Sidney Crosby’s Much Needed Wake Up Call

Sidney Crosby very well MIGHT be injured.

He might just as well not be.

Crosby might just be in a slump; though admittedly the worst of his professional career.  That slump, combined with the often overwhelming defensive attention he receives (with questionable legality), might simply be wearing him down mentally.

It can happen to the best of players.  I saw it first hand with Jonathan Toews last year.  He was basically a non-factor offensively for the first 9 games of the playoffs.  Things got so bad that he took three penalties, mostly undisciplined and unnecessary, in game 4 in Detroit.  He did this in what appeared to be a near must win game for the Hawks.  That’s hardly what you would expect from one of the great leaders in hockey.

Things got so bad that Brent Seabrook had to talk to Toews on the ice and blast him behind the scenes to wake him up.  Such news was shocking in Chicago where Captain Serious is revered for his devotion to his craft.  Guess what, he’s also human.

As is Sidney Crosby; no matter how much Pierre McGuire and the folks at TSN believe otherwise.

I’ve been watching sports for nearly 35 years and I’ve rarely seen anything to compete with the over-the-top Crosby love fest that regularly emanates from the North American (primarily Canadian) media.  I’m a die-hard Penguin fan and it nearly sickens me.  It’s a big driver of the anti-Crosby sentiment that exists in so many other cities, where fans are simply tired of the Crosby over-exposure.  It’s the same reason so many sports fans hate Notre Dame.

I thought it reached its apex in game 2 against Columbus when Pierre gave us 20 seconds on the creative genius of Sidney Crosby; after a routine pass set-up a 65 foot slap shot goal from Matt Niskanen.  Turns out I was wrong.  The Crosby love fest hit its apex when TSN started running Zapruder film on Crosby and doing forensic analysis of his ground speed to try and prove an injury.  I read an article linked to Puck Daddy where the writer was literally analyzing shift by shift video of Crosby late in the season to discover where an injury MIGHT have occurred.

In the meantime, the most under-appreciated superstar on the planet actually was injured and it was never mentioned. 

Does anybody even remember that Evgeni Malkin broke his foot with three weeks left in the regular season?  Did anybody even bother to ask if Malkin was 100% healthy when the playoffs started?  Is it possible, just possible, that Malkin’s early struggles were a combination of rust from a three week layoff and perhaps playing at less than 100%?

Not that I would expect it to be mentioned.  I mean Malkin had a hat trick against Columbus and Pierre barely mentioned his name on any of the goals.  Instead he credited Crosby on Malkin’s first goal and Niskanen on his second.  Heaven forbid anybody outside of Pittsburgh or Magnitogorsk acknowledges anything positive about 71.

Look, it’s very possible Crosby is hurt.  I personally think he’s looked off since the Olympics.  That includes the actual games by the way as Crosby was relatively mediocre by his standards in Sochi.  If Crosby was injured at any time between Slovenia and Columbus however, the Penguins had ample opportunity to rest him given their huge division lead.  That they chose to do so only in spots (two individual games), calls that in to question in my mind.

Moreover, if he was hurt, did Crosby miraculously get healthy last night.  Because let’s be honest, in spite of a zero in the box score, that was far and away his most inspired performance in months. 

None of us have access to the Penguin locker room.  So we rely on the Pittsburgh media to give us that behind the scenes view.  Last week Joe Starkey wrote in the Tribune Review that Crosby looked joyless most of the second half.  He compared his demeanor on a daily basis to one who just had a root canal.  That’s hardly an encouraging portrayal of the face of the franchise. 

We also know that veteran leaders such as Orpik, Scuderi, and Adams, were notably boisterous down the stretch about the lack or passion or urgency coming from the squad.  I cannot help but wonder if some of that was pointed directly at 87.  Sid has many strengths as a player but accepting criticism in his own house has never been one of them.  Just ask Marc Recchi.

