DETROIT -- Call them "Michigan" goals, "lacrosse" goals, whatever you want. Whatever you call them, you have to acknowledge that they're becoming more of a trend.
The goal involves a skater standing behind the opposing net, lifting the puck onto his stick and whipping it around to the top corner of the net past an unsuspecting goaltender. Those who call them "Michigan" goals do so for former University of Michigan winger Mike Legg, who scored one of the lacrosse-style goals in the 1996 NCAA Tournament.
Players have scored them since in various levels, though infrequently. One example over the years is current Penguins forward Mikael Granlund, who scored one back in 2011 in a World Championship game against Russia:
They've certainly become more popular lately. The Hurricanes' Andrei Svechnikov was the first to score one in the NHL when he did so in October 2019. The Ducks' Trevor Zegras scored two in the 2021-22 season. University of Michigan product and Blue Jackets rookie Kent Johnson has scored five in his career -- four in international play, and one just last month against the Sabres.
A 16-year-old Sidney Crosby scored one of the lacrosse-style goals back in 2003 in his rookie QMJHL season in Rimouski. After 18 years, he would attempt one at the NHL level -- with his own little twist -- in a game against the Rangers.
I chatted with Crosby after a morning skate in Newark, N.J. with this week about those attempts, and he shared his thoughts on why he has shied away from trying more of those goals at this level.
The goal Crosby scored in 2003 for Rimouski was a classic Michigan goal -- he was behind the net, scooped it onto his forehand and buried it:
That goal came in a 7-1 blowout of the Quebec Remparts, and Crosby caught some flack from Don Cherry on the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast that followed, calling him a "hot dog."
"I like the kid," Cherry said of Crosby. "But I've seen him now after goals. He slides on the ice on his knees You talk about a hot dog."
Crosby, in an interview with The Globe and Mail the following week, didn't seem fazed by Cherry's comments.
"I'm not shaken by his words," a 16-year-old Crosby said. "It's his style to make controversial remarks. I can't please everyone."
Crosby has only ever tried a lacrosse-style goal once in the NHL -- Feb. 1, 2021 in New York. The Penguins were up 1-0 in the second period at the time in a game that ended up being a 3-1 loss. This one was something unlike what we've seen before. Crosby picked the puck up on his backhand and tried scooping it in that way, but put it off the side of the cage:
"It was during the year we had no fans," Crosby recalled of that one. "I tried it on the backhand behind the net. So only two attempts in 20 years, basically."
The area below the goal line is Crosby's "office" if he ever had one. He's certainly productive often from below the goal line. Still, he's only attempted a goal like that once in the NHL after scoring one successfully at 16. I asked him why he hasn't tried to score like that more. No, it's not a matter of being turned off by Cherry's comments, or not wanting to come off as showboating. Rather, it's his stick.
Crosby has an exceptionally straight stick blade, one that's on the thicker side as well. For a guy who takes shots on his backhand so frequently, a straighter blade makes sense. If it were curved, there would be less surface area on his backhand.
"The way guys do it now, they scoop it," Crosby explained. "I find that a little harder. My blade's pretty thick, it's hard to scoop it like that. You need a lot of time to do it. I just haven't felt like I've had the opportunity."
Crosby's ability to bury a "Michigan" might suffer as a result of his straighter blade, but his exceptional backhand is what he gains. That's a trade-off that he'd make any day.
Still ... it wouldn't be surprising to see Crosby find a way to score one of those lacrosse-style goals at some point in his career out of sheer will, even if he has to do it off of his backhand like he tried once before.
