In January, a couple from Montreal, Mathieu and Sandra, traveled to Cranberry to watch the Penguins practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. Little did Sandra know that she would get the surprise of her life as they were waiting for the players to exit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew that her favorite player was Sidney Crosby, and she didn\u2019t know that I was going to propose,\u201d Mathieu said. \u201cThen, Sidney Crosby passed by, and she wanted to take a picture with him while I was getting ready. She didn\u2019t know what I was doing, but I knew that it was happening right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Sandra\u2019s son Shayan had been hoping that Crosby would sign his jersey, he also knew that Mathieu wanted to propose. So, Shayan was able to record the entire proposal, with Crosby seeing it all happen from his car and giving a thumbs-up.<\/p>\n
Mathieu and Sandra have talked about getting engaged for a while, and she only wanted two ways for it to happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first one is in front of my family when I do not know, and the second one is having what I love most at heart, hockey, being part of it,\u201d Sandra said. \u201cI never asked for it to be in front of Crosby; that\u2019s why it is bigger than I ever imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n
The connection to Crosby goes back years. After she moved from France to Montreal, Sandra started watching hockey when she saw Crosby play at the 2014 Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched Team Canada play, and I was like, \u2018Oh my gosh, there is a very good player on the ice, and he looks really good.\u2019 It was Sidney Crosby, but I knew nothing,\u201d Sandra said. \u201cWhen my son was 7 years old, I told him to pick a team that we would follow, and he chose the Penguins.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Shayan grew up and watched the team, he followed Crosby\u2019s example in multiple ways. Now, at 18 years old, it is even more evident.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe acts like him. He does everything,\u201d Sandra said. \u201cHe\u2019s superstitious like him, and he\u2019s kind to other people. It\u2019s a big thing for my family, and it\u2019s a big thing for me, too. It\u2019s great to see that my son has a role model like Sidney Crosby.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is why her engagement proposal was way better than she could\u2019ve expected, a full-circle moment for the relationship she has with Shayan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Penguins play a big chunk of my life with my son,\u201d Sandra said. \u201cHockey glued us together, and that\u2019s how we spend a lot of quality and exciting time when we watch the Penguins play. Mathieu being a part of it brings a lot of fulfillment in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
When they first started following the team, Sandra and Shayan watched every single Penguins game on TV and went to see them play when they faced Montreal. They made their first trip to Pittsburgh in 2015 and followed them on the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went to Pittsburgh, we then went to Los Angeles and Anaheim, and they won all three of them,\u201d Sandra said. \u201cI remember when we went to Los Angeles, Patric Hornqvist scored in overtime. It was 1-0, and the Penguins won that game. It was our first games ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
From then on, Sandra and Shayans make yearly trips back to Pittsburgh to support their team. While Mathieu initially intended to propose at PPG Paints Arena, the moment was too good to pass up in Cranberry.<\/p>\n
Afterwards, Mathieu posted the video on his social media, where he saw the reception from thousands of viewers filled with so much positivity.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many people reacted in a good way,\u201d Sandra said. \u201cThere is such a great community in hockey. Not only that, but people know what is good in life. It\u2019s very heartwarming.\u201d<\/p>\n
The video also sparked the attention of Cranberry Township, who wanted to share this moment even further when they launched a new campaign called Love is in the Air.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gave us the opportunity to celebrate not just one couple, but the spirit of connection and happiness that defines Cranberry Township,\u201d said Tina Fedko, Director of Communications for Cranberry Township. \u201cSeeing how people responded, engaged, and shared in that joy made it even more meaningful for the Township.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tina, who has been with Cranberry Township for over ten years, has witnessed firsthand the community impact of the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex since it opened in 2015.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe facility has become a cornerstone of our community, while supporting local economic growth and enhancing the quality of life for our residents,\u201d Fedko said. \u201cTogether, we\u2019ve built a relationship that reflects our shared commitment to excellence, community engagement, and regional impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Mathieu, Sandra, and Shayan live in Montreal, it is safe to say that Pittsburgh has become like a second home, with how much the Penguins and the community have impacted their lives.<\/p>\n
Whether it was Shayan being excited to get his jersey signed by his role model, or Mathieu and Sandra sharing a once-in-a-lifetime moment, it shows how hockey can be more than just a sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoments like these – especially with Sidney Crosby there to witness – truly capture the spirit of our community,\u201d Fedko said. \u201cIt was an unforgettable scene that brought excitement and a sense of shared joy across Cranberry Township and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In January, a couple from Montreal, Mathieu and Sandra, traveled to Cranberry to watch the Penguins practice at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-518063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}