The Sidney Crosby Career Simulation

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As a huge fan of “what-if” scenarios when it comes to hockey, I have always been curious about how Sidney Crosby’s career would have played out if the 2004-05 lockout had not gifted him to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Lucky for me, my curiosity can be satisfied by FHM 6’s Historical Mode.

I used Historical Mode to reset the NHL to 2003 (I originally reset it to 2004 and couldn’t move forward as a schedule had not been generated due to the lockout) and watched the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons unfold.

In 2003-04, the Detroit Red Wings came out on top as Stanley Cup Champions by beating Ottawa in five games. Ottawa’s Marian Hossa, however, won the Conn Smythe.



Toronto, the Islanders, and Calgary were the bottom dwellers at the end of the year.

Columbus, Washington, and Montreal won the lottery ahead of the Ovechkin/Malkin draft. I expected Columbus to pick one of Jonathan Quick or Corey Schneider in accordance with past goalie-skewed FHM AI Drafts and was incredibly surprised to see them take LW Ryan Callahan instead. Nevertheless, I was comforted by the fact that Ovi would end up in Washington. Wrong. LD Mark Giordano went to the Capitals at #2. Malkin to Montreal, Quick to the Leafs, and Schneider to the Isles rounded out the top five.

Ovechkin went ninth to San Jose.



The previously lost year of 2004-05 saw the Lightning claim the Cup only one year behind schedule.



9th overall pick Alex Ovechkin put up 33-35-68 to win the Calder.

Phoenix, Toronto, and Chicago finished at the bottom of the standings.

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The Dallas Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Toronto Maple Leafs won the lottery.

Again, I expected Dallas to take Price and proved to be correct. The Penguins passed over their franchise player and instead selected G Tuukka Rask, leaving Toronto to select Sidney Crosby third overall.

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There are so many potential storylines that come with this new alternate world and I’m really excited to explore them. My very first thought was that Crosby would now have a natural rivalry with Malkin, who is only a few hours away in Montreal. With Ovechkin off on the west coast, it likely will be Malkin and the Canadiens standing in the way of Crosby and the Leafs, which is an amazing turn of events. I also remembered that the Leafs picked 4th overall in the 2004 Draft and nabbed Jonathan Quick, giving them two good young players in two important positions.



A quick review of the depth chart revealed that Sid would be learning under two of the best centres in Mats Sundin and Joe Nieuwendyk. Unfortunately, this does mean that he starts the season low on the depth chart. On Opening Night, the lines looked like this, with Sid on the fourth line between Josh Holden and Matt Stajan.



Sid’s first NHL game came at home against Ottawa on October 5, 2005. He played an underwhelming 7:18 and recorded one shot on goal.

Three days later, the Leafs played host to their rival, the Montreal Canadiens. The first of what I anticipate will be many matchups between Crosby and Malkin.

Sid scored his first NHL goal less than eight minutes into the game. The assists went to Karel Pilar and Nik Antropov.



The Leafs ended up losing 5-3 after Montreal tied it up and took the lead in a span of 45 seconds with less than three minutes to go.

Welcome to Toronto, Sidney.

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The month of October was a tough one for Sid as he continued to play behind Sundin, Nieuwendyk, and Antropov on the depth chart. In 12 games, he averaged a brief 10:47 of ice time and recorded two goals and two assists.

However, things seem on track to change as Antropov went down with a third-degree MCL Sprain in the Leafs’ Halloween night loss to the Panthers. With Antropov out 1-2 months, Sid should be getting more minutes.

(Can you imagine the national uproar if the Leafs were giving Sidney Crosby fourth line minutes behind Nik Antropov in 2005?)

In his first game after the Antropov injury, Crosby scored a goal and assisted on another as the Leafs beat Carolina in Raleigh. One month after Antropov went down, Sid’s ATOI stood at 13:48 and he had a 7-9-16 stat line after 26 games.

On December 3, 2005, the 15-7-3 San Jose Sharks and Alex Ovechkin came to Toronto. As when Malkin came to town, Sid scored.

On Boxing Day, Mats Sundin sprained his ankle against the Devils. Sid took over first line duties, scored, and added three assists in a Leafs win. He followed that up by tallying four assists on the 29th against the Sabres.

