After battling through some minor injuries and finishing third in the NHL scoring race, Pittsburgh Penguins star forward Sidney Crosby is not a Hart Trophy Finalist for the league’s most coveted individual trophy as he was left off the list for Pavel Datsyuk who will join Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin in Las Vegas this June.
While Crosby may not be in the running for the Hart Trophy,

he has established himself as the games top player in the 2009 playoffs.
Crosby put on a phenomenal performance throughout the entire second round series against the Washington Capitals, scoring 8 goals and 5 assists.
Not known as a legitimate goal scorer, Crosby has quieted his critics but for Crosby, it’s not just about the statistics.
When healthy, Crosby dominates a game at both ends of the ice and he is showing that in the 2009 playoffs.
Crosby has been a dominant force down low in the offensive zone and has established himself as the teams top centerman on face-offs.
When Crosby scored his first goal of the game in the first period off of a Sergei Gonchar shot from the point, all you had to do was look at the determination in his eyes and you knew he was going to have a dominant game.
He was not going to let the Penguins lose tonight. That’s what makes him so special and tonight was a special night for Sidney Crosby who set the tone for the Penguins in the first period.
Alexander Ovechkin was sensational in the series and is the most unique player I have ever seen.
You can make the argument for either player for being the games top player as you wouldn’t go wrong with either choice but the way Crosby impacts a game, he is the games premier player and the entire hockey world is seeing that during the Penguins 2009 playoff run, which may be going on until June.
It also doesn’t hurt that Crosby is a class act on and off the ice.