Sidney Crosby’s stats in calendar year for 2023
Closing the book on another year for the Penguins’ captain
It’s the start of another new year, which means in part the updating of another favorite feature here at Pensburgh: Sidney Crosby’s yearly point scoring.
The ol’ boy is getting a little long in the tooth, but you wouldn’t know it from the production that the Pens’ captain is still driving. The calendar year of 2023 was in the top half of the better years of Crosby’s career, due to labor stoppages, injuries and the pandemic all taking games off the board for him. 2023 ended up being the ninth most productive year of his career which (unbelievably) is going into its 20th different year in 2024.
Crosby entered 2023 with 1,432 points and in 18th place all-time in the regular season scoring. He left 2023 in 13th place, having passed a legend at each turn: Teemu Selanne, Stan Mikita, Paul Coffey, Mark Recchi, Joe Thornton isn’t safe for long, only one point ahead of Crosby as 2024 begins. Sid also left his contemporary Alex Ovechkin in the dust, entering 2023 three points behind AO and leaving him 32 points in his wake during this past year.
The year ahead holds some tantalizing milestones for Crosby. 600 goals is a possibility. 1,000 assists and 1,600 points are even more likely, which will make him the 14th player to the four-digit assist plateau and 10th player to the 1,600 mark.
What Crosby is doing at this age should be celebrated and enjoyed in the moment. This year at age 35/36, Crosby’s production is essentially right where it’s been the past few years and showing no drop-off from his 2019-21 days where he was scoring at similar rates. Father Time is always going to be undefeated, but the inevitable can be delayed through training, determination, consistency and force of will. Those are all tenets of Crosby’s personality and game, so perhaps it is no surprise that even as he advances towards being old for an NHL hockey player that he remains one of the absolute best in his craft.
That’s special and doesn’t come along every day. By the end of 2024, Crosby could be as high as 10th all-time in NHL scoring. Mario Lemieux and his 1,723 career points as the Penguin franchise record is a figure Crosby could legitimately get to sometime early in 2026 if he continues scoring like he has been lately.
As Crosby’s career advances, just about every goal and point is special to set some sort of record or accomplish some kind of achievement. It’s been an incredible ride, and if 2024 individually for Sid can follow in the footsteps of 2023 (and the rest of his brilliant career), there will be more great days ahead to bask in.