41 games into his rookie season, Crosby has 13 goals and 17 assists in 14:58 of ice time.

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As the season wound down, it became clear that the Leafs would not be making the playoffs. They finished last in the Northeast Division and 23rd in the league. Sid finished with 58 points and earned a nomination for the Calder Trophy, which he won.



The Colorado Avalanche won the Cup and Rob Blake took home the Conn Smythe.



With Sundin and Nieuwendyk both re-signing, it seems like Crosby will continue to be in a fight for ice-time at the centre ice position. It’s really a shame that the Leafs’ best players play the same position as Sid. I feel like the overall roster construction would be a lot better if he had a good winger or defenseman instead of Nieuwendyk. Hopefully we (the Leafs) get a good pick in the upcoming draft that can help out.

Overall, I feel like it was an average season for Sid. I expected a lot more going into it, but after seeing his circumstances, was totally impressed with what he was able to accomplish.

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The Leafs have sent Nik Antropov and Eric Messier to St. Louis for Barrett Jackman!

It’s a good deal for Sid, who will likely get more playing time. Jackman is not who I would have targeted out of St. Louis, but beggars can’t be choosers.

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We are picking 9th overall in the Toews/Backstrom/Giroux draft. Hoping for a winger or defender.

The Penguins picked Giroux 1st overall, which is incredible considering the real-life history there. The Jackets get Backstrom at 2. Atlanta get Toews, which is especially exciting considering they will be moving to Winnipeg soon, which is his hometown. The Rangers took Varlamov and the Coyotes grabbed their own goalie in Steve Mason. Brad Marchand goes to the Isles at 6. Nashville takes Jordan Staal. Washington takes Jonathan Bernier.

The best players left for us are Erik Johnson, Nick Foligno, and Phil Kessel. I have my fingers crossed for Phil.

We take Johnson.

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Jonathan Quick is now the Leafs starter, so the future has well and truly arrived in Toronto. Despite my initial displeasure at picking Johnson, I will admit that the Leafs are now sitting pretty with a franchise centre, franchise goaltender, and steady defenceman in consecutive drafts. Johnson is starting the season with the Marlies.



Sid looks like he has wrestled the first line spot from Mats Sundin.



One month in, Sophomore Sid is averaging 23 minutes a night and is on a point per game pace.



Two months in, he continues to be a on a point per game pace. Through 41 games, he’s posted 24-23-47 with five game winning goals.

Looking at our roster now, Sundin’s ratings seem to have fallen off a cliff. Also, Nieuwendyk retired in the offseason without me noticing. Why he would bother to re-sign and then retire is beyond me. Maybe trading Antropov wasn’t so smart of the Leafs after all. Regardless, Crosby’s presence alone should mean that they will be fine down the middle.

By February, the Leafs had 61 points, good enough for second in the division behind Ottawa and 5th in the East. Here’s hoping we get to see the playoffs for the first time.

The trade deadline came and went without the Leafs moving a muscle. Geno Malkin leads the league in scoring and Sid is in 5th.



Sophomore Sid won the scoring title with 105 points to Malkin’s 103 and the Leafs made the playoffs for the first time since 2002-03.

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The Leafs are playing Montreal in round one. You cannot script it any better. Crosby vs. Malkin with playoff stakes. A matchup I’ve been looking forward to since the day Crosby went to Toronto. Amazing.

(It will truly be interesting to see what Crosby/Malkin and Ovechkin/Backstrom can do apart.)

I should mention now that Montreal is set up nicely for the future as well. They have Malkin and Shea Weber as well as David Perron.



The Leafs took Game 1 in Montreal behind a 39-save shutout from Jonathan Quick. Sid had a goal and an assist. Malkin was -2.

Game 2 went to the Canadiens. Malkin had two goals while Sid ended up -3.

Game 3 in Toronto was a 6-0 blowout for the Leafs. Quick made 34 saves in the shutout and Sid had two goals and an assist.