It was all disconcerting stuff to be sure; worrisome enough that I questioned whether Dan Bylsma had lost the locker room and should be fired with two weeks left in the season.  That’s a desperation solution at face value; being proposed by someone who generally detests the tiresome, catch-all, fire the coach mentality that pervades professional sports.

Let’s be honest, the Pens are not a Stanley Cup favorite this year.  They might be no better than the 6^th best team still playing (though fortunate to be matched against likely the 8^th best).  That said, whatever opportunity they have to make a deep run or to miraculously lift Lord Stanley’s cup has a stated prerequisite; Crosby must return to the top of his game.

On Sunday night, he showed definitive signs of that happening for the first time this post season. 

Not surprisingly, the Pens followed his lead.  Hockey has this odd follow the captain culture that does not seem to exist in any other sport.  Crosby’s inspired effort seemed to drive his entire team.  The Penguins played their most complete game of the playoffs.  It was not just the performance but the intensity level, physicality, and attention to detail for 60 minutes.  It was exactly the kind of effort needed to turn this club in the right direction.

I would add this, it was not quite the anomaly that some are suggesting.  The Pens were similarly dominant in game 5 against Columbus when they fired 51 shots in regulation and controlled play start to finish.  In my opinion they’ve played two of their most complete playoff games since the 09 cup run in their last four outings.  Throw in a dominant effort for the first 50 minutes of game 6 (partially mitigated by an ugly last 10), and this Penguin team appears to be trending the right direction.

There are many reasons for this, with health being at the top of the list.  Last night was arguably the first time this season the Pens had their true top 12 forwards in the line-up.  The simple fact that Tanner Glass was a healthy scratch was a key positive.  There was also a season best performance from the team’s blue liners and another strong effort from Marc-Andre Fleury.  Let’s face it; we were all justifiably concerned about Fleury after his game 4 meltdown.  Instead he’s lifted his game to something approximating his 08 and 09 post season levels.

In the short-term, these were critical drivers of last night’s victory.  In the long-term, the Crosby revival may be remembered as the story of the night.  Toews recovered his game last year and lead Chicago to a championship.  Here’s hoping Crosby follows suit.   

The Rapid Demise of Kristopher Letang

There was a time, perhaps as recently as one year ago that Kris Letang appeared on the verge of superstardom.  He was a justifiable Norris Trophy candidate with blazing speed, and wondrous offensive talents.  Letang could play 25 minutes and positively influence the game in all three zones.

There was a time when Letang was so clearly and obviously the Pens best young defensemen that they traded away Ryan Whitney and Alex Goligoski and did not re-sign Sergei Gonchar.  Those moves landed the Penguins critical assets; Chris Kunitz, James Neal, and Matt Niskanen along with critically needed salary cap space.  They were moves that I fully supported and endorsed; in large part due to my personal faith in Letang.

That time appears to be over.

Letang is now considered the team’s weakest defensive link.  Instead of a third franchise superstar, he’s  viewed as a contractual albatross that will hold back the organization for years (8 to be exact).  Once the apple of Pierre McGuire’s eye; he’s is now a frequent target of Pierre’s on air, verbal assaults (more so than even Marc-Andre Fleury).  You can almost hear it in your mind, ”Kristopher Letang cannot make that play!”

It’s disturbing to consider the likelihood that Letang will remain a Penguin, at $7.25 million per while a potentially superior player in Niskanen will leave via free agency.  It’s frightening to consider how much other depth the Penguins will lose as they become progressively more top heavy.   

Let me clarify two crucial things here.  First, I was a huge Letang fan almost from the first time I saw him in a Penguin uniform.  I championed his promotion over the aforementioned disappointments Whitney and Goligoski.  I maintain that he played phenomenal hockey throughout the 2009 cup run and that his performance that year debunks the myth that he is incapable of playing defense at a high level.

Second, this analysis is wholly separate from the tragic stroke he suffered in January.  For a person his age to endure that kind of event is unfathomable.  Forget about Letang the hockey player.  We should all be thrilled that Letang the person appears to have made a full recovery.  For him to be back on the ice this soon is nothing short of a miracle.  Quite frankly, if I were Ray Shero, I would have been very uncomfortable putting Letang back in the line-up this soon; both for hockey reasons and health reasons.   

