The Penguins players hadn’t skated with the kids since before the pandemic. Perhaps it’s fitting that the return of the Golden Ticket skate came in the same season that he passed Mario Lemieux to become Pittsburgh’s all-time points leader, as it’s a huge part of Crosby’s legacy.
Dave Hannan, who was drafted by the Penguins in 1981 and played over 800 games in the NHL, played with Lemieux back in the day.
“We always said that after we were here for such a long time, we were always going to come back to Pittsburgh,” Hannan said.
Now, he has his grandson enrolled in Crosby’s program, as Jack has been begging his parents to let him get on the ice.
“It brings back a lot of memories from Mario when he brought a lot of young kids to play,” Hannan said. “And now, Sid, with his Little Pens, we just spent a whole day here, and it was just awesome.”
While the children were extremely excited to skate with the Penguins, and the parents were just as grateful to witness it, the players themselves also value moments like these.
“I think it’s awesome for us to be able to get out there with the kids and see how much we can impact them,” Bryan Rust said. “But I think it’s awesome for the kids, too. They obviously are able to get on the ice with us and have some fun, and that’s kind of what it’s all about.
“I don’t think anybody has ever started playing hockey with the idea that it was going to be our career. We played because we loved it, and it ended up taking us to the highest point. But just kind of puts things into perspective, that this is a game that we love to play, and we’re extremely fortunate to be able to do it for a living.”