NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ Sidney Crosby didn't lead the Stanley Cup playoffs in scoring.
He just led the Penguins to a championship.
Sure, Crosby was a major force in their offense _ he finished the postseason with eight goals and 19 assists in 24 games, leaving him one point behind teammate Evgeni Malkin, the playoff leader _ but not all of his contributions were tangible.
Heck, his most important ones weren't.
"You see it on the ice, but I think in talking with him and being around him, you can see a different level of drive and commitment," Penguins center Matt Cullen said recently. "I said this before early in the playoffs, in my short time with Sid I don't think I've ever seen him more committed, more determined.
"When you have a guy that can elevate his play to that level, when he's that determined, it's fun. It's fun to see, it's fun to be a part of, it's easy to follow. He's our leader, on and off the ice."
For all he did, on and off the ice, to make the Penguins' fifth Stanley Cup possible, Crosby was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for the second year in a row.
The Smythe winner was chosen in voting by a 15-member panel from the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
Coincidentally enough, the last guy to win back-to-back Smythes also was a Penguins center. Fellow named Lemieux, who just happened to be on hand at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday night to watch the team he owns become the first team to win Cups in consecutive years since Detroit did it in 1997 and 1998.
The Penguins earned the first two of their five Cups when Lemieux was the cornerstone of franchise; the past three have come with Crosby filling that role.
Crosby isn't Lemieux's equal as a pure talent, but he competes as ferociously as anyone who has played the game.
And it's contagious.
"He's a difference-maker," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "I think he sets the tone for our team.
"He's the heartbeat of this hockey team, and his leadership certainly helps this team be the type of team or create the identity that we want to create. It starts with his competitiveness."
Crosby had one goal and six assists in six games during the final, but had made an indelible impression on his teammates long before that, as evidenced by winger Bryan Rust's assessment on the eve of Game 1 against Nashville.
"Sid's been kind of taking his game to a whole new level," he said. "You see it with everything he does ... some of the spectacular plays he makes, some of the goals he has (scored), like that one-handed goal in Buffalo earlier in the year.
"Things like that _ I don't think I'm surprised by them anymore _ but they do kind to make you step back and think, 'Wow, this guy is something special.'
"He keeps rising to the occasion. He keeps getting better and better."
And now Crosby has a couple of Conn Smythe trophies to prove that he's at his best when the games matter most.