The Leafs won a pivotal Game 4 behind Sid’s goal and two assists. Malkin was held off the score sheet. The matchup between Crosby and Malkin has been okay but not great thus far. There hasn’t been a signature head-to-head game yet like the Ovechkin and Crosby hattricks. So far it has been one player hitting the scoresheet and the other having a bad game.

We lost Game 5 in Montreal in OT. Wasted was a four-point night from Sid. Malkin put up three points himself. It was the first game where it truly felt like they were going head-to-head.

We lost Game 6 again in OT. Jon Sim of all people has set up back to back OT winners against us. We were up 3-1! This will be a collapse felt throughout Ontario if we blow this. Sid was -2 while Malkin put up a goal and an assist. Our series is the only one heading to seven games.

Oh my god, we lost Game 7. We blew a 3-1 lead and lost Game 7 in Montreal by a score of 4-2. Sid was -1 while Malkin scored and set up two more.

Just incredible theatre towards the end. I cannot wait to see how this rivalry grows over two decades. Malkin with Weber and Perron should be a formidable opponent against Crosby with Quick and Johnson. For now it’s Malkin 1 – Crosby 0.

Sid finished his first playoff series with 12 points in 7 games.

The Red Wings won the Cup. Jiri Hudler was the Conn Smythe winner. Worth noting that this was just a year before the real-life Penguins went to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time and lost to Detroit as Malkin did here.

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Mario Lemieux and Brian Leetch retired. More importantly for us, Owen Nolan also hung them up. In Free Agency, a perfect Nolan replacement on the wing, Marian Hossa, left Ottawa and signed with Chicago. Another winger, James Neal, was dealt to Buffalo by Atlanta for Danny Briere.

It is the Patrick Kane draft. Boston has the first pick. I assume they are going Bobrovsky thanks to the skewed AI, leaving Kane to the Blackhawks. As a result, I am pleasantly surprised when they don’t. Kane to Boston, Bobrovsky to Chicago, and McDonagh to Colorado.

We have the 22nd overall pick in the draft, maybe we can land a winger.

We take Craig Smith.

Our division will now have Crosby, Malkin, and Kane.

In August, the Leafs made a head-scratching trade by dealing Alexander Steen – who is 23 and played on Sid’s left wing – and a prospect to Philadelphia for 32-year old Todd White and a 4th round draft pick. What the hell. Karel Pilar, who assisted on Crosby’s first goal ever, is also gone. He was traded to the Avs for Steve Moore.



Josh Holden is our best LW. Alexei Ponikarovsky is our best RW. Dear God.

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On the bright side, it seems like both Quick and Johnson are developing nicely alongside Sid. The three of them are going to have to pull their weight and then some if we are going to make the playoffs this year.

The lines:



We get shutout by Ottawa and Ray Emery to begin the season. In the next game, we also lose to Ottawa 8-4. We start the season 4-6-0.

Sid gets suspended in November for 3 games. By December, we are playing solid .500 hockey at 13-13-0.

After 41 team games, Sid has 18-27-45.

Also, Barrett Jackman is our captain.

By the trade deadline, the Leafs are 32-30-2, which is nowhere near good enough for playoffs.

No playoffs for us. Sid finished with a respectable 82 points beside Josh Holden and Erik Condra. Meanwhile, Alex Ovechkin wins the Art Ross beside Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau.



The Canucks and Tim Thomas, yes, Tim Thomas defeat Roberto Luongo’s Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final. Seriously. Thomas won the Conn Smythe.

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Mats Sundin retired.

After finishing out of the playoffs, the Maple Leafs should have a top ten pick in the Stamkos/Doughty/Karlsson draft.

We are picking fourth overall and fifth overall because we somehow have AnaheimÂ’s pick and I missed it. The pessimist in me is expecting that weÂ’ll end up with Holtby and Andersen. My heart says Karlsson and Pietrangelo. Can you imagine Karlsson and Pietrangelo spending their career as a pair with Sidney Crosby up front? The thought of it alone is so tempting that it makes me want to take over the team for the draft and make it happen. Don't worry, I didn't actually do it.

Karlsson goes first to the Islanders, which makes sense. Minnesota picks Holtby because of the AI goalie love affair. We could potentially have two of Doughty, Pietrangelo, or Stamkos to go with Sid. Oh my god. Any combination of those three with Sid would create a surefire dynasty.

