Tuesday night the Vancouver Canucks will face the Penguins in Pittsburgh. The home team will be desperate. They picked up a 4-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday to end a six-game losing streak and need to keep it going. The Penguins are tied for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
“No one likes losing,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said after the sixth straight loss, one that came at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights. “How we handle it is going to define our group, so we can hang our heads and get frustrated, or do something about it. I’d like to think we’re going to do something about it.”
Crosby has 47 points in 39 games this season. The 35-year-old is on pace to threaten the 100-point mark for the first time since 2019.
The Canucks will likely need to be ready for Sid to bring his best. He sounds a bit ornery.
Encore Writing
The first thought that entered my mind since his name was brought up this week: it’s hard to believe Crosby is in his 18th season.
I wrote a very similar article to this one back in October when Crosby visited Vancouver. The context: Canucks fans should appreciate him and try to get out and see him play before his career is over. He’ll go down as one of the all-time greats. Here’s a little snip of a different sort from that piece:
Prior to the major renovations at Madison Square Garden over the last decade, there was a little group of folks associated with the NHL and MSG Network who used to watch all of the Rangers games from the Zamboni corner along with NYC detectives and NHL security guys Steve and Geno. My pal Stan “the Maven” Fischler, honoured this past week by the New York Islanders for his decades of media work, was one of them. Stan and I were astonished, but not entirely, the way Crosby once reacted to a mouthy fan.
The fan was sitting with his young son and when Sid came off the ice in the corner following the end of a period, the man starting lambasting Crosby with expletives. Sid actually reacted and yelled back at the guy, not upset by being the target of the ire, but yelling back because he felt the guy was setting a bad example and using foul language in front of the kid.
“Nice example you’re setting for your son!!” Crosby yelled.
It was a throwback to a different time and standard, that’s for sure. We couldn’t help but appreciate it.
Remember Crosby “forgetting to play hockey” during the first two months of the 2015-’16 season? The affliction suddenly ended when the Penguins fired head coach Mike Johnston and hired current head coach Mike Sullivan. Sid would turn it on and the Penguins would win the Stanley Cup that season and the next.
What actually set me off to reiterate the ‘ode to Sid’ was an interview superstar Edmonton Oilers centre Connor McDavid did on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night.
“I can’t believe I’m in my eighth season already,” McDavid said.
You can’t believe it?!
Next up; Connor Bedard, about ten years after McDavid, just like McDavid was ten years after Sid, who came along eighteen years ago.
Canucks Calendar
Enjoy him while you can Canucks fans. Puck drop is a little after 4 pm pacific on Tuesday. The Canucks continue their road trip Thursday night in Tampa.
