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What Is Wrong With Sidney Crosby?

February 17, 2014, 10:22 AM ET [416 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
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It’s Canada, it’s the Olympics, and their best player doesn’t have a goal in 3 games. When those 3 factors are combined together it makes for the perfect breeding ground for silly narratives.

Sidney Crosby has yet to score in the 2014 Sochi Games. By not doing so it has opened the door for criticism against 87.

What’s wrong with Sidney Crosby? Nothing.

The best part about Sidney Crosby is that even when he is off the scoresheet, he still makes his team better every shift he sees the ice. Despite having no goals to this point, Crosby and his parade of wingers usually spend their shifts in the offensive zone, far far away from their own net.

There is no such thing as a bad matchup for Crosby, the coach can put him into any situation at any time and expect positive results. That is the true sign of a great player.

Perhaps that is part of the problem so far in Sochi. Crosby hasn’t been put in any situation at any time. Sidney Crosby only sees 15:40 seconds of game action on average so far in this Olympic tournament. Part of that has to do with Mike Babcock trying to get everybody involved in the round robin, which is understandable.

However, now that we are entering the single elimination portion of the tournament the best player in hockey needs to see minutes that are deserving of the best player in hockey. Crosby ranks 2nd overall in the NHL this season with 22:01 minutes per game, only Ryan Kesler has more at 22:12.

It is time for Canada to shorten their bench and start to ride their horses. The more ice Crosby gets, the more positive things happen. What is the point of having a player like Crosby if you won’t maximize his effectiveness with the appropriate amount of ice time?

Crosby’s offensive numbers aren’t excellent so far in this tournament, it has been a small sample size with small minutes. It is time increase the sample size with top line minutes; the results have been extremely predictable over the course of 87’s career, the numbers will come. Crosby’s compete and attention to detail never left.

The Winter Olympic hockey tournament means a lot to Canada, perhaps too much. Keep that in mind when seeing criticism of their national team or specific players. There is plenty of passion and emotion associated with Team Canada, and that is most likely how baseless criticism starts against the world’s best player.

Sidney Crosby will give everything he has for the remainder of these Olympic Games; he is the best player in the sport, what more can you ask for?

Thanks for reading!

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