Sidney Crosby Was Almost Removed of Captain duties
Sidney Crosby has had a storied career in the NHL, with three Stanley Cup rings to his name, 21st in the NHL in points scored with 1,409 tied with legend Dale Hawerchuk and long-time Pittsburgh Penguins Captain.
Drafted by the Penguins in 2005, Crosby made an impact early and was awarded the Captaincy at age 19, this was prior to his 2nd season in the NHL.
Being the leader of a team for over a decade, he has been a godsend to the Penguins. But imagine if, during your tenure, your teammates conspired to strip you of your title.
Per Josh Yohe of The Athletic:
"It was 2011. Crosby was still out with the concussion and had been out for the better part of a year. There was a now infamous meeting in the Penguins' locker room. On one side stood Brooks Orpik, Jordan Staal, Craig Adams and Matt Cooke. Those four were exploring the possibility of naming someone else team captain until Crosby came back. On the other side of the debate were Marc-Andre Fleury, Malkin, Pascal Dupuis and Arron Asham. A rather heated discussion broke out. At the end, Malkin made his point clear: 'Guys. Sid is the f****** captain.' Then he left the room. And the conversation was over."
"It was 2011. Crosby was still out with the concussion and had been out for the better part of a year. There was a now infamous meeting in the Penguins' locker room. On one side stood Brooks Orpik, Jordan Staal, Craig Adams and Matt Cooke. Those four were exploring the possibility of naming someone else team captain until Crosby came back. On the other side of the debate were Marc-Andre Fleury, Malkin, Pascal Dupuis and Arron Asham. A rather heated discussion broke out. At the end, Malkin made his point clear: 'Guys. Sid is the f****** captain.' Then he left the room. And the conversation was over."
Must read on FlyersInsider
In the end, Evgeni Malkin was the one who stopped it all from gaining momentum.
Malkin at the time was Sid's only other teammate whom he shared tenure with on the Penguins.
In the long run, it's amazing that someone like Jordan Staal would imagine even taking the C in Pittsburgh. The group mentioned doesn't seem like it ever would have staying power, let alone the gall to lead a team to a Stanley Cup.
Maybe in the future, once this team is done rebuilding the Flyers could build a locker-room that sticks together as Fleury, Malkin, Dupuis, and Asham did.
Until then, there's no captaincy thanks to John Tortorella.
| POLL | ||
8 AVRIL | 61 ANSWERS Sidney Crosby Was Almost Removed of Captain duties Is Crosby a good captain? | ||
| Yes | 41 | 67.2 % |
| No | 20 | 32.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
Latest 10 stories
