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NFT: Pretty Cool Sidney Crosby Story

pjcas18 : 8/22/2019 12:11 pm
I know most of you hate Crosby, I do not share that hate. My team is not a rival of his and I don't find his style of play unwarranted.

Additionally, he is the player I most often suggest the kids I coach watch for skating ability. Not the fastest, but his tight turns, edge work, vision, etc. are unparalleled. he's like a one-man coaching clinic.

Anyway, this is a one minute story a radio host shared on twitter and I'd like the story no matter who the player was, but it was Crosby, and thought it was worth the 1 minute listen to hear about Crosby sharing the Stanley Cup with no cameras or press around.

IMO that's how you judge a person's character.
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*jams fingers into ears*  
Greg from LI : 8/22/2019 12:14 pm : link
.
RE: *jams fingers into ears*  
pjcas18 : 8/22/2019 12:15 pm : link
In comment 14539287 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
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LOL
yuck!  
Jints in Carolina : 8/22/2019 12:17 pm : link
.
He’s done  
Les in TO : 8/22/2019 12:26 pm : link
A lot of good work off the ice. I know he’s considered a villain on the ice but he’s a good person.
Very cool thanks for posting...  
JCin332 : 8/22/2019 12:28 pm : link
..
Fuck him  
Anakim : 8/22/2019 12:38 pm : link
.
As a Caps fan I hate him  
RobCarpenter : 8/22/2019 12:42 pm : link
But I hate him b/c he's such a great player that has killed the Caps so many times.
Yeah, I hate Marchand  
pjcas18 : 8/22/2019 12:57 pm : link
more than most fans of other teams, but he's such a douche everyone hates him. Or they should.

I never saw Crosby that same way.

I also hate Torrey Krug though, and that is probably purely rival fan hate.

So I get it, but I have no issues marveling at someone like Patrice Bergeron or Auston Matthews (who play for rivals).
I don't hate Crosby...he's a great player and better man...  
rnargi : 8/22/2019 1:13 pm : link
...I hate that he's a crybaby and a diver. He didn't need to be.
Cool story  
figgy2989 : 8/22/2019 1:19 pm : link
And I am sure that made that meant a lot to that guy being a huge Rocket Richard fan, but...

Cindy is still the biggest bitch in the NHL, nothing he does off the ice will change that.
RE: Cool story  
pjcas18 : 8/22/2019 1:29 pm : link
In comment 14539403 figgy2989 said:
Quote:
And I am sure that made that meant a lot to that guy being a huge Rocket Richard fan, but...

Cindy is still the biggest bitch in the NHL, nothing he does off the ice will change that.


Completely untrue.

And even if it was, consider how the game has changed. People on the greatest of all time baseball thread repeatedly said even if Ruth was or wasn't, Gretzky was in any sport.

And while i don't deny it, not sure if you remember, but Gretzky didn't get touched when he played. He practically had on-ice body guards.

watch the abuse Crosby takes out there. he is every team's target and is subjected to a level of violence that super stars of other eras simply didn't get.

Now, that's hockey today and I love it, but IMO Crosby is a elite ambassador of the game with his on ice and off ice behavior.

the people calling him a "bitch" or whiny or a baby really says more about their hockey analysis IMO than it does about Crosby because yes there is a certain amount of it, but no more than say Tom Brady or Michael Jordan respectively.
pj  
figgy2989 : 8/22/2019 1:34 pm : link
You have your opinion, I have mine.

RE: RE: Cool story  
rnargi : 8/22/2019 1:35 pm : link
In comment 14539418 pjcas18 said:
Quote:
In comment 14539403 figgy2989 said:


Quote:


And I am sure that made that meant a lot to that guy being a huge Rocket Richard fan, but...

Cindy is still the biggest bitch in the NHL, nothing he does off the ice will change that.



Completely untrue.

And even if it was, consider how the game has changed. People on the greatest of all time baseball thread repeatedly said even if Ruth was or wasn't, Gretzky was in any sport.

And while i don't deny it, not sure if you remember, but Gretzky didn't get touched when he played. He practically had on-ice body guards.

watch the abuse Crosby takes out there. he is every team's target and is subjected to a level of violence that super stars of other eras simply didn't get.

Now, that's hockey today and I love it, but IMO Crosby is a elite ambassador of the game with his on ice and off ice behavior.

the people calling him a "bitch" or whiny or a baby really says more about their hockey analysis IMO than it does about Crosby because yes there is a certain amount of it, but no more than say Tom Brady or Michael Jordan respectively.


