Sidney Crosby is a fixture of Pittsburgh sports.
He was one of the most highly touted prospects coming into the 2005 NHL draft, not only in his class, but in the history of the NHL.
The then 18-year-old had found success at every level of hockey. He outplayed his age group and moved up to facing older skaters. Having been turned down by his local junior team in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Crosby took off to the infamous Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Minnesota for high school. He shattered scoring records there before moving on to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Crosby put together a monster season in his first year in the QMJHL with 135 points and 54 goals, earning him a spot as the only under-18 player on the Canadian Junior Hockey Team. After becoming the youngest player to ever score in the World Junior Championship, Crosby returned to the QMJHL just to score another 66 goals.
He was drafted first overall in 2005 by the Pittsburgh Penguins, who already had a generational talent in Mario Lemieux in the tail end of his career.
Crosby spent his first season under Lemieux’s wing, who he lived with during his rookie season and picked his brain constantly.
Despite the guidance and the absurd 102-point, 39-goal season he put together as an 18-year-old, Crosby was beaten out for the Calder Trophy by the 20-year-old Russian phenom and Washington Capitals rookie Alexander Ovechkin.
Crosby only grew from there.
He racked up 120 points in his sophomore season, leading the Penguins to a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on top of winning the Art Ross, Hart and Lester B. Pearson trophies for himself.
After that 2006-07 season, Crosby was named captain of the team at 19 years old.
This will be Crosby’s 20th season in the league. He has become not only a staple for the Penguins, but for the city of Pittsburgh and hockey as a whole. He’s still “Sid the Kid” despite no longer being a kid.
His generation, also led by Ovechkin, is credited with bringing hockey back to relevance after the lockout that canceled the 2004-05 season, as well as bringing a whole new fanbase into the sport. He might be your favorite hockey player’s favorite hockey player.
The fact that he plays in Pittsburgh is especially meaningful. It’s a smaller market that’s been home to many stars who have kept the city as the base for successful franchises — and the fans bleed black and gold.
I grew up a Pittsburgh fan, and before I knew what a power play was in hockey, I knew who Sidney Crosby was.
Crosby has been with the Penguins through a potential relocation, three Stanley Cups and countless home visits to give season ticket holders their tickets. And now? There’s a lull in wins as the team’s stars start to age.
Crosby is slowing down, but his “slowing down” doesn’t look like a regular player’s “slowing down.” He played the full set of 82 games in the last two seasons, and he continues to put up more than a point per game as he has for his entire career.
His hair may be graying, but he’s still producing like he’s a kid.
Prior to this 2024-25 season, Crosby signed a two-year contract extension.
He was born on Aug. 7, 1987. 8/7/87. He wears 87. He’s been paid $8.7 million every year for most of his career. Following that trend, this contract pays him another two seasons of $8.7 million per year.
But he could be paid much more for a player of his caliber.
Crosby either signed this latest contract because he has loyalty to Pittsburgh and took a pay cut to help out his team with the salary cap, or because he wants to be easier to trade to a Cup-bound team if that’s how he wants to finish his career.
That kind of move to try and trade a legendary athlete in the last leg of his career to a Cup-winning team is not an unusual one. Ray Bourque is a prime example. He ended his career by hoisting the 2001 Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche after spending 21 seasons with the Boston Bruins.
I would like to think he wants to stay in Pittsburgh. He should.
It has become so rare for a player to spend his entire career, especially one of that length, with a singular franchise.
Crosby has won a Stanley Cup. He’s won three, actually. I understand wanting to end your career on a high note, but it would mean leaving the team that he’s built his life on and the fanbase that would go to war for him.
His loyalty and dedication to Pittsburgh has already been unmatched. He is one of the most widely beloved athletes not only in hockey, but in all of North American sports.
Crosby could end his career exactly where he started it, surrounded by the fans who have loved him for two decades, achieving a career that most athletes can only dream of replicating.
I think that’s the best decision he could make.
