{"id":67901,"date":"2025-08-08T15:38:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T15:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/67901\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T15:38:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T15:38:07","slug":"where-does-sidney-crosby-rank-among-the-nhls-all-time-greats-penguins-mailbag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/67901\/","title":{"rendered":"Where does Sidney Crosby rank among the NHL\u2019s all-time greats?: Penguins mailbag"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Part 2 of my monthly Pittsburgh Penguins mailbag, which is dedicated to Sidney Crosby\u2019s birthday week. Part 1 is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve reached the true dog days of the summer, but the good news is that opening night is now less than two months away, if you can believe that.<\/p>\n

Thanks for all the great questions.<\/p>\n

Away we go.<\/p>\n

If Sid continues his brilliance for a few more seasons into his 40s, where do you think that rates him among all-time greats? Not even the other greats played at this level late into their careers. \u2014 @DDD20022014<\/p>\n

No question, Crosby is operating at a higher level at his age than most all-time greats do. This is partly a compliment to him and partly a sign of the times. Nutrition and training have changed the game. In recent years, legends such as LeBron James, Tom Brady, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have dominated their sports while in the neighborhood of 40. That\u2019s not a coincidence.<\/p>\n

Crosby, of course, has a drive that\u2019s unique.<\/p>\n

All-time rankings are great for debates, but the problem with them is that there is no right or wrong answer. It\u2019s all what you think, what you make of it, how you interpret the numbers, what your eyes tell you. I\u2019m a firm believer that Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr are the greatest hockey players who ever lived. I don\u2019t know what Crosby would have to do to crack the top three, but it would be tough. He won\u2019t catch Gretzky\u2019s numbers, and he won\u2019t dazzle with pure talent the way Lemieux and Orr did.<\/p>\n

That said, I\u2019ve got Sid at No. 4, ahead of Gordie Howe, Jaromir Jagr and Alex Ovechkin.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big believer that, a decade or two from now, we will say that the five greatest players of all time are Lemieux, Gretzky, Orr, Crosby and Connor McDavid. The order you put them in is up to you, but I think there will be a clear distinction after those five, with all due respect to the other all-time greats we\u2019ve discussed.<\/p>\n

What is your personal favorite goal that Crosby has scored in a Penguins uniform? \u2014 @Haugh412<\/p>\n

For pure drama, I\u2019ll never forget the classic \u201cf\u2014 yeah\u201d goal<\/a> against the Islanders in 2011, when he returned from his year-long concussion absence.<\/p>\n

On a personal level, he scored a great goal against the Islanders in Game 5 of their 2013 first-round series.<\/p>\n

That was the first time my oldest son, Colton, was ever in attendance for a Penguins game. He was all of 10 months old, but he can always say he was in the building for that goal.<\/p>\n

If the Lemieux group buys the Penguins, does that all but guarantee Crosby is not only a Penguin for life, but that ownership is in his future? \u2014 @MikeFitzPGH<\/p>\n

I could give you a lengthy answer here, and I could give all the warnings about how far away we are from this becoming a reality.<\/p>\n

But if this were to happen, sure, I could imagine Crosby being an investor at some point. He\u2019s got the financial qualifications. It wouldn\u2019t be bad PR. He\u2019d be a firm but fair owner. It all makes sense.<\/p>\n

In your opinion, is there a player in the NHL right now that could rival 87\u2019s career by the end of that player\u2019s career? \u2014 @michaelthughes<\/p>\n

Well, sure. McDavid is the only answer. He\u2019s been the best player in the world for about seven years now, and his scoring totals exceed Crosby\u2019s, at least on a year-by-year average, through 10 years of his career. Crosby is the more decorated winner and the more complete player. But McDavid may well win a championship, and you could argue he\u2019s a more dominant offensive player than Crosby.<\/p>\n

In the end, Crosby and McDavid are both top five all-time. But if McDavid finally gets a Cup win, many will rank him ahead of Crosby historically when it\u2019s all said and done. You can\u2019t diminish what McDavid has done so far. He\u2019s an all-time great. So is Crosby, of course.<\/p>\n