You're entitled to your opinion. The video evidence supports mine, though. There are tons of clips showing his diving prowess. He even gets a 9.9 from the Russian judge.
To be fair  
Kyle in NY : 8/22/2019 1:40 pm : link
He's scaled back a lot of the dramatics in recent years. He more than earned the diving/whining reputation in his early years, but I've noticed it applies less now.

And I'm somebody that used to not be able to stand him but I've cooled on that stance a bit. Nice story.
RE: RE: RE: Cool story  
EricJ : 8/22/2019 1:41 pm : link
In comment 14539426 rnargi said:
Quote:

You're entitled to your opinion. The video evidence supports mine, though. There are tons of clips showing his diving prowess. He even gets a 9.9 from the Russian judge.


In the end you have to blame the league and the officiating. They are creating this environment and encouraging it to happen by putting the other guy in the penalty box. There should be a 4 min major for diving. That would reduce the number of times this happens.
.  
Jints in Carolina : 8/22/2019 1:49 pm : link
Gretzky also didn't cheap shot anyone  
Greg from LI : 8/22/2019 1:50 pm : link
RE: Gretzky also didn't cheap shot anyone  
pjcas18 : 8/22/2019 1:56 pm : link
In comment 14539455 Greg from LI said:
Quote:


to me that's the beauty of hockey. especially in this era, you will get called out for your play, by your competition and I never see Crosby hide behind anyone.
Maybe Crosby doesn't hide so much behind a Player  
Buzzard64 : 8/22/2019 2:10 pm : link
but he sure does quickly get a Ref between him and any antagonist ....all the while chirping to the officials. Gordy Howe he ain't.
Its a great move by Crosby...  
Chris in Philly : 8/22/2019 2:14 pm : link
but beyond that, it speaks to how special the Stanley Cup is. That story doesn't work with any other sport...
the pissing and moaning about Crosby is dumb  
UConn4523 : 8/22/2019 2:17 pm : link
not a big hockey guy but I always thought bitching about flopping is always overblown in any sport. Shaq took a beating and still flopped, its the game.

But I don't care about any of that, this is a really cool story. Its one thing to go and visit people but on the fly thinking of helping this blind man feel the name of his favorite player engraved on the cup is pretty damn impressive. Talk about something that you will never forget.
I am not going to change  
pjcas18 : 8/22/2019 2:25 pm : link
anyone's or most people's opinions about Crosby on the ice.

and I can live with that, but IMO he's easily this generations best player. On the ice.

McDavid eventually will pass him, but now it's easily Crosby.

He's the best offensive player in terms of smarts and vision and creativity and he doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves from a defensive standpoint.

Watching Crosby clips is a great way for people interested in learning more to learn what hockey IQ means and to see fundamentals emphasized.

There is a helluva lot more flopping in the NBA  
figgy2989 : 8/22/2019 2:26 pm : link
then there is diving in the NHL. Since they instituted an embellishment penalty, even less so in today's game. However, if you turn on an NBA game during the season on any given night, you are sure to see some good theatrics with regards to flopping.
RE: There is a helluva lot more flopping in the NBA  
UConn4523 : 8/22/2019 2:30 pm : link
In comment 14539505 figgy2989 said:
Quote:
then there is diving in the NHL. Since they instituted an embellishment penalty, even less so in today's game. However, if you turn on an NBA game during the season on any given night, you are sure to see some good theatrics with regards to flopping.


I know. And using my example, does that make Shaq a bitch? He flopped a lot, but it never changed my opinion of him. He took a beating, and took advantage of what he could.

When bad players flop to gain an advantage its pretty hilarious, but top players try to take advantage of rules (or lack thereof) all the time. The Crosby hate is so over the top, IMO. He isn't Grayson Allen.
Well Lebron is a serial flopper  
figgy2989 : 8/22/2019 2:34 pm : link
And there are a ton of people out there who call him a bitch.

I would say Lebron has the same stature in the NBA that Crosby does in the NHL.
Does anyone dispute his greatness as a player?  
Greg from LI : 8/22/2019 2:36 pm : link
I don't think so. Everyone knows just how damned good he is.