I think I'd prefer the defensemen to Stamkos, honestly. Sid is Sid, he can figure out the scoring on his own so long as the back end is locked down for the next decade. Imagine Doughty and Pietrangelo playing in front of their hometown every night. How many Stanley Cups could this trio win? I mean, at least two.

So yeah, my final answer is Doughty and Pietrangelo.

Here we go, with the fourth pick we take Frederik Andersen. Jesus Christ. Pain. Why why why.

And then, with Stamkos, Doughty, and Pietrangelo still on the board, we pick Roman Josi at 5.

Why, FHM, why?

I guess there is some hope. We managed to grab Jordan Eberle and Adam Henrique with our second and third round picks. But yeah, we could have had Doughty and Pietrangelo and a dynasty.

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Ah, okay. Here we go. Year four for Sid.

So, Josi isn’t actually bad. I wanted someone to help stabilize our blueline beside Johnson and he'll do the job well. That’s fine. It’s the Andersen pick that will haunt me.

In real life, Sid wins the Cup in 08-09. In this alternate reality, he’s treading water while his linemates try to drag him under. He’s going to play his second consecutive season beside Holden and Condra. He should leave Toronto and never look back.





We are 1-8-1 at the ten-game mark. Sid has six points. Condra and Holden have two each. At the end of November, we are a ghastly 5-16-2. Sid has 21 points in 23 games. Holden and Condra have 18. Combined.

By the trade deadline, we have made our home in the basement alongside St. Louis whose best player is 29-year old Brian Campbell. Sid is still scoring at point per game. Everyone should be fired.

Sid finished the year with 36-50-86 and an ugly -13. The team finished 33-40-9. What a nightmare.



Ryan Getzlaf, Ilya Bryzgalov, and the Anaheim Ducks beat Joe Thornton, Patrice Bergeron, Patrick Kane, and T.J. Oshie in the final. Good God. Patrick Kane from the losing team won the Conn Smythe, which happens way too often and is one of my biggest complaints about FHM 6.

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Darcy Tucker retired.

We are picking second in the Tavares/Hedman draft. I fully expect us to reach for, let’s see, Casey DeSmith. In all honesty, though, if we land one of the top two players, there's a ton of incredible storylines. Tavares would come to Toronto in the fall of 2009, a full eight years ahead of schedule. He would fill that spot behind Sid that Malkin excelled in in real life. If Hedman were to come to Toronto, he would join a D corps that will suddenly have the potential to become one of the best in the league.

Phoenix takes Tavares and pairs him with Kopitar down the middle. Can't fault them for that, that's an insane combo of centres. We take Victor Hedman.

Oh my god. Sid, I am so happy for you, my guy.

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I am so so happy about Hedman still. He and Josi on the blueline and Quick in net should help offset any offensive troubles our team will have in the future. Too bad we can’t have two goalies on the ice at once because Andersen is developing well.



Sid will begin the season with Adam Henrique and Tom Pyatt. Hedman, god bless him, is immediately on our top pair.



We lose the season opener against Montreal. We start the year 6-4-0. By the new year, the Leafs are humming along at 25-14-2. Through 41 games, Sidney is, well, Sidney. He has 49 points and six game winning goals.

At the trade deadline, Sid is third in the scoring race behind Nicklas Backstrom and Joe Thornton. The Leafs are 4th in the East. At first glance, I assumed Hedman and a well-developed Johnson have been the difference, but Sid is just a man possessed. Guy has 83 points already while the next closest Leaf is rookie Jordan Eberle with 35. Crosby is also an insane +39 while second-line centre Todd White is -19.

Get this man some help up front, Toronto.

Sid dragged us to the playoffs and finished third in the scoring race. He was sandwiched between Patrick Kane and Joe Thornton, who have each other while he has Adam Henrique and Jordan Eberle, who aren’t bad, but aren’t Joe Thornton or Patrick Kane.

We made the playoffs!

[Jamee999]

Can you imagine how obnoxious TSN would be if Crosby spent his whole career on the Leafs?