Do you think Sid shares some of the same mystic\/enigmatic qualities of Mario? Always felt like this was a parallel between them. \u2014 @The_GreekHammer<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think anyone could ever consider Sid enigmatic in any manner, so I guess the answer is no. But I thoroughly enjoyed the question.<\/p>\n

Might need some more time to digest this one. Ha ha.<\/p>\n

Which Penguins team, on paper, did you think Crosby was going to lead to another Stanley Cup win? And would he have if Jarome Iginla played the right side? \u2014 @Rutsburgh<\/p>\n

Indeed, the 2013 Penguins were the best, on paper, of the Crosby era. What happened against the Bruins in the Eastern Conference final remains confounding.<\/p>\n

But I wouldn\u2019t blame Dan Bylsma too much for putting Jarome Iginla on the left wing. Was it unwise? Sure. Is that why the Penguins lost that series? Of course not. This drives me nuts. I don\u2019t know why this has become the narrative.<\/p>\n

The Penguins scored two goals in four games in that series. Iginla playing out of position didn\u2019t have that much of an impact. (And for the 100th time, Crosby didn\u2019t want to play with Iginla. He was at his best that season while playing with Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis. James Neal was a sensational right winger for Evgeni Malkin. So, you either put Iginla at left wing or played him on the third line, neither of which made much sense.)<\/p>\n

My 2-year-old kid has a soundbox to fall asleep to that I can program things on. Loves Sid and the Pens. What\u2019s the best game or broadcast that I can download and put on the soundbox for him to fall asleep to? Best Sid game or best Mike Lange called game? \u2014 @tankk25<\/p>\n

If simply sleeping is the desire, you could pick between dozens of 2-1 losses in New Jersey. I believe I\u2019ve covered them all. Just dreadfully boring.<\/p>\n

But if Mike Lange is the desire, and it\u2019s a good one, there are lots of YouTube videos of his greatest calls. You can\u2019t go wrong with any of them.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more important to Sid: retiring a Penguin or playing in the Stanley Cup Final one more time? If the latter, at what point would he agree to be moved? This year, next? When he knows it\u2019s his last season? \u2014 @genebromberg<\/p>\n

I know this isn\u2019t the answer you\u2019re looking for, but I think he\u2019d like to return to the Stanley Cup Final as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. And I think that\u2019s all he really thinks about.<\/p>\n

What do you think Sid thinks of the rebuild so far? \u2014 @GoPenquins<\/p>\n

I think he\u2019s frustrated and wants the Penguins to be good right now instead of a few years from now. That\u2019s my sense.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s against Kyle Dubas or anything like that. I just think he hates to lose and this isn\u2019t a fun time for him.<\/p>\n

How involved in the operations is Crosby really? \u2014 @AmyKirschner75<\/p>\n

Not at all. He really isn\u2019t. He has the power to flex his muscles if he wants when it comes to front-office decisions, but he doesn\u2019t. Mario and Jagr did. He\u2019s just not wired that way.<\/p>\n

Will the national media ever stop trying to put Crosby in another sweater? \u2014 @jmadden34<\/p>\n

Probably not. People sure are tired of seeing him play in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m exhausted by the topic.<\/p>\n

When are you going to stand up for Sid and start telling the major networks that Sid isn\u2019t leaving? \u2014 @gregcook09<\/p>\n

Thank you for presuming I have the power to get ESPN and Sportsnet to stop talking about it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll make sure to have a word with them later today.<\/p>\n

How happy will Sid be when McDavid and Gavin McKenna join him in Pittsburgh after next season? \u2014 @Yinzerporn<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure he\u2019d be delighted. I wouldn\u2019t mind it either. It\u2019s good for my line of work when the Penguins are interesting, and I think that\u2019s the kind of trio that would get people talking just a bit.<\/p>\n

Thanks for all the questions, everyone, and thanks for reading, as always.<\/p>\n

I still suspect this offseason will have another interesting transaction or two before training camp arrives in mid-September. I\u2019ll have you covered.<\/p>\n

(Photo: Steph Chambers \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to Part 2 of my monthly Pittsburgh Penguins mailbag, which is dedicated to Sidney Crosby\u2019s birthday week.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67902,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,1790,99],"class_list":["post-67901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-pittsburgh-penguins","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}