Feb 18, 2017 4 min read

Sidney Crosby’s 1,000th career point was quintessential Crosby and one of hundreds of examples of why, in NHL scoring, assists count the same as goals.

Thursday night, in front of a home crowd ready to celebrate, Crosby got his stick on the puck in front of the Winnipeg Jets’ goal, beat the defensemen to the right circle, won the battle for the puck, turned and put a perfect pass on Chris Kunitz’ stick. Kunitz did what about half the people in the building could have done – he turned it into a goal.

Crosby became the 12th fastest player to reach 1,000 points, but all 11 who got there faster played before 1992.

He’s the fastest to get there in the salary cap era with goaltenders dressed like the Michelin Man and coaches dedicated to tape study and systems.

Despite playing in an era when goals are so much harder to come by, Crosby is ranked fifth in points per game on the all-time list at 1.32. Wayne Gretzky (1.92) and Mario Lemieux (1.88) are untouchable, but Mike Bossy (1.49) and Bobby Orr (1.39) are very much in the same ballpark.

If you allow for the increased difficulty in 21st century scoring, you could make a very good case for Crosby being the third best point producer of all time.

That, of course, would mean two of the three greatest scorers in NHL history played in Pittsburgh.

Amazing when you consider that, a little more than a year ago, there were people – including in the media – suggesting it was time to think about trading him, moving him to the third line and/or taking the “C” off his sweater.

Crosby is a long way from the end of his career, but a good argument could be made he and Lemieux are the two best players in Pittsburgh sports history.

• There are only five current players, including Crosby, who are ranked in the top 50 in points per game. Evgeni Malkin is 14th, Alexander Ovechkin 18th, Jaromir Jagr 20th and Patrick Kane 46th.

• The big question in Cleveland sports right now is whether the Browns are going to trade the 12th overall pick in this year’s draft to the Patriots for backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Based on how things have gone for the Browns and Patriots the last 20 years or so, Garoppolo would end up being a bust and Bill Belichick would use the pick to draft a future Hall of Fame player.

Garoppolo looked exactly like Tom Brady in the two games he started and finished last season while Brady was serving his suspension. He was injured in his third start, but in the Patriots’ first two games he was 43-63 for 502 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating was 113.0.

If those numbers don’t remind you of Brady, I invite you to check out Garoppolo’s highlights on YouTube. The resemblance is uncanny.

Out of 63 passing attempts, two were beyond 30 yards, both incomplete. Garoppolo has never completed a pass longer than 29 yards in his three-year NFL career. He’s also never thrown an interception.

Two words for the Browns to remember before they decide Garoppolo is a franchise quarterback.

Matt Cassel.

He looked like a future star after taking over for Brady in Week 1 in 2008. Since then he has played for six other NFL teams.

• On back-to-back nights last week, the Penguins proved there is no overtime in sports that is more exciting than the NHL’s.

It makes you wonder why it took so long to settle on 3-on-3. The purists would hate it, but I would go to 3-on-3 in the playoffs after one 20-minute 5-on-5 overtime.

The tension and excitement with 3-on-3 in a Game 7 would be almost too intense to watch.

• Call me crazy but I still think Marc Andre Fleury, when playing regularly, is just now entering his prime and is the Penguins’ best goalie.

• What makes anybody, including Andrew McCutchen, believe that playing right field is easier than playing centerfield?

• It might be a good idea for big-name athletes to avoid Pittsburgh’s South Side after, say, 1 a.m.

• I’m so old I remember when the Dapper Dan banquet mattered.

• Donald Trump did America a favor by turning down ESPN’s request for him to fill out an NCAA basketball bracket.

Now he should do the country another favor by ending White House visits for championship winners. It’s become what just about every other good thing has become in the last 20 years – too political.

John Steigerwald writes a Sunday sports column for the Observer-Reporter.