Sample size my friend. Sample size.
Crosby has already played 160 games in the postseason. I know, i know, different era's but the fact is it's easier to find games or series of modern players that detract than it is from players who literally had entire playoff runs that I can count on one hand.
It's not an easy cross era comparison but Morenz has a lot more no shows than Crosby.
Fact is Crosby is one of 3 players to win back to back Smythes. Argue all you want against his 2016 one. It certainly is one of the weaker ones in history but do we just throw what he did out? Went power on power against Joe Thornton and Pavelski's line in the finals. You know how many goals the Sharks top line scored? 1. An empty netter. People want to throw out complete hypotheticals like Morenz had poor production in 30 and 31 because he had to play defense for the top line covering for Gagnon. I find that possible, but highly unlikely regardless, without concrete evidence to the contrary. Are we going to give Sid some credit for shutting down 2 very good player?
In that first run Crosby scored a game winning OT goal against Tampa in the Conference Finals with the team down 0-1 in the series. What if Pitt fell in that game and went down 0-2? Pretty massive goal i would say.
Cup final, game 2, Crosby draws up the final play, wins a clean faceoff and Conor Sheary pots the OT game winner. Another massive play that Sid created and executed perfectly. Listen to Sheary in the post game interview talk about Sid drawing it up on the fly.
How about 2017?
The next one? A very fine Smythe, leading the postseason in assists, better point per game average than Malkin who finished with 1 more point than Sid in 2 more games.
Conference Finals, Game 7, double OT, Crosby with the primary assist on the Kunitz's game winner. These aren't early round huge moments.
Crosby was the best player in the Cup finals against Nashville. I was personally at Game 5 in Pittsburgh when Crosby played one of the greatest games of his entire career. A night I will never forget. Blowout win that Sid started from the 1st shift when he won the opening faceoff, and seconds later rang one off the post, drawing a penalty, which the Pens scored on to start the onslaught.
How about playoff VsX?
Sid pretty far ahead of Morenz. And that's not including Crosby's ridiculous 21 points in 12 games last playoffs.
Sure Sid had a poor stretch from 2012 to 2015 (2011 was lost due to injury and 2012 he was coming back from a nasty broken jaw) but as somebody like
@Mike Farkas can attest, those Pens teams were absolute disasters because Dan Bylsma had no clue what the **** he was doing. Even still in those years Sid had 36 points in 38 games. Marc Andre Fleury was one of the worst playoff goalies off all time during that stretch, the D was putrid overall.
But the fact remains Sid way more often than not, produced. He was generally a solid defensive player, solid in the dot, scored at an elite rate and between 2008 and 2017 went to 4 Stanley Cup finals, leading or co-leading the team to 3 wins.
I can only point to one Cup win where Morenz can lay claim to being the best player, or most important for Montreal. Plenty of other poor showings. Certainly more so than Crosby by any metric I've ever seen.
