Sidney Crosby won a Stanley Cup at an age younger than when Wayne Gretzky won his first. With his win this year, he has also won a Cup at an older age than Gretzky ever did, too!
Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers had a march to the finals when he was 22 years old in 1982/83, but it was the New York Islanders who swept them in the finals. The next year, fueled by 446 goals for in the regular season, it was Edmonton back in the Stanley Cup Finals for a rematch. After splitting the first two games on Long Island (With the Oilers scoring just two goals, total) it was out west for games three, four and five.
Edmonton won game three, 7-2, despite trailing 2-1 at one point. Gretzky got two assists. Then he scored two goals in game four, another 7-2 win for his team. They needed just one more win. It came, 5-2 in the fifth contest, Gretzky getting two goals and an assist.
The Oilers repeated in 1985, then won back-to-back in 1987 (The year Crosby was born) and 1988. Gretzky was 27, and had an amazing playoffs. But, he was then traded to the Los Angeles Kings in August. The Kings only made it to the Stanley Cup Finals once when Gretzky was there, in 1993, but came up empty. Ten years after appearing in the Grand Finale for the first time, The Great One had seen his last chance come and go.
Sid Crosby saw, age 21, his team in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2008. The Pittsburgh Penguins were matched up against the Detroit Red Wings. Unlike Gretzky's Oilers, his team put up quite a fight. They extended the Wings to six before falling 3-2 in the last game. But the next year, it was the Penguins coming out on top over the Wings in seven games. Sid was just 22 at the time.
Sid and his pals didn't repeat. Nor did they make it back until 2016. Crosby was now 28 years old. His team had changed a lot since 2009. But they got by the New York Rangers in five, the Washington Capitals in six, and then the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven. It was getting harder and harder.
The San Jose Sharks were the opposition in the last round. They'd come into the league in 1991/92, the same year Pittsburgh their second straight Stanley Cup. The Pens made sure they took the first two games at home. It was close, as game two went into overtime, but it was 2-0 heading west to San Jose.
The Sharks dug deep and took game three despite trailing 1-0 and 2-1. In overtime, it was the home team that pulled it out at the 12:18 mark of the extra session. Joonas Donskoi scored. The Pens recovered from that setback and pushed the Sharks to the brink of elimination with a 3-1 win in game four. Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist. One more win.
But in game five at home, the home team didn't do that. All throughout the playoffs, San Jose had turned to their amazing goalie Martin Jones to pull them out of tough situations. He'd won a Stanley Cup of his own in 2014, his first season at the big-league level. Here, he was looking for another. And by stealing game five (4-2) in Pittsburgh via his astonishing 44 saves, Martin was within two games himself of another Cup. And San Jose, was heading back home.
Jones turned aside 24 of 26 shots, but found his team trailing 2-1 with three minutes to go. He headed to the bench, only to see Patrick Hornqvist take a pass from Crosby and pop it into the empty net. Sid's second helper of the game. Pittsburgh won, 3-1.
Crosby was 28 (He'll be 29 in four days) and had his second Stanley Cup and first Conn Smythe. It had been seven long years for him. The Pens still haven't quite become the dynasty they were expected to be back in 2009. But they are still a young team. As for how many more Sid and company will win, only time will tell.
"The information used herein was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by The Hockey Summary Project. For more information about the Hockey Summary Project please visit:
http://hsp.flyershistory.com
or
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hockey_summary_project/"
Anson, Peter. “Hockey Summary Project.” Hockey Summary Project, 3 Aug. 2016, hsp.flyershistory.com/.
"Official Site of the National Hockey League” | NHL.com. National Hockey League. Web. 3 Aug. 2016. <https://www.nhl.com>
Sports Reference LLC." Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. Web. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 3 Aug. 2016.
Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers had a march to the finals when he was 22 years old in 1982/83, but it was the New York Islanders who swept them in the finals. The next year, fueled by 446 goals for in the regular season, it was Edmonton back in the Stanley Cup Finals for a rematch. After splitting the first two games on Long Island (With the Oilers scoring just two goals, total) it was out west for games three, four and five.
Edmonton won game three, 7-2, despite trailing 2-1 at one point. Gretzky got two assists. Then he scored two goals in game four, another 7-2 win for his team. They needed just one more win. It came, 5-2 in the fifth contest, Gretzky getting two goals and an assist.
The Oilers repeated in 1985, then won back-to-back in 1987 (The year Crosby was born) and 1988. Gretzky was 27, and had an amazing playoffs. But, he was then traded to the Los Angeles Kings in August. The Kings only made it to the Stanley Cup Finals once when Gretzky was there, in 1993, but came up empty. Ten years after appearing in the Grand Finale for the first time, The Great One had seen his last chance come and go.
Sid Crosby saw, age 21, his team in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2008. The Pittsburgh Penguins were matched up against the Detroit Red Wings. Unlike Gretzky's Oilers, his team put up quite a fight. They extended the Wings to six before falling 3-2 in the last game. But the next year, it was the Penguins coming out on top over the Wings in seven games. Sid was just 22 at the time.
Sid and his pals didn't repeat. Nor did they make it back until 2016. Crosby was now 28 years old. His team had changed a lot since 2009. But they got by the New York Rangers in five, the Washington Capitals in six, and then the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven. It was getting harder and harder.
The San Jose Sharks were the opposition in the last round. They'd come into the league in 1991/92, the same year Pittsburgh their second straight Stanley Cup. The Pens made sure they took the first two games at home. It was close, as game two went into overtime, but it was 2-0 heading west to San Jose.
The Sharks dug deep and took game three despite trailing 1-0 and 2-1. In overtime, it was the home team that pulled it out at the 12:18 mark of the extra session. Joonas Donskoi scored. The Pens recovered from that setback and pushed the Sharks to the brink of elimination with a 3-1 win in game four. Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist. One more win.
But in game five at home, the home team didn't do that. All throughout the playoffs, San Jose had turned to their amazing goalie Martin Jones to pull them out of tough situations. He'd won a Stanley Cup of his own in 2014, his first season at the big-league level. Here, he was looking for another. And by stealing game five (4-2) in Pittsburgh via his astonishing 44 saves, Martin was within two games himself of another Cup. And San Jose, was heading back home.
Jones turned aside 24 of 26 shots, but found his team trailing 2-1 with three minutes to go. He headed to the bench, only to see Patrick Hornqvist take a pass from Crosby and pop it into the empty net. Sid's second helper of the game. Pittsburgh won, 3-1.
Crosby was 28 (He'll be 29 in four days) and had his second Stanley Cup and first Conn Smythe. It had been seven long years for him. The Pens still haven't quite become the dynasty they were expected to be back in 2009. But they are still a young team. As for how many more Sid and company will win, only time will tell.
"The information used herein was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by The Hockey Summary Project. For more information about the Hockey Summary Project please visit:
http://hsp.flyershistory.com
or
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hockey_summary_project/"
References
Anson, Peter. “Hockey Summary Project.” Hockey Summary Project, 3 Aug. 2016, hsp.flyershistory.com/.
"Official Site of the National Hockey League” | NHL.com. National Hockey League. Web. 3 Aug. 2016. <https://www.nhl.com>
Sports Reference LLC." Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. Web. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 3 Aug. 2016.
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