The current Pens’ captain is nearing the marks left by Mario
Sidney Crosby and Mario Lemieux will both go down in hockey history as being the pillars of the Pittsburgh Penguins in their respective eras. It’s no exaggeration to say the franchise wouldn’t exist in the building it’s in today without both of their contributions to the team with their profound impacts on and off the ice.
And while both have had incredible career journeys filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, how is this for symmetry- through age-36 Lemieux produced 1,601 points. Crosby, having just completed his age-36 season in 2023-24, is at 1,596.
Granted, through injury, illness and a mid-career retirement, Mario only played in 812 games up until that point. Crosby, with his own trials and tribulations, has appeared in 1,272.
Here’s the chase of each player’s point totals at their respective ages, a fun graph to update and see Crosby methodically chasing down Lemieux’s career point total of 1,723.
One fun note with Crosby approaching his age-37 season in 2024-25 is to note that Lemieux’s age-37 year was his last truly great campaign before what was left of his hips, back and a heart condition eventually saw to the end of his playing days. Mario put up 91 points in 2002-03, playing for a Penguin team that was itself beginning to fade away as a power.
Sadly, some similarities there exist too for Crosby in this day, now that the team has missed the playoffs for the last two seasons and aren’t primed to be a major threat any longer themselves.
Here’s a chart of the race the two have been running. It’s definitely got some “tortoise and the hare” vibes. Lemieux boasts a whopping eight seasons with more points than Sid’s single-season best (120). But Lemieux’s graph levels out for years on end to see Crosby steadily chugging along and chopping away at the gap little by little.
Of course, the only reason this race is even close is that Lemieux only put up 283 points between ages 28-34 (1993-94 through 1999-2000 in what’s labeled around point 10-16), due to his extended absences from ‘93-95 and his three-year retirement from ‘97-2000.
When both had finished their age-27 seasons, Crosby was 321 points behind Lemieux. Even as late as age-31, it was a 278 point gap that has now all but disappeared.
The takeaways on that are two-fold. First, it’s a depressing reminder of how much time Mario was away or unable to play. He easily coulda/shoulda been a 2,000+ point player, but such is the way the cookie crumbled on that one.
Second, it’s also a testament to Crosby’s tenacity and the second-half of his career that has so fortunately left his past injury issues behind him. Crosby has averaged 81 points per season in his 30’s (no small feat, considering that includes two COVID-shortened seasons). In fact, Sid has already out-scored Mario 569 points to 513 during the time both have been in their 30’s, with still more to come.
That “more to come” part might be said with baited breath this summer, with us all still waiting to see what will happen with Crosby’s contract extension. He sits 127 points behind No. 66 in career points and in order to take the top spot in Penguin history, an extension will be necessary.
But while we can’t control the timing or outcome of developments on that front, it shouldn’t stop from looking back and tracking and comparing two top-10 scorers in league history.
Today’s totals:
Points
Lemieux: 1,723
Crosby: 1,596
—At current rates and with that darn extension, Crosby ought be looking at setting the bar for the Penguin point total sometime in the 2025-26 season, perhaps fairly early into the year too. That would be a remarkable accomplishment that many never thought would fall, considering that Lemieux was seventh in NHL scoring when he walked away and if all goes well will only be lasting 20 years.
Goals
Lemieux: 690
Crosby: 592
—Crosby’s goal scoring output has been super-high as an older player with 31, 33 and 42 goals over the last three years. For a while the goal mark looked like the safest major franchise category Lemieux had, but if Crosby plays another three or possibly four years, it should be within the realm of possibilities that it falls.
Assists
Lemieux: 1,033
Crosby: 1,004
—This is going to be the first major Lemieux stat to fall to Crosby and it will happen in not too many more games played for Crosby to get 30 assists. Crosby (10th all-time in helpers) should be going past Joe Sakic (1,016) and Mario this season — and maybe even seventh placed Steve Yzerman (1,063) too with a big year. You know that would be a thrill for a child of the ‘90s and a hockey historian to be passing iconic players like that.
