Zizing 'Em Up: Crosby says parity on the rise throughout NHL

NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger has been covering the NHL regularly since 1999. Each Sunday during the season, he will use his extensive hockey Rolodex to write his weekly notes column, "Zizing 'Em Up."

TORONTO -- Sidney Crosby said he has never seen parity like this since joining the NHL for the 2005-06 season.
Teams have yo-yoed between lengthy winning and losing streaks in the first five weeks of the season. Crosby's Pittsburgh Penguins are a prime example. After starting the season undefeated in regulation through five games (4-0-1), they were 0-6-1 from Oct. 24-Nov. 5.
For the Penguins captain, the differences between teams are as minute as he's seen.
"I mean, I'm sure everybody has opinions as to why but it's a really, really fine line between teams," Crosby told NHL.com. "If you look at our situation, I think three or four of those seven games, we had multiple-goal leads in the third period and didn't come out with a point. So there's been a lot of swings and losing streaks. It's a fine line to lose, and I think it's shown in that way."
Consider the number of losing streaks that have lasted at least five games around the NHL through the first five weeks:
-- The St. Louis Blues started 3-0, then lost eight consecutive games from Oct. 24-Nov. 8.
-- The Calgary Flames started 5-1-0, then lost seven straight (0-5-2) before defeating the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.
-- The Columbus Blue Jackets lost five consecutive games (0-5-0) from Oct. 25-Nov. 5.
-- The Nashville Predators were 0-4-1 from Oct. 13-22.
-- The Ottawa Senators ended a seven-game skid (0-6-1) with a 4-1 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
-- The San Jose Sharks have lost five straight twice already: Oct. 7-18 (0-5-0) and Oct. 29-Nov. 10 (0-2-3).
-- The Vancouver Canucks started the season without a win in their first seven games (0-5-2) from Oct. 12-27.
Keep this in mind, too: the Penguins, Blues, Flames and Predators each qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring and carried high expectations coming into 2022-23.
"There's so many little things and if one goes wrong, it could be the difference between wins and losses," Crosby said. "It's almost like playing in playoff games early in the season. It's that close.
"That's what it's looking like and that's what it feels like. And the records around the League seem to be reflective of that."
Brian Burke agrees with Crosby.
"Teams are so close, if you get in a funk and fall off your game for three or four nights, it can cost you," the Penguins president said. "St. Louis is a mirror image of our team. A good team with a good coach that's having trouble.
"You've got to keep grinding. Nothing else you can do."

BEST TEAM FROM SWEDEN EVER?

The inductions of Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin and Daniel Alfredsson this weekend means there are seven players born in Sweden in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Defensemen Borje Salming and Nicklas Lidstrom, and forwards Mats Sundin and Peter Forsberg, were enshrined in previous classes. If former New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist gets in next year, his first of eligibility, the number will be eight.
Interestingly, all but Salming helped Sweden win the gold medal at the 2006 Torino Olympics. Given the talent on that roster, might that have been the greatest hockey team in Sweden's history?
It's certainly up there.
"There's been a lot of great Swedish teams but the fact we won makes that one so special," Daniel Sedin said. "If we didn't win, we wouldn't be talking about that team. But we did, and that's all that matters.
"It was special. That was an older group. That was the last time [Sundin, Forsberg and Lidstrom] were together, and for them to win made it that much more special."
Alfredsson agrees.
"I can't judge if it was the best, but we knew during the tournament this likely was the final time that older generation would be together," he said. "To be able to win and go home to Sweden to celebrate, it was amazing. It was a special team."

EUROLANCHE POWER

One of the most memorable aspects of covering the Global Series between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche earlier this month was seeing the members of Eurolanche come out in force.
More than 70 of them came from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, England and nine other countries to watch the Avalanche play in Tampere, Finland. The European-based Avalanche fan club is the brainchild of David Puchovsky, who formed it 15 years ago.
"I started the club in 2007 when I was a student," the 34-year-old from Slovakia said. "It was just a simple website for discussing the support for the team online for international fans. And from year to year, it's changed a lot. So, like, 15 years later, we've had something like 12 trips overseas to the [United States] to see the Avalanche as part of our history."
Membership in the club has swelled to about 1,200 members, sprinkled throughout Europe.
"The great thing is, not everyone can afford to go to America to watch games," he said. "So the Global Series is a closer, much more affordable way to see the Avalanche play."
In the end, they were loud, enthusiastic and supportive when the Avalanche won both games. Great job all around.

CAPTAIN CANADA

Crosby, though disappointed, said he understands why the World Cup of Hockey 2024 was postponed because of a myriad of issues that need to be sorted. At the same time, the 35-year-old said he hopes to represent Canada on the international stage at least one more time and have the chance to play with Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche.
"I've had the opportunity to skate with both of them in the offseason and play against them, so being on the same team would be fun," he said.
Told that the Canada Olympic team coaching staff led by Jon Cooper had contemplated a Crosby-MacKinnon-McDavid line for the 2022 Beijing Olympics before NHLers pulled out because of concerns relating to the coronavirus pandemic, Crosby beamed.
"Ya, I can adjust to the wing," he said, laughing.
Crosby helped Canada win gold medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and 2014 Sochi Olympics.

QUOTE/UNQUOTE

"With a moustache too? It would be creepy."
-- Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews on what it would be like to play with his identical twin, if he had one, like Henrik and Daniel Sedin did. For the record, Matthews said he always wanted a brother but it was not to be.

THE SUNDAY LIST

The Friday of Hall of Fame weekend is always a special time as inductees get the chance to receive their rings in the Great Hall, surrounded by the plaques of all those who were enshrined before them. So we asked Roberto Luongo, Daniel Sedin and Daniel Alfredsson: If there is one Hall of Famer you could meet, dead or alive, who would it be, even if you've met them before?
G Roberto Luongo: "My idol growing up was Grant Fuhr (Class of 2003), who was the star goalie of those great Edmonton (Oilers) teams of the 1980s. Even though I've met him a couple of times, I've never really had a conversation with him. To be in here, to be part of this, with him and all these great players, it's amazing, very special."
F Daniel Alfredsson: "There are so many. But I'm proud to be here with Mats Sundin. He's only a year older but he was three or four years ahead of my curve, was a superstar right away and was always helpful when we were on the national team. But he was also very competitive and would not say hi or even recognize me when we played against each other. At first, I was offended. But then I learned to respect that. He would do anything for a team he played for."
F Daniel Sedin: "The Swedish players are special, for sure. Mats Sundin was a guy we watched from afar when he played in Toronto, and then he came and played with us for one year in Vancouver. He was a guy we always looked up to. And knowing he was a captain for another Canadian team in a Canadian market, well, it was just cool to play with him for one year."