Crosby's Goal Scoring Binge

Much has been made of late about Sidney Crosby's goal scoring prowess. Dating back to last year's playoffs, Crosby has scored 24 goals in 37 games. Pro-rate that over an 82-game season and you're looking at a 53 goal season.

So much for Sid not being an "elite" goal scorer.

It's also worth mentioning that the Pens' Captain is four-for-four in the shoot-out this year, helping Pittsburgh reach a 4-0 mark in their contests that have gone beyond the extra session.

I never quite understood why so many people thought Sid the Kid would never be one of the top goal scorers in the league. This is a 22-year old who garnered 120 goals in 121 regular season junior games, and notched 39 tallies in his rookie reason.

I remember reading this article by Ken Campbell of The Hockey News last December, which explained that Crosby isn't, nor would he ever be, a top-end goal scorer.

"The concern I have for Crosby is that he may never emerge as a truly elite goal-scorer in the NHL. In fact, instead of taking his goal-scoring up a notch as his career progresses, Crosby appears to be faltering more in that department as each season goes by. Through the early part of this season, the dip in scoring for Crosby has been as precipitous as it has been mysterious. His goal-drought to date has reached a career-high nine games."

Campbell also pointed out Crosby's then less than stellar faceoff abilities.

The guy was 21 at the time!

It is important to remember the age of some of these guys, especially Sidney Crosby. To think Crosby wouldn't improve his faceoff and goal-scoring abilities at that point in his career was downright foolish.

This year, Crosby finally made the switch over to a composite stick, and also gave the once nearly straight blade he used a little more curve. Has that made a difference? Certainly.

But the biggest reason Crosby's goal-scoring prowess has been on the rise is because of his mind-set, which took form during last year's playoffs.

Look at the situation logically. One, he's playing with Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz. Kunitz went well over thirty games without a goal on Crosby's line. That's mind-boggling. Two, he was using what amounted to be a mini hockey stick. Seriously, short stick, wood blade, straight curve. The fact that he was even able to shoot as well as he could is impressive.

And remember, he led the playoffs in goals last season with that very stick, so explaining his goal scoring for this season using his new stick as the sole reasoning is off base.

If you look at Crosby's maturation process, he went about almost everything the right way.

1. Rookie season - put up points and learn what it takes to play in the NHL. Check.
2. Sophmore season - carry team into the playoffs. Check.
3. Third season - work on defensive play, carry team deep into the playoffs. Check.
4. Fourth season - work on faceoffs, take next step in playoffs: Stanley Cup. Check.
5. Fifth season - work on shooting. Check. Stanley Cup? TBD.

Crosby's learned to do things that took many great players years. Did Steve Yzerman learn how to play a quality defensive game at the age of 21? Not even close. How are Ovechkin's defensive abilities compared to Crosby's? Clear edge to Sid. How about Malkin improving on his faceoffs? Laughable.

Crosby's a pro's pro who works very hard on crafting and improving each aspect of his game.

Sometimes it's important to take a step back and realize what Crosby has accomplished.