SAN JOSE – Pittsburgh Penguins forward Chris Kunitz said it was never enough for Sidney Crosby to be the NHL’s top offensive star.
“Early in his career he went out and got points and did everything,” Kunitz recalled. “But that didn’t make him satisfied.”
Sidney Crosby was named winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as NHL playoff MVP after the Penguins won the Stanley Cup with a 3-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks. And that decision, by an 18-person panel made up of members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, was largely based on Crosby’s overall game in the postseason.
“He’s the all-encompassing guy, one of the greatest players ever to play the game because of how he can adapt and how hard he works at everything,” Kunitz said.
Crosby’s 19 points in the playoffs didn’t lead his team in scoring. He didn’t have a goal during the Stanley Cup Final, although he had two assists in the clinching game. But Crosby was beastly in every game the Penguins played.
“I think he is one of the really great leaders who goes unnoticed because of the points he gets,” Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said.
The Smythe was the only trophy Crosby needed to complete his collection.
Crosby previously won the Art Ross Trophy twice as the regular-season points champion (2007 and 2014) and the Hart Trophy twice (2007 and 2014) as league MVP and the Ted Lindsay Award as players' MVP three times (2007, 2013 and 2014).
He also has won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal scorer in 2010.
The Penguins’ Stanley Cup was Crosby’s second.
“I think the best way I can describe it is I have a greater appreciation this time around,” Crosby said. “At a young age, going back-to-back like we did, you just think it's going to be an annual thing. With the core we have, you think everyone's going to stay together. The team's not going to change. But it does. That's kind of the reality of playing hockey. There's turnover.”
But the only change in Crosby is that he does more today than he did in 2009. He does more of the heavy lifting. He is a strong faceoff artist, and he’s a feisty competitor, more in the Steve Yzerman mold. He trades slashes with opposing players and he will drive you off the puck with his shoulder.
"He wears the 'C' for a reason,” Penguins rookie Conor Sheary said. “He's our leader. If he's not scoring goals or putting up points, he's our guy in the locker room.”
