IS SIDNEY CROSBY THAT GREAT OR IS IT THAT HE IS SO HATED?

That great.

Sidney Crosby is that great.

Hated by opponents perhaps because he is so great, but this hate thing’s probably a stretch.

He is revered by teammates, coaches, members of the Pittsburgh organizational hierarchy and most hockey fans, allegiances be damned. Any hatred if it exists at all is rooted in jealousy.

But when you see players in opposing sweaters make a habit of zeroing in on Sid’s head — he has suffered multiple debilitating concussions — it makes you wonder.

It made me wonder until I saw Crosby return that kind of favor to Nashville Predator all-world defenseman P.K. Subban, bouncing his head on the ice like a basketball in the recently completed Stanley Cup Finals.

“Sid the Kid.”

“The Next One.”

Moving on up. As in on the very short list of the greatest hockey players ever.

Ever.

No less an authority than Penguins part owner and savior Mario Lemieux — remember him? — told NHL.com’s Lisa Dillman that, “he’s been able to lead this team from the day we drafted him. He grew as a great leader, a great player, one of the best of all time. For him to win three Cups puts him amongst the greats of the game.”

Pens GM Jim Rutherford with a (back-to-back) pair of Lord Stanley’s Cups now on his resume since assuming the position in 2014 — to go along with the Cup he won as general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 — heartily agreed.

“In Sid’s case, I think now we can talk about him being in those top two, three, four guys of all-time. He’s a special player. He’s a special person. He’s won three Cups now. Two Conn Smythe [Playoff MVP] Trophies back to back. He’s in that group for me.”

And to this observer, his greatest attribute may be his ability to lead. He’s that naturally adept at it. After all, he was named Pittsburgh’s team captain on May 31, 2007 when he was 19 years, nine months and 24 days of age, making him the youngest team captain in NHL history.

As a rookie in the 2005-’06 NHL campaign, Crosby set another “youngest in NHL history” mark when he tallied more than 100 points (he had 102) but the Penguins finished with the Eastern Conference’s worst record and The Kid was developing a reputation for whining, especially among the league’s graybeards.

Jealousy or dues-paying?

Hard to distinguish and even fathom when his reaction to a stick in the mouth from former Flyers defenseman Derian Hatcher — an old-school tough guy — in November of that season which required stitches and the removal of his two front teeth, was to score the game-winner in overtime with 46.7 seconds remaining. He had two goals and an assist in the 3–2 win.

The propensity to complain to the referees, “a referee whisperer” he was dubbed, should have been overshadowed by the first of what would be a laundry list of his defining moments. Though he’s somehow been unable to shake the rep completely, Crosby learned fast that even the great players had to earn the calls.

And he has — in spades.

Sidney Crosby is just the third player in NHL annals to win the Conn Smythe Trophy in back-to-back seasons joining Bernie Parent (1974, 1975) and Lemieux (1991, 1992). He now has won his third Stanley Cup to accompany two Olympic Gold Medals and golds in the World Junior Championships, the World Championships and the World Cup of Hockey.

In his third NHL season when the Pens made it to the Stanley Cup Final which they lost in six games to Detroit, he notched 27 points in 20 playoff contests. The next year (2009) when he led Pittsburgh to their first Cup victory since 1992, he had 31 points in 24 playoff games.

In his fifth year Crosby won his first Rocket Richard Trophy (NHL leading goal scorer) after tying Steven Stamkos with a league-high 51 strikes; he led the league again this season with 44 goals.

Midway through 2010-’11 the spate of concussions began, costing him parts of two NHL seasons.

Crosby has missed 114 games in his career due to concussion-related issues, most notably 48 in 2010-’11; 20 to begin 2011-’12 and then another 40 later that season. He missed the first six games on this year’s schedule as well as Game 4 of the Penguins’ playoff series against the Washington Capitals after being concussed yet again in Game 3 (05/01/2017) courtesy of a vicious cross-check to the head by Matt Niskanen.

Said Niskanen who was assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for the blatant transgression, “[I] certainly didn’t mean to injure him.”

Really?

Crosby’s fourth reported concussion in roughly 6 years could be the precursor to serious and troubling long-term effects for a man who is not yet 30. There is no denying that the target on his back rarely goes unnoticed, for this reason in particular and due to his superstar status in general.

CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) is knocking at Sid’s front door if it hasn’t already made it into the vestibule. His future as a functional middle-aged human being is becoming a deep concern and cannot be assumed nor can it be guaranteed, given the potentially tragic and well-documented repercussions of repeated blows to the head.

Is the league at fault? The team? Crosby himself?

The NHL’s ‘concussion-spotter’ rule is farcical. Laughable.

First of all, those assigned with the responsibility of ‘spotting’ have no authority to exercise their judgment. They do not have the power to pull a player off the ice for testing. What apparently stands in the way is the nebulous distinction between — are you sitting? — the ice and the boards.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told USA Today, “depending on the mechanism of injury, ‘slow to get up’ does not trigger mandatory removal. The protocol has to be interpreted literally to mandate a removal.

What?

‘Ice’ as compared to ‘boards’ is in there for a reason. It’s the result of a study on our actual experiences over a number of years. ‘Ice’ has been found to be a predictor of concussions — ‘boards’ has not been.”

C’mon!

Why not poll Patrice Bergeron and scores of others who have been concussed when smashed head-first into the boards? And if commissioner Bettman can’t do better than this — deleting the fine print which effectively undermines the league and union-approved rule — and actually remove his head and those of his high-ranking execs from the sand as his NFL counterparts are slowly doing, then get ready for some terribly sad — and seemingly avoidable — times ahead.

Ice hockey ranks second only to football as the sport with the most concussions per player according to 2014 injury and participation data from the U.S. National Electronic Surveillance System and Sports & Fitness Industry Association.

A number of pro football and hockey players, who had suffered repeated concussions and had symptoms suggestive of CTE have committed suicide, including Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson and hockey enforcer Derek Boogaard whose family is suing the NHL over his death at age 28.

Wild man Bob Probert (3,300 penalty minutes, fifth all-time), Rick Martin, Steve Montador and 1960s tough guy Reggie Fleming were diagnosed with the disease after donated brain tissue was analyzed following their respective deaths. While rules rendering illegal blindside lateral hits to the head have been instituted and ongoing discussions regarding contact to the head continue, fighting remains a popular aspect of the sport and that is unlikely to change.

Tyler Maland, a spokesman for the Concussion Legacy Foundation, shared that more than 1,700 people have pledged to donate their brains to the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy and of those 1,700 only 5 are former NHL players. No current NHL player has done so at this writing.

The NFL on the other hand has three active players and more than 100 former players who have agreed to pledge their brains to science.

Turning a blind eye to this kind of thing portends disaster.

Perhaps Sidney Crosby and others following him, by the grace of God — and clear-minded thinking — can still somehow be spared.

[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in June 2017.]