Sidney Crosby's Brilliant Season Draws Heat From Fans as Penguins Jeopardize Draft Position

If you were to ask anyone, they would say that Sidney Crosby is undoubtedly one of the NHL's greatest players ever but not only that, but besides Mario Lemieux, may be the greatest Pittsburgh Penguin of all time.

He's a legend on and off the ice, known for his remarkable resilience, and his innate ability to perform at such an elite level even so deep into his illustrious career. This year has shown he's still got the chops to hang with the best even at 37 and during a really rough season.

A known winner and a very sore loser, Crosby won't simply lose a game and keeps fighting until the season is over officially. Each game matters to him, and there's no place for complacency on Sid the Kid's team.

Which is why it's a bit frustrating to see fans giving the Pens captain heat for having a productive season and trying to win, when they feel instead he should be tanking for a better pick.

While Crosby is getting a lot of attention, so too is GM Kyle Dubas and head coach Mike Sullivan.

The backlash seemingly drew some ire from defenders of Crosby, stating that the captain would not willingly throw away a game even with a pick on the line.

It's wild to see Crosby taking any sort of flak, especially since he's brought the team so much success over the past two decades and while it's great that fans are excited for the future; the onus needs to lie on management as to why the team has failed as opposed to their captain; he doesn't build the roster.

To get mad at Crosby, who this season has 87 points in 77 games (31G, 56A) for doing what he's paid to do is ludicrous. There are other ways to facilitate a rebuild, and perhaps the team should try the free agent market, or make a few trades to grab what they need.

But for Sidney Crosby to get so much hate for playing well borders absolute insanity, and Penguins fans should direct their anger towards the brass, not the captain.