It's not about a meaningless outcome in a meaningless matchup between one team bound for the Stanley Cup playoffs and another about to miss those for a third consecutive spring.
It's not about 16,016 seats somehow sold to see this, it's not about the long, loud and palpably passionate standing ovation Sid received for clinching his NHL-record 20th consecutive point-a-game season three nights ago up in Buffalo ...
Sidney Crosby receives a video tribute and standing ovation in his first home game since passing Wayne Gretzky for the most point-per-game seasons in @NHL history 🐐 https://t.co/Admu9ki9hmpic.twitter.com/OcJRObRN58
... that even moved the Ottawa contingent and the officials to pause and applaud.
It isn't about anything else specific to this scene, really, wonderful as it was.
It's about the macro. And the macro, in this environment, always, always, always circles around Sid. As it should till the day he's done lacing 'em up.
Which is kinda funny since, unless I'm misreading at least some significantly noisy segment of the Pittsburgh sports fan base as a whole, the broader perception is that this team, the Penguins, is the one going nowhere. Or lacking direction. Or bound for some abominable rebuild.
And that's laughably misguided.
I mean, let's first call this much out: The other two teams, currently and for the foreseeable future, appear to be clueless to the extreme that they've got no idea where they're going, much less how to get there.
The Steelers haven't won a game in the NFL playoffs since 2017. They've been either blown out or brazenly upset in the half-dozen return trips they've managed to make. They've been stuck either in the past or within the head coach's personal delusions. They've wasted the career of maybe the league's premier defensive performer in that span. And, maybe atop all that, they've mismanaged the sport's most important position so badly that they're now embarrassing themselves by groveling to a free-agent quarterback who'll be 42 this fall.
On this very day in Palm Beach, Fla., Mike Tomlin made clear the extent to which they'll be comfortable extending that embarrassment involving Aaron Rodgers. Read our coverage from there and weep.
The Pirates, as no one needs to be reminded, haven't won a damned thing of note since ... I don't know, Forbes Field cracked down on illegal stagecoach parking? Because that's how long ago 1960, 1971 and 1979 feel in real time. That begins with an owner who's so risk-averse he wouldn't trust his own shadow to tail him around, but it infects the baseball operations, too. They can't acquire, they can't develop, and they can't instruct. They're wasting the most exciting young pitcher in a generation, with no sense of urgency to alter that. And, maybe atop all that, because of Paul Skenes' presence, it's all now being exposed for all to see.
On this very day in Miami, just down the coast from where Tomlin was bowing with bended knee before Rodgers, the Pirates were a fundamental mess in falling a third time in a four-game series against the Marlins, universally expected to be among Major League Baseball's bottom-feeders. Read our coverage from there and weep.
There's no weeping here. Not much worrying, either. Not around the Penguins. And that's because, even as they're stuck in their own lengthy playoff slump -- no playoffs in three years, no series victories since 2018 -- there's, at the very least, a plan that's not only in place but already put into motion.
Kyle Dubas isn't perfect. He'll have that Ryan Graves contract hanging like an anchor for a half-decade to come. He's made other mistakes.
He's also secured sizable trade returns for Jake Guentzel, Marcus Pettersson and Drew O'Connor in their rental phases, not least of which were NHL Draft picks in the first and second rounds. He's totaled a mind-blowing 30 picks over the next three drafts, including a league-leading 18 within the first three rounds, four of those in the first. He's added enough prospect talent that the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton affiliate, built on the youngest players that roster's seen in years, will be a bona fide contender for the AHL's Calder Cup beginning in a couple weeks. He's even taken the unusual step of bringing to Pittsburgh a few Phil Tomasino types, who'd been top prospects in the past, who are still 23 or younger and who still, as Tomasino has since getting out of Nashville, have a chance to blossom here.
That's a ton of assets. Dubas has signaled his intent to move some of those picks in what he's calling the 'execution' phase of this process. Just as he's signaled that it'll help to have so much cap space freed up -- not to mention added by the NHL -- in years to come.
Anyone who thinks this'll take long isn't paying attention.
Certainly not to what's happened in Washington, where the Capitals were able to craft a superlative supporting cast around Alexander Ovechkin in a snap, first and foremost by building up their AHL affiliate in Hershey, Pa., into a Calder Cup champ in 2023. Check the rosters, and so many of the names are the same.
In turn, Ovechkin's back to scoring a billion goals, and the Capitals are behind only Winnipeg in NHL's overall standings.
