January 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\nThis isn\u2019t common, especially when considering we are talking about a 38-year-old man. I don\u2019t think children typically identify with or worship players that age. Sure, they understandably loved Crosby when he really was \u201cSid the Kid,\u201d but he\u2019s 18 months away from turning 40. One would assume kids who love hockey these days would more easily identify with and root for young stars such as Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard, because they are practically children themselves.<\/p>\n
Yet there they were in Vancouver, just like they show up in every NHL city, particularly in Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the guy,\u201d Vancouver native Parker Wotherspoon said after practice, noticing all the of the kids clamoring for a view of Crosby. \u201cHe\u2019s still the guy. He\u2019s the best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once upon a time, Wotherspoon was one of those kids.<\/p>\n
When Crosby plays in Vancouver, it\u2019s impossible to avoid thinking about the Golden Goal. It remains perhaps the most famous goal in the sport\u2019s history. The United States has never come closer to catching up with the Canadian hockey machine than on that day in Vancouver. Crosby, then 22 and already a Stanley Cup champion and the world\u2019s undisputed greatest player, set off celebrations from here to Halifax with his goal that gave Canada a 3-2 victory.<\/p>\n
Wotherspoon remembers watching that game as a 12-year-old, and he remembers what a big deal it was every time Crosby came to British Columbia.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the biggest thing when Sid would come out here,\u201d Wotherspoon said. \u201cBack then, it was only once every other year because teams didn\u2019t play in every building every season. We\u2019d get Ovi (Alex Ovechkin) one year, then Sid the next. And yeah, when Sid was here, it was all anyone wanted to talk about. And I\u2019m lucky because, when you get to know him, you see what an incredible person he is.\u201d<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re around as long as Crosby, you eventually become teammates with people who had your poster on their bedroom walls. Crosby is plenty old enough to be 18-year-old Ben Kindel\u2019s father, and every day this season, Kindel\u2019s locker stall is right beside Crosby\u2019s as the rookie soaks in all the knowledge he can from the legend beside him.<\/p>\n
In something I find fairly remarkable, Crosby\u2019s impact on children has never changed. Maybe it\u2019s the nickname. Maybe kids are smart and just want to be around greatness. More than anything, though, I suspect kids are very adept at recognizing human warmth. And in Crosby, it\u2019s there to an extreme level.<\/p>\n
There are many stars in today\u2019s NHL, and in my experience, most of them are perfectly nice people. Not one of them, however, possesses Crosby\u2019s natural warmth. Not even close.<\/p>\n
I suspect that is what draws young people to him.<\/p>\n
Jim Rutherford, Crosby\u2019s former general manager and now the president of hockey operations in Vancouver, once said something to me that I\u2019ll never forget.<\/p>\n
I had told Rutherford about a time I witnessed Crosby in Calgary following a game against the Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome. He had already entered the team bus on a bitterly cold evening. A few children had gathered on a hill above the bus and had made signs wishing Crosby luck at the upcoming Winter Olympics. Upon seeing this, Crosby, suit and tie and all, climbed an icy hill, signed autographs for each of them and talked with them for minutes before heading back to the bus. I\u2019d bet money that the conversation meant more to the kids than an autograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen him do stuff like that,\u201d Rutherford said. \u201cThe way Sidney Crosby treats children is the single most impressive thing I have ever seen in this sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe that\u2019s it. Maybe generations of stars come and go, but Crosby remains the favorite of younger generations because stories like this have been told over and over, and come to life before their very eyes.<\/p>\n
Even the greatest player in the world, the guy who finally surpassed Crosby, was once this way.<\/p>\n
I met Connor McDavid when he was a 15-year-old star in Erie. We spoke on the phone the next day for an interview, and McDavid said to me, \u201cDo you really know Sid? That\u2019s amazing. I have his poster on my wall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crosby will retire someday, of course. The NHL and the hockey world will not be the same place without him.<\/p>\n
Scanning that crowd today, I remember McDavid saying that to me 14 years ago. While McDavid doesn\u2019t necessarily have Crosby\u2019s warmth \u2014 no one does \u2014 he recognized it as a child, probably before he knew that he\u2019d be Crosby\u2019s successor as the greatest player in the world.<\/p>\n
He just wanted to be around Crosby, wanted to watch him, wanted to talk about him.<\/p>\n
I scanned all of those kids in Vancouver and wondered if the next best player in the world was out there. You never know.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a pretty cool thing that, whether the next great one is out there or not, they got to spend an afternoon watching Crosby. Kids were doing the same thing 20 years ago. Maybe they\u2019ll be doing it for a while longer.<\/p>\n
He is an athlete who defies time as a player and as a beloved figure.<\/p>\n
In Crosby, there is truly nothing but good.<\/p>\n
Children recognize it so clearly.<\/p>\n
It was golden.<\/p>\n
PRACTICE NOTES \u2014 The Penguins practiced for an hour \u2014 most of the players actually stayed on the ice for well over an hour \u2014 in one of the longer, more grueling practices of the season. They had a day off yesterday and no morning skate on Sunday because it\u2019s an afternoon game, so they had quite the intense practice. \u2026 Kris Letang, who has missed the past two games after getting banged up in Seattle, was back at practice and was not wearing a no-contact jersey. Dan Muse didn\u2019t confirm that Letang will play on Sunday against the Canucks, but it seems likely that he\u2019ll be active \u2026 If Letang comes back, either Connor Clifton or Jack St. Ivany will presumably be a healthy scratch.<\/p>\n