Crosby Takes High Road, Declines To Respond To Dubinsky

Sidney Crosby on Wednesday wanted no part of responding to or rebutting less than flattering comments from one of his longtime on-ice nemeses, Brandon Dubinsky.

With interview restrictions because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there had not been an opportunity to ask Crosby about Dubinsky last week calling Crosby someone who ”whined” and pointing to fellow star Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals as handling himself better.

“I don’t really need to go there,” Crosby said when PHN asked him Wednesday if he cared to respond to Dubinsky’s comments.

“It was a week ago, and he can say what he wants.”

Dubinsky, a Columbus Blue Jackets forward whose career appears to be over because of a wrist injury, made some comments about Crosby on the Garage Beers Podcast.

In comparing Crosby and Ovechkin, Dubinsky said, “Man, f— Sid. I’ll take Ovi any day of the week.”

Dubinsky has always played a tough, physical game against Crosby. In November 2015, he was suspended for a game for crosschecking Crosby in the neck.

During the podcast last week, Dubinsky recounted asking Ovechkin for, and getting, an autographed stick but added, “I would never ask Sid for a stick. Ever.”

After the podcast and some fallout, Dubinsky posted this on his Twitter account:

Listen. Crosby is better then me I never said he wasn’t. He’s obviously one of the best ever. It was @ovi8 vs Sid. None of you played in the NHL and know how hard it is to score goals in the NHL. 724 is insane. Sid just whined way too much and Ovi just shut up and played hard. pic.twitter.com/rI2aSriYvY

— Brandon Dubinsky (@BDubi17) April 2, 2021

Crosby is no newbie to criticism. Just ask the Philadelphia Flyers fans, who have chanted “Crosby sucks!” at him for years. That has happened in Washington, too.

He has at times been accused of diving and embellishing.

Over the weekend, Crosby was widely accused of embellishing when he drew a double-minor penalty for a butt-end to the face from Boston’s Patrice Bergeon on a faceoff Saturday. Bruins fans hit social media hard about it, and even Boston Hockey Now took up the cause.

Certainly, Crosby could have pointed out that he has three Stanley Cups and many more trophies and accolades, while Dubinsky, who also played for the New York Rangers, has no Cups. But that’s not Crosby’s style.

Crosby rarely shows anger or a lot of emotion publicly off the ice, but he seemed less than thrilled by the Dubinsky topic Wednesday beyond his brief, aforementioned, response. He quickly put an end to the conversation during his virtual meeting with reporters this way:

“If you guys have any more hockey questions, I’d love to answer those.”

That little smirk as the question begins probably says it all: