Rock Solid: Sidney Crosby Playing the Best Hockey of His Career

In the New Testament, Jesus tells his disciple Peter he is the rock upon which He will build His church.

In the National Hockey League, Sidney Crosby has been the rock upon which the Pittsburgh Penguins have built their championship aspirations throughout his five-plus seasons in western Pennsylvania.

This fall, the apostle Peter has nothing on Crosby, who has been playing like he's on a divine mission through 21 games.

And while the videos recently "leaked" by Reebok are somewhat the product of slick editing (watch here and here), the average hockey fan could be excused for thinking the supernatural feats portrayed in these videos are part of Crosby's daily practice routine. He's been that good this season.

As usual, No. 87 is picking up the amount of goals and points expected for a true superstar in the prime of his career. Alright, maybe he's even exceeded that expectation, as his 14 goals and 33 points place him on pace for 55 goals and 129 points for an 82-game season, both of which would be career highs.

His four-point performance last Friday against Carolina at CONSOL Energy Center ran his scoring streak to eight games, during which he's racked up eight goals and 10 assists to place him just one point behind torrid Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the lead in the NHL scoring race. Crosby has "only" claimed the Art Ross Trophy once in his career (2006-07), but he and Stamkos should provide a thrilling duel for the hardware throughout the campaign.

Looking beyond the gaudy point total, other statistical measures show that the 23-year-old center is taking on more on-ice responsibility than ever. Entering Monday's game at Florida, Crosby ranks first among all NHL forwards in ice time per game (22:24) and has already taken 504 faceoffs, second only to Jonathan Toews' 511. Speaking of draws, Crosby has won 56.7 percent of them this season, which would be a career high and would continue his career-long upward trend in that category.

In addition to looking good in the mathematical portion of the program, the $8.7 million man has aced the "eye test" this season as well. His familiar quickness and agility has not waned in the least, the cannon shot he developed last year remains and his playmaking instincts continue to be without peer. Witness his blowing through the neutral zone before setting up Tyler Kennedy last Friday as physical evidence of his unmatched work ethic off the ice.

On the "intangible" portion of the ledger, Crosby has nicely grown into his role as Penguins' team captain. His publicized opinion that goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury needed to play more often in order to overcome his awful start likely did wonders for the beleaguered goalie's confidence. More telling was the fact that Crosby felt comfortable enough as youthful team leader to use the media as a mouthpiece.

The Penguins (11-8-2, 24 points) are 5-1-1 in their last seven games and has largely stabilized after a rocky opening six weeks of the season. With Jordan Staal set to return early next month and Evgeni Malkin finding his offensive bearings, Crosby can be assured his best season thus far will not go to waste on a mediocre club.

How much thrust a fully-fueled Crosby can add to his team's engines is yet to be determined, but the Penguins already know their "rock" is more than strong enough to build a Stanley Cup reprise.