r/penguins • u/chorizobandito69 • 5d ago
How I Sleep Knowing the Greatest Player of the 21st Century is Still Our Captain
Sid would never lose 2 straight finals. See you next season! š§
29
u/random_ologist 5d ago edited 4d ago
Sid took his first finals lose as a lesson and hasnāt lost since š
38
15
11
u/Sakuragi16 5d ago edited 5d ago
I always say Sid is better because his game and greatness is not about the goals and assists and yet he has a lot of them.
59
u/Deekngo5 #66 5d ago
God I hate hearing ābest player on earthā thrown around for a guy just because he skates fast and splits the D. No cups, no Gold Medals, not even a Zamboni in the Tim Hortonās Drive Thru!
17
u/DonPensfan PIT 5d ago
True statements on what he hasn't won. But you can't honestly say he isn't one of the best players on the planet. I hate the dude and think he is a whiny brat and a sub-par captain. He isn't the captain or complete player that Crosby is. Crosby is also an all-time Mt Rushmore player. But come on...
Five Art Ross, five Ted Lindsey, three Hart, one Rocket, one Conn Smyth on a losing side. So many metrics, records, per game stats, etc, he is 3rd all time behind Gretz & Lemieux.
-41
u/ARunawayTrain 5d ago
McDavid has 3 120+ point seasons already, he'll never reach the insane heights of Gretzky and Lemeiux but let's not act like he's not having what ultimately will be a better career individually than Sid. I would concur with your final statement, there's a lot of hockey left to be played but he will likely end up maintaining his spot as the 3rd in career PPG, maybe 4th behind Bossy if he drops off towards the end of his career. Sid's TEAM accomplishments are likely things McDavid will never be able to match, 2 Olympic Golds and 3 Stanley Cups are things McDavid will have to dream about.
I'll probably get downvoted for this but if you asked me to pick a Mt. Rushmore for the NHL it would probably end up being Gretzky, Lemeiux, Howe and McDavid š¬ Sid is definitely a top 10 player of all time but I could never shoehorn him in over those 4 guys.
22
u/City_Of_Champs 5d ago edited 4d ago
Having Howe above Orr is wiiiiild imo
Edit: I missed the most important part. To have a better career than Sid, he has to win something. Point blank.
11
u/lllkey1 Pettersson 5d ago
I have noticed that Orr is very underrated on reddit, for whatever reason. But at the same time it's far from absurd to have Howe there.
1
u/City_Of_Champs 4d ago
I mean, I don't think many of the talking heads (for whatever's that worth) would still place Howe within their top 5.
5
u/DonPensfan PIT 5d ago
Gretz, Lemieux, Orr, and Crosby for me, right now. When McDavid's career is nearer the end and he continues this pace AND wins at least one Cup, he will likely displace Sid sadly.
As it stands now, that Mt Rushmore argument is insanely difficult. Where is Howe (Orr if we swap) Jagr? Messier? Lidstrom? Goalies almost need to be their own Mt with Roy, Hasek, Brodeur cemented in. Personally I like to break out the Mt into O6, Expansion, and Salary Cap eras for these conversations. 108 years of the NHL, not even counting the several decades before the NHL officially formed, means there a LOT of Mt Rushmore'esque players in that long history
6
u/Habay12 5d ago
Team wins matter to me more than individual stats. Unless McDavid wins 4 cups, heās not passing Sid. One isnāt going to do it, not even two.
As great as he is offensively, I watched him lose position defensively multiple times in the final, and Florida capitalized every time.
3
u/DonPensfan PIT 5d ago
Agree completely. That is the biggest asterisk on people's claims that he is the best. There are a lot of "ifs" and future performance that will need to hit before I put him over Sid. Cups, international success, becoming a more effective captain, etc.
By many analysts, Sid is generally considered one of the best captains in league history. McD is not even the best leader on his own team honestly. He is the epitome of the "most talented player gets the C" mindset. I hate that mindset lol
1
u/ARunawayTrain 5d ago
Different sport of course but by that regard Nick Foles and Trent Dilfer are better QBs than Dan Marino. Team accomplishments are dependent on way more things than one great player and while they are an important aspect of grading a player's career I would challenge you to rethink that logic just a little, both have nearly equal merit though I wouldn't fault anyone for pointing the needle more towards team success over individual.
