Y'know, Andy over at Fight Night made some good points about why Sid Crosby was a good choice for Mark Messier's "Leadership" Award. Go take a look, and then come back here. I'll wait.
....
I know, right? Isn't that funny? And totally correct as well, I might add. Does anyone out there actually believe Sidney Crosby is captain material, let alone all-round NHL *leadership* material?
Does he lead by example? No, not really. Unless you count the guys who score a majority of their easy goals from the side of the net, thereby avoiding getting pummeled by the opposing defenseman and then acting like they did something amazing.
No, unless any of the member would take a check in a Game 7 Stanley Cup Final and promptly leave the ice as if you're in immense pain and proceed to sit out the rest of said game, but manage to dash out and dance around with the Stanley Cup.
No, unless any member of the team would be on the ice in the final game of the season to score two goals *for yourself*, without a win for the team in your mind. Is selfishness/gloryhogging something a young player should look up to?
Sure, he's talented, but he's not the embodiment of a leader.
Who cares, the Messier award isn't a real award anyway. The way it really was, is that Sidney Crosby wasn't going to be awarded an actual NHL award with real prestige, so they're like "Hey Mark Messier, quit crying for a moment, we have a proposition for you. In an effort to keep up the illusion that Sidney Crosby is someone that should be looked up to, we want you to give him your tinfoil-wrapped chocolate trophy. But be careful, Las Vegas is hot and it might melt and you might cry about it." Mark Messier did not like these jabs, and cried about it.
Something else I'd like to rant about? The Richard Trophy.
Now now, I know this isn't an award that's voted on, and that's not my problem. My problem is the sheer laughability of Penguins/Crosby fans claiming he deserves it more than Stamkos, the reason being that Stamkos has more empty net goals than Crosby.
Really? Are we going to pick and choose these things to fit our asinine opinions? For one thing, let's not forget that when a team pulls their goalie, an empty net goal is not guaranteed. 95% of the team, you have to escape the six men on the ice in order to even make the shot. And as I alluded to earlier, I would wager a majority of Sidney Crosby's goals were tip-ins from the side of the net, which is PRACTICALLY an empty net since the goaltender is looking the wrong way. But fine, you're right. Empty net goals are "not real goals", and therefore should not count as a point.
And while we're at it, let's eliminate secondary assists. Seriously, picture this. Sidney Crosby is fluttering around with the puck, and gets checked by an opposition defenseman. He loses the puck, but a teammate comes and scoops it up before anyone on the other team can get it. Two of his teammates slide up the ice on a two-on-one rush (while Crosby is limping to the bench like a pussy), all the while passing with amazing precision, dazzling the one defender back. One of the teammates dekes the goalie beautifully and puts it in the net. Is it exactly *fair* to the teammates that did all the work up the ice to get the same amount of points as Crosby did, when all he did was get checked off the puck?
Or for that matter, how about we eliminate assists being worth ANYTHING? Seriously, imagine Crosby getting checked off the puck again, but this time, one of his teammates skates solo up the ice, breezing past the defenders on a breakaway. Deke, deke, through-the-legs goal. Beautiful. He gets one point for the goal. Sid Crosby gets one point for the un-assist. Is this fair?
The answer is Yes. Because it's hockey. An assist is an assist, no matter if it's a beautiful pass or a clumsy shot gone wide. And as such, a goal is a goal, no matter if it's into an empty net or a beautiful top shelf shot that goes in off the post, a weak five-hole poke, a tip-in from the side, or a blast from the left circle. Both put the puck in the net 51 times.
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I find it hard to believe that Crosby looks to Stevie Y as a leadership role model. When I heard him say that I was slightly dumbfounded...because I can't imagine looking up to a guy like Steve and being such a crappy leader, it's almost a disgrace to The Captain.
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