Doesn't change the fact that he spent most of his career as a diving, whining, cheap-shotting bitch. I will admit that he's toned it down a great deal in recent years.
yeah, I make fun of LeFlops  
UConn4523 : 8/22/2019 2:46 pm : link
flopping too. But it doesn't define him as a player. That's all i'm saying. Feel free to hate Crosby, I just think its over the top.
basketball is different  
pjcas18 : 8/22/2019 2:49 pm : link
in that while there is a lot of physicality in basketball, it's not a contact sport.

hockey is different, even from football, in that you will get hit and you will have to answer for your actions.

the only thing hockey players hate more than cheap shots is dives. I can tell you players will come after you if they go to the box due to a play you embellished.

the one "embellishment" that I take an issue with fans over is the stick to the face that doesn't actually connect.

And fans ride the player for jerking their head back when no contact is made.

This, I can tell you from experience, is a natural reaction. When a hockey stick gets anywhere near your head you will flinch and move your head unnaturally to try and avoid the stick. If it doesn't connect great. You're happy. If the refs call a penalty from seeing the head jerk back near a raised stick that is on the refs IMO not the player.

It's frustrating as a fan and for the "offending player" and their team since the penalty wasn't earned, but I never fault the player for that one. Not even a little.

I've seen faces torn apart and teeth knocked out from seemingly innocuous errant sticks and none of these guys who jerk their heads back are trying to embellish, they're protecting themselves (90% of the time at least).
Thanks UConn  
figgy2989 : 8/22/2019 3:10 pm : link
I'm glad I have your approval for my Crosby hatred.

.  
arcarsenal : 8/22/2019 3:14 pm : link
RE: Thanks UConn  
UConn4523 : 8/22/2019 3:15 pm : link
In comment 14539561 figgy2989 said:
Quote:
I'm glad I have your approval for my Crosby hatred.


Ok
RE: He’s done  
Rover : 8/22/2019 3:17 pm : link
In comment 14539312 Les in TO said:
Quote:
A lot of good work off the ice. I know he’s considered a villain on the ice but he’s a good person.

Absolutely.

He is a class act, a serial winner, a grinder work ethic that's a superstar.
Josh Yohe had a few similar 'untold favorite' stories he shared earlier this month on the Athletic:

Quote:
Dec, 10, 2012 — Team officials weren’t allowed to be at Southpointe during the lockout. Those workouts were for players only. No media relations officials allowed. So Crosby decided to serve as his own media relations person. Really.
I got a phone call from Crosby on the night of Dec. 10. It was a Monday.
“Hey Josh, I know I told the media we were going to practice at Southpointe tomorrow. But something came up so we’re not going to be able to now. I’m really sorry about it. I would feel awful if anyone drove to practice, and expected us to be there. So if you could please let everyone know that we won’t be there tomorrow, I’d really appreciate it.”



or

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March 25, 2013 — The Penguins were thinking about making a trade deadline splash: Jarome Iginla. Following practice, some of the team brass wanted to have a meeting and wanted Crosby to be involved. I don’t know what the meeting pertained to, but I’ll guess Iginla was one of the topics involved.
Ray Shero was hovering around the locker room after practice. Some coaches were around. Dan Bylsma was looking for his captain and finally said, “Does anyone know where Sid is?”
No one knew, in fact. Crosby almost always talks with reporters following practices but wasn’t around the locker room that day. Nothing to be concerned about. Maybe it was an equipment issue. Maybe he didn’t feel well. Maybe he was busy. These things happen.
A quick walk around the corner adjacent to the locker room told the story. Crosby was on his hands and knees, skates still on, having a conversation with a boy in a wheelchair that probably spanned 30 minutes. This is a common sight. Crosby always goes out of his way to not only greet people who deal with health struggles, but to actually listen to them and spend time with them. I see it all the time, but you never stop appreciating it. It’s not for show. It’s totally genuine, Jarome Iginla meetings be damned.


or
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Jan. 11, 2014 — The Penguins had just won in Calgary. And it was cold. Really cold. And windy. Alberta winters aren’t usually pleasant, after all.
In Calgary, the team bus sits on the arena floor level, and there is a steep hill beside it. On top of the hill, some young Flames fans wanted to get a glimpse of Crosby and had composed a sign that was wishing him luck in the upcoming 2014 Olympics.
One by one, the Penguins filed onto their team bus. Upon seeing the sign, Crosby did a U-turn from the bus and raced up the hill to sign autographs for his young fans. I wish I’d have had the good sense to take a picture of the scene, because the respective looks on their faces was priceless. I’ve seen Crosby sign autographs for literally thousands of people, but that one always sticks out. Most people who encounter Crosby will only meet him once in their lives. He knows that. He’s too humble to ever talk about such things, but he knows it means a lot to people, and I’ve always sensed that he wants that one meeting to be a good one, every time.


