Crosby's Legend Grows With Golden Goal

Craig Custance - SportingNews.com

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- It has to go down as the biggest goal he'll ever score. And that's saying something for a player like Sidney Crosby.

Can it get any bigger than an overtime goal -- in your home country -- that lifts your country to Olympic gold? No, it can't.

And the thing is, Crosby never saw it go in. The biggest goal of his life, and no memory of seeing it scored.

He took a pass from Jarome Iginla and just hoped to put it on net. It became much more than that.

"I just heard everyone screaming," Crosby said. "Literally, I didn't even see the puck. I shot and I couldn't see after that where it went. I saw everyone screaming."

And that screaming meant different things to different people. For Crosby, the screaming meant he scored the goal he has been dreaming about since he first picked up a stick.

For an American like Jack Johnson, it meant defeat. He had just returned to the bench after a shift and never saw the goal.

But a reaction like that from thousands of celebrating Canadian hockey fans meant only one thing: The game was over.

"I didn't even look up," Johnson said. "I knew it was over."

And now, the legend that is Sidney Crosby reaches new heights. He has won a gold medal. He has won a Stanley Cup. Now, the count is on to see just how many times he can reach the pinnacle of hockey.

"There's no coincidence why he's accomplished so much in his young career," Canada teammate Jonathan Toews said. "He's unbelievable. There's nothing that kid can't do or hasn't done already. We were saying in the intermission after the third period that someone is going to be the hero. Someone is going to find a way to do it for us. There's no coincidence he was the guy."

And one goal erases what was an otherwise pedestrian tournament for Crosby. His shootout goal beat Switzerland earlier in the tournament, but beating the Swiss doesn't build legends.

He was being outshined by teammates like Toews, Rick Nash and Ryan Getzlaf. But Mike Babcock kept turning to him, a nod to Babcock's respect for Crosby's will to win.

"We thought we got the best players out there as much as we could," Babcock said. "I thought (Iginla) and Sid would have a chance, and in the end they made a good play."

Had they not, the criticism would have come for Crosby. If the Americans win, Crosby's botched breakaway in the third period would have been seen as a turning point.

Now, that moment will quietly fade away. All because Crosby stepped up and scored when his country needed it most.

"He's one of those guys in big games, he steps up his play and is opportunistic," said Pittsburgh teammate and USA defenseman Brooks Orpik. "You never want to lose, but if we were going to lose, I'm happy he had success."

Success from Sid. Something the hockey world is getting used to.

Staff writer Craig Custance covers the NHL for Sporting News. E-mail him at ccustance@sportingnews.com.

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