Sidney Crosby wins second consecutive Conn Smythe

Sidney Crosby became the first player since Mario Lemieux to win back-to-back Conn Smythe trophies after beating the Nashville Predators.

Sidney Crosby’s 2016 was one for the ages. He won a Stanley Cup, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first since 2009, and his first ever Conn Smythe. He then won the World Cup of Hockey and took home tournament MVP. It would’ve been nearly impossible for him to top that in 2017, but winning another Cup still feels really good.

Crosby wasn’t as dominant as he was in last year’s playoffs, but he still took home a second straight Conn Smythe award. The last player to do that was Mario Lemieux, in 1990 and 1991, but you could make the case of Crosby surpassing him as the best Penguins player ever.

A lot of people were curious as to who he’d hand the Cup to first. He chose Ron Hainsey, who the Penguins acquired at the deadline.

Despite Crosby being the best player in the NHL, him being the Conn Smythe winner wasn’t such an obvious choice this year. Had Matt Murray been healthy the entire playoffs, he probably would’ve won it. After all, he closed out the Final with back-to-back shutouts. His counterpart, Marc-Andre Fleury, deserved it too since he was brilliant in the first two rounds.

Jake Guentzel’s goalscoring exploits also got him some Conn Smythe consideration, but playing alongside Crosby really propelled his playoff performance. Ultimately, Sid’s dominant performance in Game 5, in which he assisted on three of the Penguins’ six goals, may have sealed the deal.

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Sidney Crosby is the NHL’s biggest star, but the league really needs to do a better job of marketing him. It may be hard to do when he’s not a great quote, and he isn’t on Twitter, but his accomplishments should speak for themselves. Unfortunately for the NHL, he’s only 29 meaning he’s still in the middle of his prime. And if he keeps on winning Conn Smythe awards, his star will only continue to shine.