Things are going well for the Pittsburgh Penguins early in this year’s Stanley Cup Final. The Pens took the first two games on home ice, with Game 2’s win coming in an overtime thriller on Wednesday night.
Following the game, San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture made some interesting comments regarding Pittsburgh’s captain, Sidney Crosby, who won 71 percent of his faceoffs on Wednesday night, and why he’s been so effective.
After the 2-1 overtime victory, coach Mike Sullivan praised Crosby’s hard work for his faceoff success.
Sharks center Logan Couture had a different explanation.
“He cheats,” Couture said. “He gets away with that. He’s Sidney Crosby.”
Pressed for an explanation of Crosby’s methods, Couture didn’t back down:
“He times them, and yet they don’t kick him out for some reason; probably because of who he is.”
Well, that’s certainly a theory. Maybe there is some truth to Crosby using unfair tactics to gain an advantage in the circle; Couture would know more than the rest of us. Unfortunately for Couture, though, he sure did a terrible job explaining why exactly he believes Crosby is a cheater, because timing faceoffs isn’t exactly illegal. Everyone does it, because that’s what you’re supposed to do.
An alternate explanation for why Crosby is winning so many faceoffs is that he’s actually really good at faceoffs! Good enough to call his shot on his final draw of the game, which led to Conor Sheary’s winning goal.
Sheary said Sid told him he was going to win the face-off, get it to Letang and then get it to Sheary for his goal. #StanleyCupFinal
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) June 2, 2016
Makes the crowd go wild.
Gives the @penguins a 2-0 series lead.#StanleyCuphttps://t.co/qU3o7OrC9X— NHL (@NHL) June 2, 2016
Let’s take a closer look at that, shall we?
Call me crazy, but I’m not sure how that constitutes as cheating, unless you want to claim he didn’t put his stick blade to the ice before the drop. Maybe that’s what Couture meant, but when you call someone a cheater and then are pressed for an explanation, you should probably be more prepared to provide one.
However, it seems that Couture isn’t the only Sharks player who’s already sick of Crosby through two games in this series. Another San Jose center, Joe Thornton, basically tried to take his head off during play on Wednesday.
Regardless, in wake of Couture’s confusing comments, the internet decided to have some fun with the #SidneyCrosbyCheats hashtag.
#SidneyCrosbyCheats because he goes to Olive Garden and they give him free breadsticks just because of who he is.
— ego (@notmalkinego) June 2, 2016
https://twitter.com/ARFueller89/status/738366530061111296
https://twitter.com/buzz1980/status/738353744862056449
#SidneyCrosbyCheats because he doesn't have to pay to check out books at the public library, simply because of who he is.
— Chill Kessel (@ChillKessel) June 2, 2016
https://twitter.com/TheHooovManeuv/status/738240956592476160
https://twitter.com/richsandera/status/738239809311870977
https://twitter.com/MadChad412/status/738233115903176705
#SidneyCrosbyCheats by not paying for things. Look at the jersey he wears and stick he uses. They just give it to him because of who he is!
— Bret Bashim (@bretbashim) June 2, 2016
#SidneyCrosbyCheats at banking. He puts money in his account and every month they just give him a percentage of it cause of who he is!
— Mike Neurohr, average $8/month keeper (@mwn3d) June 2, 2016
https://twitter.com/Rick_City/status/738221066812858368
