Sidney Crosby Wins Gold In Crosby-Like Fashion

While the face of Canadian hockey wasn’t a major factor in the men’s Olympic hockey tournament from start to finish, sweeping the tournament-winning goal through the legs of Ryan Miller will forever cement Sidney Crosby as Canada’s hero in 2010.

Canadians remember Paul Henderson’s winner in ‘72. The image and the call have been etched into the mind of every Canadian. Lemieux from Gretzky in ‘87 shares a similar distinction. Canadians don’t yet have every frame of Crosby’s Gold Medal-winning tally committed fully to memory, but they soon will. His goal will live on as one of the greatest in Canadian hockey history.

Sidney Crosby wasn’t Canada’s best or most impactful forward in the tournament. He was part of a Canadian roster full of award winners, franchise players and point-per-game scorers — but make no mistake, Crosby’s name was the first circled by opposing coaches when formulating a defensive game plan.

While performing statistically below expectations in the Olympic tournament, Crosby managed to score two game-winning goals. The first, a shootout tally in a nail-biter against Switzerland. The second, of course, the final goal of the tournament.

These are the heroics we’ve come to expect from the 22-year-old Crosby, whose resume is staggering:

Stanley Cup, Olympic Gold, World Junior Gold, Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Lester B. Pearson Trophy. Crosby is the only player in any major sports league to have won the scoring title before his twentieth birthday. He was the youngest player (21) to ever have captained his team to the Stanley Cup. The accomplishments go on. For someone who was thought to have been “quiet” all tournament long, no one should be surprised by Crosby’s heroics. He’s made a habit of achieving incredible success.

And how fitting that the forward duo of Crosby and Iginla were dispensed in overtime by Mike Babcock and connected for the winning goal. After much discussion about chemistry, Sid and Iggy validated their partnership once and for all as Iginla slid Crosby the biscuit on Ryan Miller’s doorstep.

Sidney Crosby doesn’t take long to adapt. He’s now competed in the Olympics and won a Gold medal on his first attempt. He didn’t dominate the tournament, but he leaves Vancouver as a hero. As a 26-year-old in Sochi, he will undoubtedly be a better Olympian than he was in 2010. He’ll probably be Captain, too. (If not Crosby, here’s one vote for Jonathan Toews).

A recent documentary entitled “Sid vs. Alex” exemplified the hype machine built up around the two superstars heading into the Olympic games. Once again, despite most hockey observers swaying to Ovechkin’s camp this year in the “best player in the world” debate, Crosby again found a way to come out on top. He once again topped Ovechkin, and once again walked away with the prize. Ovechkin’s tournament highlight was clocking Jaromir Jagr at centre ice. Crosby’s tournament highlight was slightly more meaningful. Perhaps the last of his doubters have now been converted.

This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.