Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby recently sat down with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek for a video interview on the 32 Thoughts Podcast. During the conversation, Crosby commented on the inconsistency of the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.
Crosby’s main point of contention lies with what many players, coaches, fans, and analysts have decried for the better part of two decades now. What exactly is a suspendable act and what isn’t is difficult to discern. So is the length of punishments handed out.
The future first ballot Hall of Famer’s critical words were first transcribed and brought to light by Scouting The Refs, a go-to site for anything involving the world of NHL officiating.
“It’s still something where you see a highlight or you see a clip and you don’t know the range of a suspension,” Crosby said. “You don’t know whether it’s going to be a suspension or not. That’s how I feel.”
While Crosby is typically rather stoic and calculated with his words, he has always had seemingly no trouble complaining to on-ice officials on a regular basis. And, that complaining about officiating has transitioned off the ice in media availability as well.
Back in 2018, Crosby famously commented on Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson’s continued run-ins with the DoPS despite the Penguins not being involved in the most recent Wilson-related incident, a preseason hit on Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist.
“When a guy does it a handful of times, you start to question what the intent is,” Crosby said. “We talk about this a lot with him. He still chooses to make those hits. I’m sure the league is well-aware of that.
“I think this is kind of a unique situation where you got someone who continues to do it. “I’m just pointing out the obvious. That’s all I’m doing.”
On the flip side, Crosby found himself on the other side of the argument when a 2021 hit involved his teammate, Brandon Tanev. Tanev was doled out a major penalty for a hit on Boston Bruins defenseman Jarred Tinordi and Crosby wasn’t happy about it.
“I hope as players we can get some clarity on what’s a good hit and what’s not,” Crosby said. “I know it’s fast, but right now it’s really hard to know what is in fact clean and what’s not and when you’re out there playing it’s important that you do know that.”
Crosby himself has not once drawn the ire of DoPS in his 1,190-game NHL career despite multiple instances that likely could have seen calls for supplemental discipline. For example, his 2022 sucker punch of Nic Dowd, his 2021 dangerous hit on Martin Fehervary, and his 2021 takedown and face smashing of Travis Konecny.
Crosby received his first-ever game misconduct in the NHL in February of last year. Up until that point, he had survived 18 full years of near constant complaining on the ice without getting one.
Sidney Crosby was given a ten-minute and a game misconduct following an altercation with Mikey Anderson. pic.twitter.com/oAHMXLn91x
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 12, 2023
“I know it’s not an easy job for anybody but I still feel there’s a bit of a grey area there,” Crosby said to the 32 Thoughts Podcast. “I don’t think anyone is ever going to agree on length or what the intentions were on a play. That’s always going to be debatable. I would like to think we can get a little bit closer to what it is exactly and maybe what the punishment is.”
The NHL doled out 25 total suspensions and an additional 43 fines last season.
Among other topics, Crosby talked about in the interview was the Pens’ makeover over the offseason that included the acquisition of high-scoring, veteran defenseman Erik Karlsson. The whole interview can be watched here.
S/T to Scouting The Refs for first posting
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