No one here talks about it, but that's the template. And the aim's the same, too: Don't treat those final few years with a living legend like they're a burden. Build back around that legend. Seize the opportunity, especially if that legend's still pulling off stuff like this:
My God, what a game Sid had. In all seriousness, his goal might've been the least of it. Could've had a half-dozen assists, easy.
"He was ... unreal," Rutger McGroarty was telling me. "And being out there to experience it, having him talk to me on the bench, just ... yeah, I'm speechless."
That kid won't often be speechless, trust me. He's something, on and off the ice.
He and Ville Koivunen, the system's top two prospects, were promoted from Wilkes-Barre for this game, and both acquitted themselves well enough. They'll certainly be returned to the AHL once the parent club's done, but they've got a chance to get eight games up here to get acclimated, show what they can do, all that.
And, unlike in the past, when every other Sam Poulin would see a few minutes of fourth-line mucking, it's a real chance. Both were placed instantly into top-six roles for this game. And power-play duty. And late-in-regulation-tie-game duty. Whether it was Dubas, Mike Sullivan or both behind this, be very sure it's a departure.
"That's great," Koivunen would say of being used as he was. "It's great for us."
Both were welcomed with open arms, as far as the eye could see. The veteran players seemed to get it. They're next. They're here to help, sooner rather than later.
They're in on this. Sid's in on this. I've spent extensive time speaking with several of them on this subject, and I'm sold on that.
I'm also sold on Sid being really, really good at what he does. Still. He's nearing the end of his age-37 season and, between the NHL and the 4 Nations Face-Off, he should theoretically be wearing down.
Instead, he's running up yet another double-digit points streak, this one of eight goals and seven assists over his past 10 games. To climb onto another awesome all-time list, of course:
NHL
Sid's worth the wait, I'd say. He's not about to deteriorate.
Everything's going to be fine with the Penguins. Smart people are in charge of the hockey, the business itself is healthy and, heck, even the ownership, such a sore spot for the other two teams these days, is ... OK. I haven't been wild about everything the Fenway Sports Group's done, but they spend up to the cap, they've ensured the franchise keeps carrying itself with class and, last I checked, nobody's complaining about their weight rooms or whatever.
Helps to navigate with a functioning GPS, right?
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THE ASYLUM
Dejan Kovacevic
1:03 am - 03.31.2025UptownDK: The Penguins are our only team with a clue
I've got two words for anyone who ever doubts hockey's hold on our hometown, and they're unprintable.
I've got two other words, then: Sidney Crosby.
And two more: Working overtime.
It's not about Penguins 1, Senators 0, tonight here at PPG Paints Arena.
It's not about a meaningless outcome in a meaningless matchup between one team bound for the Stanley Cup playoffs and another about to miss those for a third consecutive spring.
It's not about 16,016 seats somehow sold to see this, it's not about the long, loud and palpably passionate standing ovation Sid received for clinching his NHL-record 20th consecutive point-a-game season three nights ago up in Buffalo ...
... that even moved the Ottawa contingent and the officials to pause and applaud.
It isn't about anything else specific to this scene, really, wonderful as it was.
It's about the macro. And the macro, in this environment, always, always, always circles around Sid. As it should till the day he's done lacing 'em up.
Which is kinda funny since, unless I'm misreading at least some significantly noisy segment of the Pittsburgh sports fan base as a whole, the broader perception is that this team, the Penguins, is the one going nowhere. Or lacking direction. Or bound for some abominable rebuild.
And that's laughably misguided.
I mean, let's first call this much out: The other two teams, currently and for the foreseeable future, appear to be clueless to the extreme that they've got no idea where they're going, much less how to get there.
The Steelers haven't won a game in the NFL playoffs since 2017. They've been either blown out or brazenly upset in the half-dozen return trips they've managed to make. They've been stuck either in the past or within the head coach's personal delusions. They've wasted the career of maybe the league's premier defensive performer in that span. And, maybe atop all that, they've mismanaged the sport's most important position so badly that they're now embarrassing themselves by groveling to a free-agent quarterback who'll be 42 this fall.
On this very day in Palm Beach, Fla., Mike Tomlin made clear the extent to which they'll be comfortable extending that embarrassment involving Aaron Rodgers. Read our coverage from there and weep.
The Pirates, as no one needs to be reminded, haven't won a damned thing of note since ... I don't know, Forbes Field cracked down on illegal stagecoach parking? Because that's how long ago 1960, 1971 and 1979 feel in real time. That begins with an owner who's so risk-averse he wouldn't trust his own shadow to tail him around, but it infects the baseball operations, too. They can't acquire, they can't develop, and they can't instruct. They're wasting the most exciting young pitcher in a generation, with no sense of urgency to alter that. And, maybe atop all that, because of Paul Skenes' presence, it's all now being exposed for all to see.
