Sidney Crosby has an added appreciation for the success in his career amid the Pittsburgh Penguins' three-year playoff drought.
"You'd rather be talking about who we're getting at the deadline or where we're at as far as, are we one, two, or three in the division," Crosby told reporters at the NHL/NHLPA player media tour Monday, including theScore's John Matisz. "But it's one of those things where that's the hard part about losing. Everybody thinks that the losing is: The buzzer goes, you lose the game, and that sucks. But there's so much more than that.
"It's the turnover. It's the unknown, the uncertainty, the question marks. That's the stuff that's tough. It makes you appreciate the years, all of those years when we were competing and going after that big acquisition every single trade deadline. I don't think I took it for granted, but I definitely appreciate it that much more now."
Crosby's agent, Pat Brisson, hopes the Penguins "have a great season and the speculation will go away," he told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. However, he acknowledged that prolonged time in the league's basement could lead to Crosby's departure from Pittsburgh.
"I mean, I'm answering something that - let's put it this way, it's always a possibility, you know?" Brisson said when asked if Crosby would entertain a trade. "It's been three years they haven't made the playoffs. It all depends on how Sid is going to be and how the team is going to do. I maintain the same position that I do believe that he should be playing playoff hockey every year, in my opinion."
Montreal Canadiens fans are among those clamoring for Crosby, something the Nova Scotia native fully understands.
"I get it," Crosby said, according to Matisz. "Trust me. Growing up a Montreal fan and being not too far from there, I understand just how passionate they are. Whether it's those experiences or guys I've played with who have played there, playing there in the playoffs, 4 Nations - all of these different things - I get it. ... They're so into it, and I get as to why (speculation) would come up and that sort of thing. It doesn't make it any easier when you're losing, for sure, to hear those things.
"But at the same time, to know that a team like that wants you, it's not the end of the world. It could be worse. I just think that's part of it."
