JiC: the Habs would have won the Cup twice if they had drafted Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby is probably the best hockey player of his generation. The Penguins star, who is at the Bell Centre tonight, isn’t slowing down despite turning 36: before today’s game, he had amassed 28 points in 27 games this season.

Far, far from bad.

In 2005, the Penguins were lucky enough to select him. Because of the lockout, a special lottery meant that many teams, including the Habs, had the chance to get the first pick and, therefore, select Crosby.

And tonight, with the Penguins in town, JiC imagined another reality: one where Sid the Kid landed in Montreal at number one. And in such a scenario, he says the Tricolore would have won the Stanley Cup twice during the Crosby era.

What if Sidney Crosby had played for the Canadiens? @JiCLajoie ‘s season tickethttps://t.co/JHsIgsuIGC

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) December 13, 2023

In fact, he speculates that the Habs would have won it in 2010 (the centennial year, no less) and 2015, twice rather than once against the Blackhawks. JiC also suggests that the club would have reached the final in 2012, but lost to the Kings.

What’s interesting, however, is to imagine which players would have been the Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis of the Tricolore. The TVA Sports host maintains that Guillaume Latendresse and Alex Tanguay would have become real rock stars in Montreal with big offensive seasons.

Instead of one Quebecer in Dupuis, there would have been two.

But even if Crosby could possibly have made the Canadiens prosper, the story would have been very different. In such a world, JiC mentions Carey Price picking up with the Penguins, but Crosby’s absence forcing them to move to Kansas City.

Would the Penguins really have selected Carey Price two years after drafting Marc-André Fleury in the very first spot? The question arises, but we get the gist.

Considering that Crosby was a Tricolore fan as a child, it would have been a great story to see him become this figurehead in Canadiens history. But we all agree that, given what we know today, Crosby in a (Pittsburgh) Penguins uniform would be a bit of a dud.

Itremains to be seen whether he’ll finish his career in these colors…

In gossip

– Speaking of Crosby, he scored tonight in the first period. Of course he did.

– There are worse models.

– Facing Sidney Crosby was special for Logan Cooley.

“It was a special moment for Cooley” https://t.co/P6kLP0TyqA

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) December 14, 2023

– Poor Conor, hehe.

– I love seeing Noah Dobson on this list.