Crosby brings 'Beatles' effect to 2024 Kraft Hockeyville

SUDBURY, Ontario -- It was at least a half hour before the Pittsburgh Penguins team bus was scheduled to arrive at Sudbury Community Arena Sunday morning, and already the chants had started from the throng of kids bordering the 2024 Kraft Hockeyville red carpet who were waiting for him to arrive.

“Crosby, Crosby, Crosby …”

Keep in mind that most of the youngsters calling out Sidney Crosby’s name had not been born yet when he scored the Golden Goal in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, giving Canada a 3-2 overtime victory against the United States and making him a national hero from St. John’s to Squamish.

No matter.

There were others who weren’t even alive the last time he’d hoisted the Stanley Cup, that coming with the Penguins in 2017 when Pittsburgh defeated the Nashville Predators in the Final.

No matter.

This was northern Ontario’s way of welcoming the Penguins captain to this vast hockey-mad region. And in these parts, like much of the country, everyone seems to know who Sidney Crosby is.

Yes, he plays hockey south of the border for an American team. But as Penguins coach Mike Sullivan pointed out, the 37-year-old is kind of like Canadian royalty in his native country.

“When he comes to Canada, it’s like the Beatles,” Sullivan said, a tinge of awe in his voice.

Such is the power of Sid in the Great White North.

Crosby and the Penguins came to Sudbury to face the Ottawa Senators in the 2024 Kraft Hockeyville game on Sunday. The town of Elliot Lake, 110 miles west of here, won the contest but its arena does not meet requirements to host an NHL game.

From the moment he stepped off the bus, the gleeful roar of the fans, young and old, could be heard for blocks. As he walked down the red-carpet entrance, he signed countless autographs, posed for numerous photos and took time to converse with a handful of kids who were in wheelchairs.

His patience only fueled the adulation for him.

When the starting lineups were announced, his name easily drew the loudest cheers. And when he subsequently scored his first of two goals to get the Penguins on the board at 8:55 of the first period in Pittsburgh’s 5-2 victory, the barn went bonkers.

While Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin was the outstanding performer of the game with a hat trick, it was Crosby who was the real star of the day.

And when it was over, there was Crosby, being his true humble self when asked what it meant to be adored to this level, even by youngsters who had never seen him lift a trophy.

“It means a lot,” the Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia native said, wearing a sheepish grin on his face. “Obviously I’ve played for a long time, which is a nice way to put it. And I think, you know, to still be playing and get that type of support, it means a lot.

“I think you look at different experiences you’ve gone through through the years, and that stuff never gets old when you’re in a position like this. You see how excited people are in a place like this to see an NHL game up close. So, I think that’s something that sticks with you.

“It was a great welcome, and we appreciate the hospitality. It’s a great hockey community and hopefully we put on a good show for them here.”

Crosby makes times for kids because he remembers a time when he was a boy seeing his NHL hockey heroes for the first time.

“I think it was when New Jersey played, I want to say Boston, in a preseason game in Halifax when I was younger,” he said. “I had a chance to go to that game, and it felt like another planet.

“Before that, I hadn’t seen an NHL game live, and I didn’t think I necessarily would. So I know what a game like this means. I know what it meant to me when I was a kid, and I’m sure what it means to people in the community here. You could feel that when you got here.

“I think that’s the moment I look back on. To be in this position and play in a town like this, I think you’re grateful for that opportunity.”

Much like the fans were to see him up close and in person.

Indeed, they came from far and wide across northern Ontario for the occasion, from communities like Elliot Lake, of course, and Espanola and North Bay and Sault St. Marie.

And, of course, there was the entourage for Senators forward Claude Giroux, a travelling party of uncles, aunts, cousins and his 80-something-year-old grandmother who travelled six hours and 350 miles from his hometown of Hearst, Ontario, just to see him play.

Giroux was one of the most popular players among the spectators on the red carpet. So, too, was Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, who took an earlier bus to the morning skate than the majority of his teammates just so he could make sure as many kids got an autograph as possible.

But in the end it was Crosby they really wanted, which came as no shock to his teammate and longtime friend Kris Letang.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” the Penguins defenseman said. “Not at all.

“Everything he’s accomplished and all the pressure he’s had since he was probably 10 years old, the type of person he is, the time he takes for kids, all the fans he has across Canada, again, it’s not surprising at all. He always takes time to sign autographs or speak to people that idolize him. So I don’t get surprised from what he does on the ice and the person he is off the ice.

“How do you not love this guy?”

Beatles indeed.