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Originally Posted by Jamee999

Can you imagine how obnoxious TSN would be if Crosby spent his whole career on the Leafs?

It's always in the back of my mind as I'm doing this. Alternate reality TSN and Sportsnet must be a downright pain.

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Buffalo is our first-round opponent. They have Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, and James Neal. They also have Ryan Miller, who Sid scored the Golden Goal against just over a month ago.



We lost Game 1 at home after the aforementioned Ryan Miller made 36 saves. Sid had an assist on the only Leaf goal, which was scored by Erik Johnson.

We won Game 2 behind a two-point effort from Victor Hedman. Sid was pointless.

Game 3 in Buffalo went to us. Sid scored the game winner.

We also win Game 4 in Buffalo after Sid came up with a three-point performance.

We are, once again, up 3-1 in the first round. But, thank god, Jon Sim is nowhere to be seen as he is off playing in Chicago instead of setting up a comeback against us.

Good God, we lost Game 5 at home in OT on a shorthanded goal by Matt Read.

We were blown out in Buffalo in Game 6, 7-1. Good God.

Once again, our series is the only one heading 7.

We won, 5-4. Sid said no thanks to the collapse and scored twice. Overall, he had three points, but was a -4. Incredible.

We are playing the Islanders in the second round. The Isles have both Jimmy Howard and Corey Schneider, which I originally laughed at them for until I remembered Andersen is playing his ass off with the Marlies. Other than that, they seem to only really have a young Karlsson and a young Brad Marchand.



Okay, wait, the Isles also have Martin Jones AND Ondrej Pavelec? Amazing. Four tries and they did not end up with a single game-changing goalie. Now I can laugh.

We won Game 1. Sid scored a goal.

We won Game 2 as well. Sid had an assist.

We lost Game 3. Sid was held pointless.

Christ, we won Game 4 11-1. Sid had a goal and an assist in the beatdown. A 3-1 lead, what could go wrong?

We lost Game 5, a close one, 3-2. Sid had a goal and an assist.

And we won Game 6! Sid had an assist. We are going to the Conference Final for the first time!

Patrick Kane’s Bruins and Jonathan Toews’ Thrashers are in a Game 7 to see who will play us. Add these two to the list of split duos.

The Thrashers won. Ilya Kovalchuk scored four goals and added an assist. Toews had two assists. Kovalchuk had four goals. The only person not named Thornton, Kane, Bergeron, or Oshie to hit the scoresheet for the Bruins was some guy named Jack Hillman who had an assist in the loss.

So, Atlanta. They have Kovalchuk, Toews, Heatley, and Briere. Where they are weak is on D where Braydon Coburn and Dan Girardi will have to stop Sid. Lehtonen on the back end isn’t that intimidating either. But yeah, good luck to us trying to contain Kovalchuk, who seems to be playing possessed hockey. Guy has 18 points in 12 games in the playoffs.



Game 1 goes to Atlanta 7-3. Kovalchuk had a hat trick. Ilya Kovalchuk, three days removed from a four-goal game, scored a hat trick in Toronto. Somehow, Sid escaped with a +1 and Victor Hedman had an even rating.

Game 2 we lost 2-0.

The series shifted to Atlanta in Game 3 and we lost 3-2 despite a multi-point effort from Sid. Down 3-0, do we have it in us?

No, we don’t. Ilya Kovalchuk beats us down one last time. It’s officially Toews (Kovalchuk!) 1 – Crosby 0.

Sid finished the playoffs with 18 points in 17 games.

Detroit and Atlanta go seven in the Final. Can you imagine if Atlanta won the Cup here and then left for Winnipeg anyway? What a mess that would be.

We are saved from that scenario by the Wings, who eked out a 3-2 win. It took Nick Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg, and Pavel Datsyuk to defeat Ilya Kovalchuk. I wouldn’t be mad if Kovalchuk got the Conn Smythe.

Kronwall gets it.

[Sevsdast]

Will the Thrashers move?

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Originally Posted by Sevsdast

Will the Thrashers move?

Yes, I'll be letting league evolution play out. The Thrashers and Jonathan Toews will be in Winnipeg by the summer of 2011.