It’s been pointed out by people I greatly respect that we are seeing the same kinds of mistakes today that we saw from Letang before the stoke.  I cannot argue that point.  What I can argue is that a player coming off a stroke and a ten week layoff might struggle to fix those issues in the moment.  Even if Letang appears 100%, it seems perfectly within reason that his decision making would be affected, especially in the violent, high speed world of the National Hockey League.

In any event, I’ve come to two parallel conclusions on Letang.  The first is that his contract was a huge and potentially franchise crippling error in judgment. The second is that the Shero should explore any avenue; no matter how faint or unlikely, to moving him in the offseason.  It’s kind of like Roberto Luongo without the cap acceleration penalty issues.  Move him for anything; even if anything is ultimately nothing (or Joel Bouchard and Richard Littner, whichever is deemed less)

I am not simply availing myself the benefits of 20/20 hindsight.  I thought the contract was mistake the day it was signed, though not for the reasons some might think.  The Boston series was a red flag of course; turnovers galore and a stubborn refusal to make smart simple plays in key situations.  But all things being equal, I could have overlooked that as a fluky bad performance.

The reality of modern sports is you cannot judge a player simply on talent or potential.  You have to judge them on value for their salary cap dollar.  At face value I think the Pens overpaid for Letang but its worse when you consider the bigger economic picture.

The Pens are prohibitively top heavy against the cap, which is why they were trotting out half of Wilkes Barres in their bottom 5 all year.  They were already committed to $8.7 Million annually to Sid for a dozen years.  To my way of thinking, they could only afford one other high dollar, long-term contract.  The required a choice between Letang and Evgeni Malkin.  And to me there was no choice there at all.

For one thing, elite second line centers are a true rarity in the NHL.  I’ve learned that watching the Blackhawks repeated failures to back-up Jonathan Toews.  Malkin also provides a critical hedge against Crosby’s concussion and general injury woes. 

Of greater consequence however is that Shero has spent the last 5 years drafting almost exclusively talented young defensemen.  How does it make sense to have so many high end defense prospects in the organization and then put your franchise in salary cap purgatory to sign another?  Even if the Pens truly believed Letang was a Duncan Keith or Zdeno Chara caliber franchise defensemen I would question the deal.  And as much as I liked Letang before last May, even I never thought he was at that level.

All of that ignores the fact that the Pens have a potential poor man’s Nicklas Lidstrom on their roster in Olli Maata.  I have to believe they would not have signed Letang if they had any idea Maata would be this good, this fast.  Realistically you cannot blame Shero for that, or even for not foreseeing the incredible growth in Niskannen this season.   If Letang’s contract expired one year later we would not even be debating this.  The extension, the stroke, and the meteoric rises of Maata and Niskanen is best described as a confluence of truly unlucky timing.

The resulting Pens cap nightmare is eerily reminiscent of two past comparables.  One was the post lockout Tampa Bay Lightning who capped out on St’Louis, Lecavalier, and Richards and thus could not afford defense or goaltending.  The other is the 2010-11 Blackhawks who were forced to hold a post championship fire sale due to a comparably ill-conceived deal to Brian Campbell (a remarkably similar player).  The Hawks were rescued two years later only due to former GM Dale Tallon’s charitable, salary floor reclamation program in Miami.  We can only hope that some team out there would be so generous with Letang’s potential (and risk).

That assumes of course that Shero is willing to move him and I’m not even sure he is.  Trading Letang would be difficult, maybe impossible at face value but more so if Shero truly believe he’s a franchise player.  We’ve come to realize how critical puck moving defensemen are in today’s NHL, as long as they are paid the right price.  For my money (or Shero’s), Martin, Niskanen and Maata are far better bets.

I’m fairly sure I would not have believed that 12 months ago.