Still on your soap box, huh? In 2014/15 Crosby finished 3 points back with 5 less games played than Benn. He won the 2013/14 Ross by 17 points. In 2012/13 He played TWELVE less games than MSL and finished 4 points behind. He likely wins in 2011/12 if not hurt. He likely wins in 2010/11 if not hurt. In 2016/17 he was 11 points back from McDavid in 7 less games as a 29 year old and won the Richard.
You just don't like this point, but Crosby genuinely could have 3-4 more Ross trophies. Which doesn't mean anything other than to say he has been one of the best players in the world for most of the 2010's.
Let’s break down your points.
1. He lost to Jaime Benn. He then followed it up by finishing Jaime Benn again and getting torn apart by Kane. He lost to Jaime Benn
2. His 2013-2014 season is an overinflated win. 4 of the 5 players behind him in PPG missed anywhere from 22-45 games. Does he win regardless? Yes. But it becomes a more ordinary Art Ross win, more in line with someone who would soon struggle to match Benn and Tavares, who are not Kucherov and MacKinnon.
3. Crosby certainly wins in 2012-2013 if he played even a few more games. I’ve always said this, though I’ll never bow down and hand out a phantom trophy as if he actually won it. Uh oh, the narrative of me being unreasonable is already falling apart.
4. There’s nothing likely about 2011-2012. He missed way too many games. It’s fair for me to doubt it because he never showed me he was anything close to Gretzky or Lemieux, or even McDavid in 2020-2021 and 2022-2023 for that matter. He was not immune to getting beat.
5. Concession #2. I’ve always said it was likely he wins in 2010-2011. It can also be true that a 25 game heater that ended two games before the concussion doesn’t mean that he was scoring 60+ and 130+.
6. McDavid told him to get lost in 2017, and he did, never coming close in a scoring race ever again. That is fact.
TLDR: I’ve always said he has a surefire two more Art Rosses had 2010-2011 and 2012-2013 played out normally. It is not wrong of me to point to other areas of his career where he’s lacking to step back and say hold up, we can’t just automatically grant him an additional 4-5 Art Rosses. If he won in 2008-2009 and didn’t embarrass himself in 2014-2015 and 2015-2016, I’d be right there beating the drum about he was a slam dunk for sweeping the awards from 2010-2011 through 2012-2013 and putting up the fantasy totals people clamoring about 130+.