Sidney Crosby: Five Things We've Learned Five Years Later

In honor of the fifth anniversary of the Pittsburgh Penguins drafting Sidney Crosby, I have decided to write a series of articles about Crosby’s first five seasons in the NHL.

Crosby is one of the most talented players in the NHL and also one of the most controversial. He is constantly compared to NHL legends such as Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux and current stars such as Alexander Ovechkin.

No matter how much you compare him to other stars, Crosby is in a class of his own. But in this case, that is a good thing.

Here are five things we have learned about Crosby since he came into the league.

He Comes Up Big...

One of the main points of the Sidney Crosby vs. Alexander Ovechkin debate is how Ovechkin fails to come up big in crucial moments for his team, whether it was in three consecutive trips to the playoffs with the Washington Capitals or in the Olympics with the Russian team.

But Crosby has produced on the big stage. He is the youngest captain to win the Stanley Cup, the youngest NHL player to score 100 points in one season, and scored the game winning goal at the 2010 Olympics.

These are just some of the ways Crosby has carried his team in five years. Since he has already achieved so much, we can be confident in him as a leader and someone who can perform under pressure.

And He Has the Hardware to Prove It

Fair or not, a player’s greatness is often determined by the amount of awards he wins during his career.

Let’s take a look at Crosby’s award totals:

One Stanley Cup (2009)
One Olympic gold medal (2010)
One Hart Memorial Trophy (2007)
One Art Ross Trophy (20007)
One Lester B. Pearson Award (2007)
One Rocket Richard Trophy (2010)
Two Mark Messier Leadership Awards (2007, 2010)
Three-time NHL All-Star (2007, 2008, 2009)

Crosby has also been a four time winner of the Best NHL Player at the ESPY Awards, earning the honor every year from 2007 until this year.

And who knows? He could win it for the next four.

He Is a Money Machine

Crosby’s Penguins jersey was the top seller on the NHL.com from 2005-2008. His jerseys have been auctioned off for various charities and have raised as much as $47,000. He has endorsement deals with Reebok and Gatorade. He also signed deals to work with Tim Horton’s and Verizon.

Fans have almost endless choices for Crosby merchandise. They can buy player t-shirts that resemble a jersey with his name and number on the back, posters, framed photos, hats, trading cards, DVDs, and many more.

The revenue machine only turned harder after the Olympics. A puck from the gold medal game sold for $13,000 in an auction, while sports collectible company Frameworth got at least 1,000 orders for Crosby signed Team Canada jerseys at $1,500 apiece.

We're Still Fascinated By Him

Whether you love him or hate him, it’s hard to deny that you focus a lot of your attention on Crosby.

The comparisons to other players are alive and well.

He is constantly a prime subject on media outlets such as TSN and NBC.

NHL centered message boards are going back and forth about his merits on an almost daily basis.

There is no limit to what we can say about Crosby or what kind of spotlight we can put him in.

Write a book about him? Check.

Have him narrate a DVD? Check.

Gush all over him on national TV to the disdain of many? Check.

Whether you’re an average fan or a hockey expert, it’s likely you have something to say about Sidney Crosby. And no matter where or how you say it, people will listen and eat it up.

He's Been There and Done That

In five years a professional hockey player, Crosby has seen a lot.

Maybe he hasn’t seen everything, but he has already dealt with plenty of adversity.

He has gotten past injuries such as a high ankle sprain.

He has been faced with criticism about his personality.

He was made the leader and face of a Pittsburgh franchise that was trying to climb back into NHL prominence.

Not to mention that he faced a lot of scrutiny even outside of the NHL. He was in the media spotlight as young as eight years old. He was the alternate captain of the Rimouski Oceanic, his QMJHL team, and an alternate captain for Team Canada at the Olympics.

All of these experiences before he turns a quarter century old will only make Crosby stronger. He will be able to exhibit great poise and maturity as he moves through the rest of his career because he has already experienced so many challenges. He knows how to respond to his critics without going off the deep end (Alexander Ovechkin camera shoving incident, I’m looking at you). And he never lets up his focus on the mission to keep Pittsburgh a competitive team.