All jokes aside, tonight Sidney Crosby pulled off the Hat Trick at the NHL Awards for the second time in his career. He brought home the three biggest trophies, the Art Ross (leagues top scorer), the Ted Lindsay (MVP voted on by the players) and the Hart Memorial Trophy (NHL MVP). It is the second time Sid has pulled this off, last doing it in his sophomore campaign of 2006-07.
Despite questioning what happened to our Captain during the Playoffs this year in the recent weeks, nights like tonight make you sit back and say, "Wow! He really is something special!" Let us just sit back and do the math on what Crosby has done in his 9 years in the league (7 if were really being picky with the injuries).
He has won the Rocket Richard Trophy (most goals) and the Mark Messier Leadership Award once a piece. He has brought home two Olympic Golds for Canada, two Art Ross's and two Hart's. He probably should have won the Hart last year had it not been for that broken jaw business and definitely would have had two more Art Ross's in the trophy cabinet if it weren't for the broken jaw and the concussion in the 2010-11 season. He would've won the Calder Trophy too had it not been for that oaf in Washington. He also won his third Ted Lindsay Award tonight. Oh! And unlike a lot of these other guys "cough Ovi cough Giroux cough" he has a Stanley Cup to add to the collection.
The shelves of awards for Crosby says a lot about him, but it also says a lot about the Penguins organization. Just think about this, in the last 30 years (since the 1984 season when Lemieux was drafted), a Pittsburgh Penguin has won the Art Ross Trophy in 15 of those 30 seasons (Mario 6, Jagr 5, Crosby 2, Malkin 2).They have had nine Ted Lindsay winners during that period (Mario 4, Jagr 2, Crosby 2, Malkin 1). And the Hart Trophy has found its way into the hands of a Penguin seven times, Sid becoming the only multiple winner in Penguins history besides Lemieux. That says a lot about the talent that the Penguins have in on their roster. Though these awards go to individuals, the team makes a big difference too. To say that 15 of the last 30 scoring champs come from Pittsburgh says a lot about the franchise.
So let's all take this moment to just kick back and realize this little fact: Every time we go to Consol Energy Center or sit in front of our TVs and watch the Penguins, we are seeing one of the games greatest talents EVER take the ice on a nightly basis. That is pretty cool. Congrats to the Captain on an impressive year. Hopefully, he will had more hardware next season as well.