Road to 600: Crosby's finishing touch, through the eyes of NHL goalies

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Food in his hands and a hat trick under his belt, Sidney Crosby walked through the winding Nationwide Arena hallway on his way from the visitors locker room to the team bus on Jan. 21.

Standing beside the gray metal door that leads to the loading dock was a familiar figure, one who’s been part of the NHL longer than the Penguins' captain. Manny Legace was still goaltending when Crosby entered the league in 2005, and he's served as a goalies coach for the past decade. On this night, he saw Crosby score three times in a 5-2 win over his Blue Jackets, including an outrageous one-timer from a sharp angle with a Columbus defenseman in tight coverage. 

“He’s been a pain in my ass for 17 years, or how ever long he’s been in the league," Legace said. "But he’s so much fun to watch. I have so much respect for the man.”

As Crosby reached a milestone 500th goal last week, DK Pittsburgh Sports contacted several former goaltenders and one still playing to gain an appreciation for what has made him so dangerous to a generation of masked men. The respect Legace references reveals itself in different ways. On Jan. 21, it included Legace opening the door to the loading dock for Crosby.

“He did have food in his hands,” the Blue Jackets’ goalies coach said ,chuckling. “But it was like ‘Hey, that’s Sidney Crosby.’ I’ve been around this game for 30 years and I still thought it was pretty cool.” 

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Martin Biron (1996-2014; Sabres television analyst): In my first training camp, my goalie coach Mitch Korn told me that in the NHL, you always have to expect the unexpected. Nothing could be more true with Sidney Crosby. It’s one of his greatest qualities. 

Cory Schneider (2009-current): The word that comes to mind is ‘unpredictable.’ A lot of guys who get to 500 (goals) have a signature kind of move or goal like (Alex) Ovechkin from the Ovi spot. Or, maybe they have this great release. But Sid scores in so many different ways and from so many spots on the ice. Yeah, he has the goal going down to one knee, which is kind of a signature goal for him, but he can beat you from behind the goal line or with a wrist shot or with a backhander. He has such strong hands and wrists that he can score from all angles. 

Brian Boucher (2000-2013; ESPN analyst:) When the puck is on his stick and the Penguins enter the zone, your stress levels go up as a goaltender because you don’t know what’s happening next. Especially, when he has the puck below the dots.

Curtis McElhinney (2007-2021):  Any time the puck was on his stick, I had to be aware of every single option on the ice. Some guys can see one or two teammates. Sid had the ability to pick out all four. It’s a bit similar to Nikita Kucherov, who can sling it all over the ice. You just had to be so much more aware of everything going on in the zone when Sid was out there. It was almost like needing a Spidey-sense.

Boucher: It’s been a pretty quiet 500 goals, and I mean that in the most respectful way. He does so much for his team that you don’t think of him primarily as a goal scorer. He’s never had that great shot that overpowers you, but he’s a very deceptive shooter. More than that, he’s just a complete player. 

Legace (1999-2010): A ‘quiet 500’ is a good way to put it. He’s such an all-around player. You look at Ovechkin and he’s a pure scorer. Brett Hull, pure scorer. Sid can do everything.

Biron: I laughed my ass off the other day when I saw him score off a slap shot (against Carolina). When is the last time we saw someone come down the wing and take a full slap shot and beat the goalie like that? It was like something out of the 1990s. He just has so many different layers to his game, and that’s what make it so hard to focus on any one part.

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Sidney Crosby in warmups before a game at PPG Paints Arena with the Sabres.

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The NHL began tracking different types of shots in the 2009-2010 season. Since then, Crosby has scored 54 times on his backhand — second only to Brad Marchand with 64. He's reputed to have the league’s best backhand shot. What makes it so difficult for goalies?

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Schneider: I don’t think a lot of fans realize what different types of sticks players use. The lie, the angle, the curve. It actually dictates a lot of what a player can and cannot do. 

Legace: It’s similar to Paul Kariya’s (backhand). You look at his stick, and it doesn’t have that big curve on it like Ovechkin’s does. So when he releases it, he has the full blade to use because his stick is so straight. Plus, his hands are ridiculous. His balance on his skates is ridiculous. He gets everything behind it. He doesn’t have to shoot off the heel of the stick. He can shoot it off the toe or the heel or wherever the puck is on his stick.

