I certainly agree with the comments about Crosby. I’m sure Ovie’s mates would say he’s a pretty good team guy as well. As far as leadership goes, his captaincy has been very successful so far, but the real test of that will come in the playoffs.

I hesitate to judge a player based on the number of championships his team has won. I was a fan of John Elway throughout his career, and I already considered him one of the all-time greats even before he finally got his rings.

Look at Mario’s Pens of the early 90s. Certainly it seemed to be preordained that they would win multiple titles, but look at both of their runs to the Cup. How many things had to go just right for them to win it all? Then the one year when they looked like a lock….well, I won’t dredge up painful memories, but we saw how quickly the dream was dashed.

I guess I’ve grown accustomed to opposing fans and players making Crosby the focus of their wrath and envy. One reason I enjoy going to Pens games is that our fans rarely, if ever, resort to the old “(Insert player name) sucks!” cheer. To me that kind of thing serves no purpose other than to fire up whatever player you are trying to insult, and probably has no positive impact on the team you are there to support.

By the same token, I would prefer if our players would avoid singling out members of other teams for negative comments, even if it is to make a comparison to your teammate, and especially when it is a player for whom your team seemingly has no answer when it comes to stopping him.