On this very day in Miami, just down the coast from where Tomlin was bowing with bended knee before Rodgers, the Pirates were a fundamental mess in falling a third time in a four-game series against the Marlins, universally expected to be among Major League Baseball's bottom-feeders. Read our coverage from there and weep.
There's no weeping here. Not much worrying, either. Not around the Penguins. And that's because, even as they're stuck in their own lengthy playoff slump -- no playoffs in three years, no series victories since 2018 -- there's, at the very least, a plan that's not only in place but already put into motion.
Kyle Dubas isn't perfect. He'll have that Ryan Graves contract hanging like an anchor for a half-decade to come. He's made other mistakes.
He's also secured sizable trade returns for Jake Guentzel, Marcus Pettersson and Drew O'Connor in their rental phases, not least of which were NHL Draft picks in the first and second rounds. He's totaled a mind-blowing 30 picks over the next three drafts, including a league-leading 18 within the first three rounds, four of those in the first. He's added enough prospect talent that the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton affiliate, built on the youngest players that roster's seen in years, will be a bona fide contender for the AHL's Calder Cup beginning in a couple weeks. He's even taken the unusual step of bringing to Pittsburgh a few Phil Tomasino types, who'd been top prospects in the past, who are still 23 or younger and who still, as Tomasino has since getting out of Nashville, have a chance to blossom here.
That's a ton of assets. Dubas has signaled his intent to move some of those picks in what he's calling the 'execution' phase of this process. Just as he's signaled that it'll help to have so much cap space freed up -- not to mention added by the NHL -- in years to come.
Anyone who thinks this'll take long isn't paying attention.
Certainly not to what's happened in Washington, where the Capitals were able to craft a superlative supporting cast around Alexander Ovechkin in a snap, first and foremost by building up their AHL affiliate in Hershey, Pa., into a Calder Cup champ in 2023. Check the rosters, and so many of the names are the same.
In turn, Ovechkin's back to scoring a billion goals, and the Capitals are behind only Winnipeg in NHL's overall standings.
No one here talks about it, but that's the template. And the aim's the same, too: Don't treat those final few years with a living legend like they're a burden. Build back around that legend. Seize the opportunity, especially if that legend's still pulling off stuff like this:
My God, what a game Sid had. In all seriousness, his goal might've been the least of it. Could've had a half-dozen assists, easy.
"He was ... unreal," Rutger McGroarty was telling me. "And being out there to experience it, having him talk to me on the bench, just ... yeah, I'm speechless."
That kid won't often be speechless, trust me. He's something, on and off the ice.
He and Ville Koivunen, the system's top two prospects, were promoted from Wilkes-Barre for this game, and both acquitted themselves well enough. They'll certainly be returned to the AHL once the parent club's done, but they've got a chance to get eight games up here to get acclimated, show what they can do, all that.
And, unlike in the past, when every other Sam Poulin would see a few minutes of fourth-line mucking, it's a real chance. Both were placed instantly into top-six roles for this game. And power-play duty. And late-in-regulation-tie-game duty. Whether it was Dubas, Mike Sullivan or both behind this, be very sure it's a departure.
"That's great," Koivunen would say of being used as he was. "It's great for us."
Both were welcomed with open arms, as far as the eye could see. The veteran players seemed to get it. They're next. They're here to help, sooner rather than later.
They're in on this. Sid's in on this. I've spent extensive time speaking with several of them on this subject, and I'm sold on that.
I'm also sold on Sid being really, really good at what he does. Still. He's nearing the end of his age-37 season and, between the NHL and the 4 Nations Face-Off, he should theoretically be wearing down.
Instead, he's running up yet another double-digit points streak, this one of eight goals and seven assists over his past 10 games. To climb onto another awesome all-time list, of course:
NHL
Sid's worth the wait, I'd say. He's not about to deteriorate.
Everything's going to be fine with the Penguins. Smart people are in charge of the hockey, the business itself is healthy and, heck, even the ownership, such a sore spot for the other two teams these days, is ... OK. I haven't been wild about everything the Fenway Sports Group's done, but they spend up to the cap, they've ensured the franchise keeps carrying itself with class and, last I checked, nobody's complaining about their weight rooms or whatever.
Helps to navigate with a functioning GPS, right?
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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