The Steelers probably get to one or two more regardless of winning in Detroit over the Seahawks.

However, that victory finally allowed Steelers fans who weren’t old enough to remember the Super Bowls of the 1970s to enjoy a championship. Plus, securing that trophy finally validated all the “close but no cigar” pain of the Bill Cowher era.

• The Pirates break the 20-year losing-season drought: The “Blackout” night, Johnny Cueto dropping the ball, and winning a playoff game were all fantastic. The Wild Card victory that evening over the Reds allowed the 2013 team to stay together and at least extend the window of competitiveness for two more years of playoff baseball.

But to get there first, the act of ending the pain of 20 years of losing on Sept. 9 in Texas was monumental for a generation of Pirates fans who had never even seen a winning season.

• The Penguins win the 2009 Stanley Cup: That victory immediately stamped the importance of Crosby’s arrival relatively early in his time as a Penguin. Also, without the ‘09 Cup, I don’t know that there is ever a ‘16 or ‘17 Cup.

Crosby probably gets at least one here eventually. But reaching the finals in ‘08 and winning in ‘09 allowed general manager Ray Shero (and eventually Jim Rutherford) and Penguins ownership to keep the core together as long as it did so that it was still around to be the engine for 2016 and 2017.

Maybe that group would have been broken it up before that if Crosby and company hadn’t proven they were champions and earned the faith they could do it again through the series of disappointments that occurred between 2010 and 2015.

• Bill Cowher retires; Mike Tomlin hired as Steelers coach: Cowher’s surprisingly early exit from coaching opened the door for a coaching search for the first time since 1992.

Tomlin was hired, won a Super Bowl in his second year and went to another in his fourth.

Since then, the franchise has never had a losing season, but has also failed to win a playoff game in all but two of the last 14 seasons.

We have debated for 18 years the good and the bad of Tomlin’s resume. What isn’t debatable is the long-reaching impact of those events.

• Steelers win Super Bowl XLIII: After Crosby’s arrival, this game might be second on the list for three reasons.

First is the game’s place in the history of the sport itself. It was one of the greatest Super Bowls ever, and it boasted two of the greatest plays in Super Bowl History.

Second, it gave the Steelers six trophies. So even with the ensuing wave of championships the Patriots would put up in the latter half of Tom Brady’s career, the Steelers still at least remain tied with New England all-time for most championships in the Super Bowl era.

Finally, that win secured Tomlin’s job for the next 17 seasons. If Santonio Holmes doesn’t catch that ball, I’m not sure if Mike Tomlin survives all the way to 2025, even if every other season ends exactly the same way that it has.

Eh, who am I kidding? “Never had a losing season, n’at!”

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Of course, “consequential” doesn’t always mean “good.” There have been plenty of negative consequential events as well.

• Bob Nutting assumes ownership of the Pirates in 2007.

• The Pirates botched regime change after the 2019 season.

• Ben Roethlisberger injures his elbow in 2019.

• Sidney Crosby’s concussion in 2011.

• The hiring of Ron Hextall in 2021.

• The Pirates’ failure to build off the 2015 season.

• The Steelers draft Kenny Pickett.

• The entire 2018 Steelers season (Antonio Brown’s meltdown. Le’Veon Bell never reports. The Steelers blow a 7-2-1 start, and miss the playoffs in Roethlisberger’s last pre-injury season).

See! You folks always tell me I’m too negative. I never even mentioned any of those.

Anyway, discuss among yourselves.

Listen: Pierre McGuire remembers Sidney Crosby’s arrival in Pittsburgh, the end of the 2024-25 lockout and discusses potential Penguins trades