Sidney Crosby no relation Pittsburgh Penguins
Sidney Patrick Crosby  (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.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.Crosby returned to the ice May 5 for the Penguins' second game against their first-round playoff opponents, the New York Islanders, ironically, the team Pittsburgh had been playing when Crosby was injured. Despite two goals from Crosby, Pittsburgh lost the game 3–2, tying the series at one game apiece. The Penguins would ultimately prevail 4–2 in the series over the Isles with Crosby scoring nine points (three goals and six assists) in the five games in which he played. Crosby and the Penguins moved on to face the Ottawa Senators in the second round, with Crosby scoring a hat-trick in Game 2 of the series. Pittsburgh quickly defeated Ottawa four games to one in the series with a still-hot Crosby finishing the series with four goals and two assists. The Eastern Conference Finals came down to what many felt were the two best teams in the conference: Pittsburgh and Boston. Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask put on an outstanding performance, shutting down Pittsburgh's potent offence with the help of a stifling defensive effort from his teammates. The Penguins were held to just two goals in the series, with Rask stopping 134 of 136 shots on goal (.985%). Crosby, who was strong for the Penguins in the regular season and through the first two rounds of the playoffs was held off the score sheet entirely, finishing the series with no goals and no assists on 13 shots. The Bruins swept the Penguins in four-straight games, ending Crosby's bid for a second Stanley Cup championship. In the off-season, Crosby was awarded his second Ted Lindsay Award and finished as runner-up to the Hart Memorial Trophy and Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.Crosby put together a healthy and productive campaign in 2013–14, playing 80 games for the first time since the 2009–10 season. Crosby finished the season with 36 goals and a league-leading 68 assists, marking the first time in his career that he led the league in assists. He also finished with a league-high 104 points, winning the Art Ross Trophy for the second time in his career. He also went on to win the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award. Finishing first overall in the Metropolitan Division, the Penguins were matched-up with a new division rival, the Columbus Blue Jackets, in the first round of the 2014 playoffs. Despite a very back-and-forth series and not a single goal by Crosby, the Penguins defeated the Jackets in six games to advance to a second-round matchup with the New York Rangers. Going into their second-round series with the Rangers, Crosby looked to end a long playoff goal drought, which dated back to the 2013 Conference Finals against the Boston Bruins. After dropping Game 1 at home, Crosby broke his goal drought in Game 2 as the Pens tied the series at 1–1 heading back to Madison Square Garden. The Penguins would capitalize on their Game 2 win, taking the next two games and eliminating the Rangers home-ice advantage. However, the Rangers would quickly rebound, winning Game 5, 6 and 7, sending the Penguins home without a prize for the fifth straight season. The team's collapse prompted Penguins ownership to fire general manager Ray Shero, replacing him with Jim Rutherford, the former general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes. Rutherford's first action as GM was to fire Dan Bylsma as head coach, and on June 25, he announced that Mike Johnston was the new head coach.Crosby finished the 2014–15 season with the highest point-per-game average and a total of 84 points, trailing only John Tavares (86 points) and Art Ross winner Jamie Benn (87 points). On November 26, 2014, Crosby scored his 800th career point, becoming the sixth-fastest player in NHL history to reach that milestone. On January 4, 2015, in a game against Philadelphia, Crosby scored his 300th career NHL goal. Despite a strong start to the season, the injury-plagued Penguins entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference's second wild card. Facing the New York Rangers, Crosby helped even the series with two goals in Game 2. Despite this, the Penguins were defeated in five games and was eliminated in the first round for the first time since the 2012 playoffs.
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