PITTSBURGH -- Put Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon across from each other on the ice and their close friendship becomes moot.
Each time they face off, it’s all about claiming the bragging rights of being better than the other guy. It’s the type of ferocious competitiveness that will again be on display when MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche visit Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, ALT, SNP, SNE, TVAS).
MacKinnon, 29, is third in the NHL and leads the Avalanche (16-13-0) with 41 points (nine goals, 32 assists) in 29 games. Crosby, 37, leads the Penguins (12-13-4) with 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists).
But it’s not just limited to NHL games.
During their offseason workouts in the Halifax area, the two natives of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia are never on the same team. That’s the way they want it. Head-to-head, mano a mano. Crosby in a black jersey, MacKinnon in blue, and let the best man win.
“That’s how it works,” Crosby said Monday, breaking into a wry grin. “I just think it’s good for me, with how fast and how skilled it is with everything he does.
“Going up against someone like that every day is good. So it’s great for me.”
Not to mention for hockey fans who get to see these two elite talents at their competitive best whenever their teams play against each other.
Come the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, however, Crosby and MacKinnon will stop trying to beat each other and combine forces to do it to the opposition while representing Team Canada. Joining them will be another native of the Halifax area, Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand.
“It’s going to be cool, playing with Nate and ‘Marshy,’ obviously hometown guys,” Crosby said. “It’s been a while since Nate and I played together at the World Championships in Prague in 2015 so it’s great to have the opportunity.”
To play on the same team is one thing but how about playing together on the same line?
“I'd love to be on his wing,” MacKinnon said. “That'd be cool. I think we’d play well together.”
Growing up, MacKinnon idolized Crosby, his elder by eight years. And as he began dominating minor hockey in the area, news of the talented kid reached Crosby’s ears.
“I heard about him and became aware of him because, well, obviously him being from home,” Crosby said. “People talking about the young guy coming up from Cole Harbour.
“He went on to play for the (Halifax) Mooseheads. Again, being in your hometown you hear a little bit more about him. And then he started training with Andy (O’Brien). I’d been training with Andy for a long time. And so, I met him that way. And then we started training together and skating together and all that stuff.”
Today, dangling from the rafters above the ice surface at Cole Harbour Place, banners honor Crosby and MacKinnon, two hometown boys. Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan had the chance to check them out firsthand when the Penguins held a practice there the day before playing the Ottawa Senators in a preseason game in Halifax in September 2023.
