Crosby and Company Capture Eastern Conference Title
When young Sydney Crosby entered the league at the age of 18 many hailed him as the savior of the NHL, and the successor to best hockey player in the world, Wayne Gretzky. In his rookie season he demonstrated the talent, poise and playmaking ability to turn the prognosticators into prophets when he finished 6th in scoring tallying 39 goals and 63 assists. By the time his sophomore season concluded he had earned the title of “The Next One” when he captured the Triple Crown of the hockey world, winning the Art Ross Trophy for leading the NHL in points (120PTS-36G-84A) The Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP as determined by the Professional Hockey Writers Association and The Art Ross Trophy as the MVP as determined by the National Hockey League Players Association.
Now, Crosby has accomplished something that not even “The Great One” managed so early in his career, captaining his team in just his third NHL season to a chance for hockey’s ultimate prize , The Stanley Cup. Crosby and Company have done so in dominating fashion, sweeping the Ottawa Senators out of the first round, and outplaying a talented NY Rangers team in a 4-1 series win.
Today they continued their show of dominance as they crushed the Philadelphia Flyers in the series clinching Game Five, scoring 6 goals and holding the Flyers to a shutout. Crosby added 2 assists in this game to bring his post-season point total to 21 with 4 goals and 17 assists. Crosby has also demonstrated that he is a true two way player, with his defensive play helping to create offensive opportunities as was the case in today’s game when Crosby’s back-check forced a turnover that lead to Pittsburgh’s third goal of the night by teammate Marion Hossa.
While Crosby is the teams unquestioned leader he has not done it alone. Players like talented young superstars Evgeni Malkin and Marion Hossa, who may be the best trade-deadline acquistion in a long time, have been key in taking the Penguins to the Cup Finals. Other players like Ryan Malone, Maxim Talbot and Petr Sykora, as well as the improved play of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury have also helped the Pens on their way to the Eastern Conference Championship.
Now, all Sydney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins have to do is enjoy their victory and wait for their next opponent which will be determined in the next few days when the Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars wrap up their Western Conference Finals series.
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