Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby
OC ONS
Crosby with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2019
Born (1987-08-07) August 7, 1987 (age 36)
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada[1]
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Left
NHL team Pittsburgh Penguins
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 1st overall, 2005
Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career 2005–present

Sidney Patrick Crosby OC ONS (born August 7, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Sid the Kid" and dubbed "The Next One", he was selected first overall by the Penguins in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Born and raised in Halifax, Crosby was considered one of the most lauded prospects in ice hockey history and is widely regarded as one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time.[2][3]

During his two-year major junior career with the Rimouski Océanic, he earned many awards and led his club to the 2005 Memorial Cup final. Océanic and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League retired Crosby's jersey number 87 in 2019. Crosby debuted in the NHL during the 2005–06 season, recording 102 points and finishing as runner-up for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the Year. At 18 years and 253 days, he is the youngest player to date to reach 100 points in an NHL season. By his second season, he led the NHL with 120 points to capture the Art Ross Trophy, becoming the youngest player and the only teenager to win a scoring title in any major North American sports league. That same season, Crosby won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player (MVP) and the Lester B. Pearson Award for most outstanding player as judged by his peers. He started the 2007–08 season with the team's captaincy and subsequently led them to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, where they were defeated by the Detroit Red Wings in six games. The Penguins returned to the Finals against Detroit the following year and won in seven games; Crosby became the youngest captain in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup.

In 2009–10, he received the Mark Messier Leadership Award and scored 51 goals, winning the Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal scorer. In early 2011, Crosby sustained a concussion that left him sidelined for the rest of the season and for most of the 2011–12 campaign. In 2014, Crosby again won the Hart Memorial Trophy as well as his second Art Ross Trophy (104 points) and his third Ted Lindsay Award. Crosby led Pittsburgh to Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017, becoming the third player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP) in consecutive years. In 2017, he won his second Richard Trophy and was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history.

Internationally, Crosby has represented Canada on numerous occasions. He won gold at the 2005 World Junior Championships, and was later named to Team Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Playing against the United States in the gold medal game, he scored the game-winning goal in overtime. Crosby captained Team Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics, winning his second consecutive Olympic gold medal. A year later, he led his country to gold in the World Championship in Prague, thus becoming a member of the Triple Gold Club and the only player in the club to have captained all three winning teams. In 2016, Crosby captained Canada to gold in the World Cup of Hockey and was elected MVP by a unanimous vote.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference birth was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Yohe, Josh (February 3, 2023). "NHL99: Sidney Crosby, icon of his era, never strays from his greater mission". The Athletic. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  3. ^ Hackel, Stu (January 1, 2017). "Sidney Crosby: 100 Greatest NHL Players". NHL.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2023.