PITTSBURGH Sidney Crosby looks back on his first 500 NHL games like a lot of other people. "I'd probably think of how many I mi sed," Crosby said Thursday, while technically still on No. 499. "It's been great. It's going by quick." Coach Dan Bylsma put it more bluntly: "He's getting old, I gue s, in the league. He's getting upward in age." MORE: | | | Say Old Man Crosby kept the pace he set in the first 41 games of 2010-11, before the start of his concu sion ordeal. Is it likely? No. Is it impo sible? Another no. He'd have wound up with 41 more games played, 32 more goals and 34 more a sists, bringing him to a total of 132 points (64 goals, 68 a sists) in 82 games. That would've been the most points in a single season since Mario Lemieux's 161 in 1995-96. What if he Dennis Smith Jr. Jersey kept the same a sist and shooting pacehe had 161 shots when his season endedbut his percentage dipped from 19.9 to his career mark of 13.9 for those final 41 games? Then you're looking at a 54-goal, 68-a sist season. Not shabby, either. That's 41 more games, 22 more goals and 34 more a sists than he'd currently have. The next season, in our universe, Crosby's symptoms wouldn't have existed. after a few games. He wouldn't have come back at something le s than full strength and eventually totaled eight goals and 29 a sists. Would he have another 322-shot, 19.9 percent, 132-point season in him? Probably notbut it's fair to call that his ceiling. That'd net him 56 more goals and 39 more a sists that aren't currently on his stat line. Let's say he slid back down to a 17.1 shooting percentage (which is where he was for the entire 2009-10 season, mind you), fired 300 shots and, again, stayed in the 60-a sist range. That'd put him at 51-60-111. That's 43 more goals, 31 more a sists and, were he to play a full season, 60 more games. We'll a sume the lockout was inevitable because it probably was. We'll also ignore both the time he mi sed with a sprained ankle in 2007-08 and for simplicity's sake. So, with that in mind, Crosby's 500th game should've come in late January 2012. He mi sed 101 games strictly because of concu sion-related i sues. Playing those games at his "ceiling" to this point in his career would've meant 88 more goals and 73 more a sists (161 points). A more conservative estimate, particularly as it relates to his shooting: 65 goals and 68 a sists (133 points). So, in an alternate, David Steckel-free world, Crosby is playing in Game No. 601 on Thursday, and somewhere on his way to 900 points. As it stands, he's at 499 and 703. Not too shabby just not quite what could've been. And he knows it. Dwight Powell Jersey