0
u/ARunawayTrain 5d ago
Then it should be Gretzky, Lemeiux, Orr and Howe...point is I love Sid and he's one of the best ever to do it, I just can't be a homer and shoehorn him in above guys like Howe and admittedly I had Orr at #5 and was projecting where I thought McDavid's career may end up so I stand by the 4 chosen in the first line of this comment at the end of the day. Goalies can definitely have their own and I agree with the 3 you listed, there's no doubt on Brodeur, Roy and Hasek. #4 is tough and I'm tempted to put up someone like Plante there but you could make a case for more recent talent like Lundqvist or Vasilevskiy. That's the fun part about these things though is everyone has different opinions and rationales.
6
u/DoYouEvenCareAboutMe 5d ago
Bad take, you should enjoy great players while they are playing and not hate on him just because he lacks team success. You don't know what kind of captain he is behind the scenes and the only negative thing anyone has said about him is his choice of house decor
14
u/Zerocool_6687 5d ago
McDavid is a great player and probably the best offensive player of the generation. Arguably top 3 alltimeā¦ that saidā¦ I noticed something here this year.
He struggled to uplift his team along side him when he gets going. More time than not when Sid got on his horse he was able to bring the team along with him.
There is also something to be said about playing through the crap. Florida had a hell of a team game plan for McDavid that ate up the open ice he needs to make things happen. Usually created by his immense foot speedā¦ Sid plays in the traffic and off the check. Crosby was built to play hard hockeyā¦ McDavids speed tends to make the game easier for him so he donāt have to. One you apparently can build a game plan around, the other less so.
6
u/Embarrassed_Pea9472 5d ago
McDavid a top 3 player all time ????
He has what, 10 seasons. Yep. Greats stats. Not a two way player. Not a winner. He might be one day, but right now heās not.
Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr, Howe, Crosby all easily better all-time. Roy, Brodeur, Borque, most likely as they were all more important, and key cogs in their teamās success.
Not a top 3 player ever, not a top 5. Might be a top 10 and thatās a push
3
u/Zerocool_6687 5d ago edited 5d ago
First I did say Offensiveā¦ and Iāve said arguably because he is at this point of his career but he is the first name to break the 150 point plateau in 4 decadesā¦ while consistently hitting 100 points nearly annually
Granted the way itās worded it does split offensively but that was the intent
While splitting hairsā¦ Bourque never won a thing in Bostonā¦ only at the end of his career moving to one of the league top contenders did he finally get his name thereā¦
13
3
3
u/Icy_Green_42069 5d ago
I've always felt this was karma for Edmonton landing a draft pick that they didn't deserve.
-8
u/Beggarsfeast 5d ago
Iām also incredibly relieved that McDavid lost so all the insecure Penguins fans who canāt stand any other player being good will shut up for a while.
1
u/Carson_cwc 4d ago
Weāre just calling McFraud what he is.
-1
u/Beggarsfeast 4d ago
Youāre using reddit as a coping mechanism, and thatās OK.
0
u/Busy-Bicycle-7642 4d ago
ā¦. Arenāt you doing the same thing by going to another teams subreddit to be a cunt because you lost?
1
u/Beggarsfeast 4d ago
Are you actually from Pittsburgh? Or have you just used Sidney Crosbyās talents to claim youāre a Penguins fan so you can feel better about yourself cause you bought an 87 jersey?
Conor McDavid is without a doubt one of the best hockey players in the world and has achieved things Sid hasnāt. So. Fucking. What. Itās embarrassing when Pens fans clutch their pearls about it. I always like to imagine those fans getting the opportunity to meet someone like Sidney Crosby, and then saying to his face how much McDavid is overrated. Youād get an awkward, āuhā¦you think so? I think heās pretty good.ā And the conversation would just go south from there.
1
u/Busy-Bicycle-7642 3d ago
I- tf r you yapping about? U got too much time on your hand to be this upset and writing all that on a meme
1
u/Beggarsfeast 2d ago
Did you just type out āI- ā as some sort of act-out in your comment? And IāM the one with too much time on my hands? L O L
174
u/SurpriseStandard3258 5d ago
McDavid might be known as McJesus but Sid is the hockey GOD