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The Pittsburgh Penguins missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025. This marks the third straight season the team has missed the postseason. Missing the playoffs three years running would spark a rebuild for many teams. However, with legends such as Sidney Crosby still playing at such a high level, there is some pressure to succeed before they hang up their skates.
Crosby has accomplished a lot in his career. The former first-overall pick brought a Stanley Cup championship to Pittsburgh in 2009. He was the youngest captain in NHL history to do so. The Penguins then became the first team since the 1997 and 1998 Detroit Red Wings to win back-to-back Cups. Crosby led the team to those championships in 2016 and 2017.
In the twilight of his career, the Penguins captain wants to get back to the postseason. He knows what it's like to skate in the most competitive environments the NHL has to offer. Not being a part of that is something Crosby is trying to reckon with.
“It's difficult when you're cleaning out your locker and stall and you're just thinking [about] how fun it is to play in the playoffs,” Sidney Crosby said, via NHL.com's Wes Crosby. “How important that is and how much work everyone puts into trying to make that happen. It's not a fun feeling when other teams are playing and you're going home.”
Sidney Crosby knows that getting back to the postseason starts with them. The Penguins have made a push for a Stanley Cup in recent years with their offseason moves. Unfortunately, it produced no postseason success. Any future postseason runs are going to start with adjustments made by the front office and the players.
“Missing the playoffs the last few years, I think there's always going to be thoughts and opinions,” the Penguins star said, via Wes Crosby. “We've got to prove it. I think that we've got to find a way to get back there. … When you lose, you're going to hear that. That's part of it. That's part of what [stings] about losing. But yeah, it's up to us to find a way to get back there.”
