Most people don't associate Sidney Crosby as "the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game," but don't put it past the Penguins captain to prove his doubters wrong once again.
The 31-year-old racked up the NHL all-star MVP with three goals and four assists in a pair of three-on-three matches, and although that was the first time Crosby has ever won the honours, the 14-year veteran has his eyes set on adding a much more significant award to his collection: the Selke.
"I’d like to be in the conversation, for sure,” said the three-time Stanley Cup champion to reporters over the weekend.
“I mean, I think your play has to earn that. Anyone can say that, but I think I definitely want to be known as a player who’s responsible defensively and I want to be good offensively, but do it the right way. And I think for the most part this year that’s been the case. I think you leave that up to others to watch and decide, but I certainly take a lot of pride in being good defensively.”
The Selke award is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, a group of 125 writers spread over 31 teams. Last week, the PHWA released their mid-season awards. Crosby wasn't included, as Patrice Bergeron, Aleksander Barkov and Mark Stone were listed as Selke nominees, but a strong second half on top of his strong defensive numbers could push Crosby into consideration.
If playing good defence can be quantified by a dominating offence, then Crosby is certainly making a strong case. He ranks 16th in the league in shot attempt differential (minimum 560 minutes TOI) at 56 percent with the Penguins outscoring opponents 70 percent of the time (GF %) with Crosby on the ice at 5-on-5, via NaturalStatTrick.com
In a more traditional sense, Crosby owns a plus 19 rating on the season and has won 56.8 percent of faceoffs in the defensive zone, the eighth highest rate in the league according to PuckBase.com. Whether you lean more to the eye-test or fancy stats side of the argument in quantifying great defensive play, Crosby is right up there.
If Crosby were to win the award this season, he'd become the only player in NHL history to have a Hart, Art Ross, Conn Smythe and a Selke under his belt.
Will the 2018/19 season be remembered as the campaign where Sidney won the Selke?
