Crosby practices with Penguins in hometown rink

COLE HARBOUR, Nova Scotia -- Sidney Crosby has brought the Stanley Cup to his hometown three times: 2009, 2016 and 2017.

On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Penguins captain brought something else to Cole Harbour Place that had the entire area buzzing.

His team.

The Penguins were in town and people were stoked, with fans beginning to congregate at 6 a.m. By midmorning, the line of people, many wearing black and gold No. 87 jerseys, snaked all the way out to the street.

It was their way of showing their appreciation for Crosby, the hometown hero.

Just like Crosby was showing his appreciation for them by showcasing his Penguins firsthand.

During his minor hockey days, Cole Harbour Place was the arena where he would hone his skills, all the while hoping to make it to the NHL one day. Now, here he was, in that same venue, on that same ice surface, with his NHL teammates.

A surreal moment for the future Hall of Famer who’s had an impressive number of them.

“Yeah, it’s been a while,” the 36-year-old said. “But I certainly remember how excited I was to be on that ice at any point.

“I think we practiced twice a week back then. It was an hour twice a week, so it was exciting to get out there.”

As Crosby was holding court with the media in one of the cramped dressing rooms, chants of “Crosby, Crosby” could be heard coming from the hordes of kids out in the stands.

It was just another emotional moment in what has been an emotional homecoming.

“I would have never thought I’d have the opportunity to do this,” Crosby said. “I had a lot of early morning practices in this rink and, you know, had dreams of playing in the NHL. I never thought I’d ever be here with our team and do this with our team. So you just try to take it all in and enjoy it.”

Crosby has been doing exactly that, according to his close friend and longtime teammate Kris Letang.

“He’s been really excited,” the Penguins defenseman said. “During all of training camp he’s been hyping up the place. But you see how happy he is that he’s been able to bring the Penguins to his hometown to have a practice. He kind of gets emotional about it.

“To be honest, Sid always wants to give back to the community. To be from here and everything he does here, and then to have his entire team come and be part of the community and see where he grew up and everything around Halifax that he loves, it’s special.

“It’s fun. And you see how grateful he is for that.”

What you also saw from Crosby was a constant smile on his face, especially after practice when he hosted a hockey clinic for some of the local children from the Cole Harbour Wings along with forward Evgeni Malkin, defenseman Ryan Graves, who is from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and coach Mike Sullivan.

One of the lucky kids who took part in the clinic was nine-year-old Nolan Greenwood of the Cole Harbour U11 Wings. His dad, Jon, who is currently an assistant coach with the St. Mary’s University men’s hockey team, once coached Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon, who like Crosby is from Cole Harbour. As such, Nolan has met MacKinnon on a number of occasions.

But being on the ice with Sidney Crosby? That’s on another level.

“It was amazing to see him that close,” Nolan said. “A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do that.

“I’ll remember it forever.”

Much like Crosby will when it comes to this homecoming.

With Crosby having transformed from hockey hero to tour guide, the weekend started with an Amazing Race-like scavenger hunt that took his teammates through the streets of the Halifax area on Saturday. Some of the tasks included eating haggis, a pudding consisting of sheep’s heart, liver and lungs, shucking and eating gooey oysters, and firing pucks at an old dryer, much like Crosby did as a kid in his basement.

When asked about trying haggis for the first time, Crosby replied: “Not bad. Kind of tasted like shepherd’s pie.”

The homecoming will conclude Monday, when the Penguins play the Ottawa Senators in a preseason game at Scotiabank Centre. The matchup is being billed as the Nova Scotia Showdown and will feature three players native to the province: Crosby, Graves and Senators forward Drake Batherson.

“It’s cool,” Graves said. “The fans will have a chance to show their appreciation for him, just like he will for them.

“It’ll be special for him.”

Just like this entire weekend has been.