or
Quote:
March 6, 2014 — The Penguins had just acquired Lee Stempniak and Marcel Goc at the NHL trade deadline the following day. They had a morning skate in San Jose the next day. Like all players, Crosby is a creature of habit and always leaves the skate at the same time, maintaining the routine.
The Penguins took the ice at 11:30, were in their locker room at noon, and were gone for the team hotel by 12:30. But not Crosby. As the clock went from noon to 1, he just quietly stood outside of the Penguins’ locker room. I finally had to ask why.
“I think it’s important to make the new guys feel welcome,” he explained.
Finally, a little after 1 p.m., while the rest of the Penguins were enjoying a nap, Crosby was there to shake the hands of his two new teammates.
It’s funny. Crosby played perhaps the worst game of his life that evening, finishing as a minus-5 in a 5-3 loss. Maybe there is something to be said for maintaining a routine. But there’s something to be said for being a good captain, too. It was highlighted that day.



or

Quote:
July 15, 2016 — The Stanley Cup was in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, for Crosby’s hometown parade following the Penguins’ 2016 triumph. Crosby rode in the back of a truck, proudly showcasing the Cup. He gave a speech in front of thousands of people. It was a lovely afternoon, the perfect day for such an occasion.
When the speech was over, Crosby met with a few reporters for interviews and said hello to a few people in the area. He was then supposed to jump back in the truck and head back to his parents’ house to spend a day celebrating with family. After an hour, everyone was starting to wonder where Crosby was. Troy and Trina weren’t sure.
A look around the corner provided the answer. Crosby had met two members of the Canadian military and was deeply engrossed in his conversation about their travels, which seemed far more interesting and poignant to him than speaking about hockey.

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Isles fans will like this  
Rover : 8/22/2019 3:21 pm : link
Quote:
No matter what I do in a day, one thought never eludes me: I’ve watched Sidney Crosby lift the Stanley Cup from ice level.

I’ve written so many times now about how that’s the culmination of everything I wanted to do as a photographer — cover the Penguins, see a championship, be a part of the moments without being a part of them. That single moment should be the story I like to tell when I meet subscribers or those who just take an interest in what I do.

It’s not.

The story I love to tell most often when I’m discussing View from Ice Level is the last one I wrote during the 2018-19 season. It was a season as far from that championship run as I’ve photographed — a sweep by the Islanders — but the topic of that View is etched into my mind as Crosby’s name is into Lord Stanley’s Cup three times now.

“They just got swept, right?” I’ll say. “They just got swept, and this is a team that shattered what’s possible by going back-to-back in a salary cap era.”

That’s when I’ll tell the same story linked above. The one about how I watched Crosby bend to the ice following the final horn, pick up the puck and skate it to the Penguins final officiating crew of the season. His team looking on, waiting to line up for the season-ending handshakes.

In the locker room following the loss, I waited out the group surrounding Crosby in the Penguins locker room, approached him and asked about the puck.

“He told me how the Islanders would want the puck for winning the series and how he was making sure they’d get it,” I tell the willing ears.

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great story about Crosby  
PaulBlakeTSU : 8/22/2019 4:21 pm : link
it's a small thing, but the idea to do that suggests that he is a decent guy. It wasn't a grand gesture, it wasn't a large donation or anything that could be construed as self-serving. It seems more like a genuine desire to make someone else really happy, even for a brief moment.
RE: great story about Crosby  
pjcas18 : 8/22/2019 4:58 pm : link
In comment 14539629 PaulBlakeTSU said:
Quote:
it's a small thing, but the idea to do that suggests that he is a decent guy. It wasn't a grand gesture, it wasn't a large donation or anything that could be construed as self-serving. It seems more like a genuine desire to make someone else really happy, even for a brief moment.


Agree with this. Well said.

And again, not trying to sway anyone's Crosby opinions - even his on ice haters have acknowledged Crosby off ice.

but his sledge hockey video makes me tear up every time i watch it. I truly believe this would be Crosby without the cameras.

Also, his videos with the hockey team from Kenya also pulls at the heart strings when you see the unbridled awe and joy in those Kenyan players faces to see that it was actually Sidney Crosby playing with and against them.

Below is the sledge hockey video. And this wasn't just Crosby. It was Giroux, Hartnell, MacKinnon, Couture
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Here is the Kenya  
pjcas18 : 8/22/2019 4:58 pm : link
video.
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