"I'm aware if I'm playing at my best I'm tough to beat. And I enjoy that." – Tiger Woods
Regular season stats:
Playoff stats:
Month by Month Pensburgh Grades:
October: A-
November: A-
December: A-
January: A-
February: A+
March: A
April: A-
Contract status: Signed until 2013/14 with a cap hit of $8.7 mill. Will become an UFA in 2013/14.
Interesting stat: For the first time since his rookie season in 2005-06, Sidney Crosby played 81 games in 2009-10, the closest he's ever come to a full 82-game season.
The Good: Where do we begin? For the first time in his career, Crosby netted 50+ goals (51), tying him with Tampa Bay's Steve Stamkos for the most in the league which, in turn, resulted in the two of them sharing the Maurice Richard Trophy. Hindsight I find it so amusing that earlier in the season there was so much talk focused around Sid's "new stick" and how it would result in him shooting more. Well, that improved too. Sid finished just two shots short of 300 with a total of 298, the most in his career. Given the increase in shots and his goal total, that translates to nearly one goal for every 5.8 shots on net. To compare, Stamkos fired one less shot on net in one more game played than Sid, while Alex Ovechkin scored 50 goals on 368 shots on net - or nearly one in every 7.26. If we're talking ratios and applying the "what if" scenario into the mix, then if Sid let loose 368 shots he would've, statistically speaking, edged close to 63 goals for the season.
Also worth noting is Sid's playoff performance in which he tallied 19 points over 13 games. If you look at the top 10 scores for the playoffs you'll find Crosby ranked number nine on the list. All players above him played anywhere between six to 10 games more than him in the playoffs.
The Not-So-Good: To be honest I'm having a little trouble identifying the not-so-good of a guy who led the league in goals, led the Pens in points and did everything that was asked of him throughout the regular season and playoffs. I'm not going to force it if it's not there, but I'll leave it up to you guys to chime in if you think I'm overlooking something.
Final Verdict: Personal accomplishments aside, the entire season was a losing one for 29 teams in the league. No member of any team feels the pain of that more than a captain, and no captain in the league feels it more than Crosby, the 2009 winner who was faced with the pressures of a repeat .01 seconds after the final horn sounded in Game 7 against the Red Wings last season.
Question and Discussion: Given Sid's increase in goal production I don't think I have to ask whether or not most of you would welcome it again next season, so instead I'll ask this - do you think Crosby's numbers may, given a healthy season of equal or greater length, actually increase beyond his 2009-10 finish?