Biron: Give most players the stick that Sid uses, and they will be able to shoot a good backhand, but they won’t be able to do much else. They won’t be able to pass the puck or shoot wrist shots or stick handle the way they want to. Sid can do all of that. 

Boucher: He gets it upstairs in ways a lot of players can’t. Because he doesn’t have the big hook, Sid can elevate the puck in tight areas and from a sharp angle. Goalies today are flexible and most do a good job of taking the lower part of the net away, and then they have the glove and blocker up so they can still get it. But Sid elevates those shots so quickly, and he doesn’t miss them very often.

McElhinney: Not many players like to shoot on their backhand in today’s game. So growing up as a goalie, you get conditioned to seeing all the different shot releases from the forehand. You get dialed in to where it’s coming from and how it’s coming off the stick and what the trajectory will look like. Sid is so good at coming across the middle and ripping a back-handed slap shot at you. It’s such an unpredictable shot from the slot. It’s tough to read. 

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On March 31, 2017, Crosby was standing in the corner with one skate behind the goal line and seemingly no options available. Suddenly, he whistled a wrist shot off the side of Henrik Lundqvist’s helmet -- the puck caroming off the startled goalie and into the net at Madison Square Garden. “Sidney Crosby is a magician,” Bob Errey told his television audience. “He knew exactly what he was doing.” While the Penguins center is best known for his backhander, few players in the league are better at scoring from sharp and almost impossible angles.  

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Biron: Oh my god, that goal against Lundqvist.

Legace: Oh, yeah, I remember it. Right off the ear. As a goalies coach, you’re thinking, ‘How do you defend that?’

Schneider: He’s one of the few guys that when you make a save and the puck goes behind the net, you have to be on your toes and get to your post because if he’s back there, he can bank it in off you. A lot of guys will try it, but nobody has done it more consistently and consistently as well as Sid.

Boucher: Usually, in this situation you are thinking, ‘What are his passing options here?’ You are scanning the potential danger zones in front of you. Sometimes, he catches guys by surprise even when they really aren’t out of position. What are you going to do, move your head out of the way? That’s completely contradictory to what you normally want to do, which is get a body part in front of the shot. He’s just so smart and has a great understanding of angles. 

Legace: So much of what we teach now (when playing the Penguins) is based on what he can do. Rotations into the post and stuff behind the goal line. We tell them, ‘If you make this wrong rotation, Crosby is going to bank it off your ass and into the net.’ That’s just the way he is. When I started coaching, I remember saying, ‘Crosby will bank it in off your ass. Crosby will do this and Crosby will do that.’ That’s how special he is.

McElhinney: Smart players like Sid find a way to put goalies in an awkward position and capitalize on the moment. It’s becoming a trend, and Sid has been exploiting it for years. It’s the kind of shot that can get goalies off their game. Even it doesn’t go in, the rebound can create chaos around your crease.

Schneider: It really has spread to his linemates. I see (Jake) Guentzel and (Bryan) Rust trying the same things now. They are just always firing pucks from sharp angles. 

Biron: The game slows down for guys like Sid. He’s got the puck on the goal line and he thinks to himself, ‘Hmm, if I shoot it off the side of his mask at the angle at which his head is turned right now, I bet it will ricochet into the net. So let’s try it.’ It took me 10 seconds to explain that, but he processes his options and shoots that puck in about a half-second.

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Nobody will confuse Crosby’s style of play with that of Patric Hornqvist, Tomas Holmstrom or Chris Kreider. He’s not built to stand in front of the net and absorb a beating while trying to deflect pucks past a goalie. But since the 2009-10 season, Crosby ranks sixth among all NHL players with 46 goals on tip-ins. Kreider is first with 62. So how does a 6-foot, 200-pound center with a history of concussions wind up with so many goals off deflections?  

