Just better.

That's all Sidney Crosby needs to be this season. Is that so much to ask?

After all, The Kid has met and exceeded just about every expectation
placed in front of him.

More to the point, he seems to thrive on the ever-increasing demands
rather than wilt in the face of a hockey public that has a strong
inkling by now that he is everything he was cracked up to be, maybe
even a star in the same galaxy as Orr, Gretzky and Lemieux.

Of course, we're not there yet. He's not there yet, with the most
difficult task still sitting in front of him like a 350-pound
defensive tackle in an unfriendly mood.

Having already dragged a losing and bankrupt Pittsburgh Penguins
franchise back up to respectability – not quite by his lonesome, but
almost – Crosby begins the much longer and more mine-laden journey of
hauling the club to the Stanley Cup.

After achieving a 105-point season and loading up for the playoffs,
the Pens believed they were relatively close to being true Cup
contenders. Then, of course, they were rudely awoken from that
daydream by the Ottawa Senators, who knocked the Pens out of the
playoffs at least partly by keeping Crosby under control.

If Crosby and the Penguins learned their lesson, they'll understand
that they really weren't close at all, but just beginning the process
of developing the team that could one day win it all.

As the league MVP coming off a 120-point season, Crosby might be
forgiven if he were to think he just needs to do the same and others
must do more, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

"I'll be better," he told The Canadian Press in a pre-season visit to
Montreal.

"Maybe it doesn't mean getting the same amount of points, maybe it's
less points, but I want to make sure I'm contributing to helping the
team."

To that end, Crosby spent part of the pre-season auditioning to be one
of the Penguins' penalty killers, one of the few roles he didn't fill
last season. He averaged 20:45 of ice time last season and it stands
to reason that with added duties he might approach the greater nightly
numbers of Vincent Lecavalier, Jaromir Jagr and Rod Brind'Amour.

Still only 20 years old, Crosby has set a standard for young players
across the league. Indeed, after outpointing Crosby for the Calder
Trophy two years ago, Washington's Alexander Ovechkin found himself
left in the proverbial dust last season and was almost an afterthought
by season's end.

The new Penguins captain went from 102 points as a rookie to last
season's 120, but pushing that figure higher – Orr more than doubled
his total in his third season, while Gretzky jumped to 212 from 164 –
may be difficult as the league moves again to a more defence-oriented
game from the free-wheeling circus of the first post-lockout season.

Then again, the Pens should be better everywhere. Ryan Whitney, Jordan
Staal and Evgeni Malkin are just understanding their talents,
Marc-Andre Fleury looks like he can handle the load in net and a
supporting cast that includes Gary Roberts, Mark Recchi, Colby
Armstrong, Petr Sykora, Darryl Sydor, Erik Christensen and Sergei
Gonchar looks impressive.

Crosby, you have to believe, will look better as this team looks
better, regardless of his personal stats. He's now more than the face
of the Pens. He's the heartbeat and the conscience.

So his next round of meaningful accolades will flow in when the team
reaches the next level. Or the ultimate level.

That's how he'll get better.