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McElhinney: Sid just has that unbelievable hand-eye coordination like Joe Pavelski. And they both work at it. I don’t know how many goals we have seen (Crosby) score just batting it out of the air. It’s like he’s playing at a slower speed than all the players around him. That’s what the elite players can do.

Biron: His stick will be way out and Kris Letang sees his stick and fires the puck and Crosby deflects it between his own legs and on net. The shot is going wide by 10 feet, and as a goalie you’re never thinking Crosby is going to try that.  

Boucher: He times his tips well. He’s often off to the side, seemingly out of the play. Then he darts in and puts his stick out. He’s really smart that way. He’s not the biggest of guys and he’s not going to waste his energy wrestling with defensemen.

Schneider: Even from distance, he can get a blade on it in the high slot and manipulate the shot. That’s really difficult on goalies. Even if you stop the shot, you’re probably going to leave a rebound.  

Biron: He’s like the Patrick Mahomes of the NHL. Mahomes is running one way and throwing back across his body and connecting with his tight end. Other guys make that throw, and it’s intercepted. Sid tries things other guys wouldn’t dare try. 

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Crosby ranks third among active players with 501 goals and 1,372 points. Imagine what those figures might look like if he hadn’t missed so much time during his prime years due to concussion issues. As Crosby approaches his 35th birthday in August, the goalies were asked if they have witnessed subtle changes in his game. 

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Biron: I don’t know if I’ve seen a lot of changes in him, but he looks like he’s gotten stronger, especially in the lower half of his body. His base. He’s really, really hard to get off the puck. I remember the 2009-10 season when he scored 51 goals, and I was playing with the Islanders and he lit us up like a Christmas tree. A lot of it was quickness and skilled plays. Now, what I see out of him is he’s gotten a lot stronger. He wins puck battles in the corners. He’s more physical now than I remember him.

McElhinney: He’s so hard to knock off the puck. It’s almost like he has a turtle shell that’s impenetrable. It’s hard to go through him or to reach around him to get the puck. A lot of that probably comes down to his edge work and the strength he has developed in the lower body.

Schneider: As you get into your mid-30s, you start to lose a little of your explosiveness, a half step of speed and quickness and energy in general to play for 25 minutes a night. That’s only natural. But he’s gotten stronger and a little wider over the puck. He might not score as many highlight-reel goals, but he’s adapted his game. To me, he still plays a straight-line game and goes into all difficult areas. He’s not become a perimeter player. 

Legace: His skills have not gone. His hands have not gone. But the way he thinks the game, which was good as an 18-year-old, is three times better. That’s a scary thought. He just keeps developing. 

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Sideny Crosby scores a shootout goal against Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck.

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Crosby has averaged at least a point a game for 16 consecutive seasons. He has 47 points through 40 games this season, and if he maintains that pace, only Wayne Gretzky will have more consecutive point-a-game campaigns with 19.  But how many more years can the Penguins expect Crosby to play at an elite level?

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Biron: I think he’s a point-a-game guy for another four years. If he wants to play after that, I still think he’ll be an effective player. I never see him dropping down to like 40 points over a full season.

McElhinney: That’s a tricky question, but he looks like the same old Sidney Crosby except with more information. He’s got more good years left in him.

Schneider: Sid was among the first guys to set that trend with high-end performance training. As long as he takes care of himself and he wants to play, it’s up to him. But he does play a hard, straight-line game and that can wear on you. Hopefully, he stays injury-free. I think he can play at this level for three or four more years. 

McElhinney: What’s impressed me the most is he’s lived up to all the hype, and then some. That’s the part that I marvel at more than the consistency and the longevity. He came into the league with all these expectations, and when you go down the list of all these things superstars are supposed to accomplish, he’s done every one of them. He’s got the Stanley Cups, the Olympic gold medals, all the individual awards. He’s always found a way to rise to the occasion.

Legace: The way he plays? Sid could play until he’s 45. He could be (Jaromir) Jagr easily. I don’t see him doing it because of the concussions, and he’s had a lot of injuries in his career. But the more he plays, the better it is for the NHL. Losing him from the league will be like golf losing Tiger (Woods) or the NFL losing (Tom) Brady. I’d like to see him play until he’s 50. That’s just me being selfish.