Captain Consistent

Sidney Crosby has won Stanley Cups, garnered countless awards, has an incredible international resume and, as he progresses along in his career, continues to climb all-time lists and achieve new milestones.

While everything Crosby has accomplished has been remarkable, the captain’s latest feat is simply staggering. On Thursday in Buffalo, Crosby clinched the 20^th point-per-game season of his 20-year career, surpassing Wayne Gretzky (19) for the most in NHL history.

Checking in with teammates past and present, their reactions say it all.

“It’s insane,” said star winger Rickard Rakell, a six-time 20-goal scorer who got a career-high 69 points in 77 games during the 2017-18 campaign. “Like, I never had one, and I thought that I had good seasons. But 20 years in a row?! It’s just mind-blowing. Twenty years!”

“I think this is the coolest record,” Colby Armstrong added. “I think for every player, consistency is the one (universal) thing. Like, go talk to guys down in the minors. They'll say, what's one thing you need to improve? Consistency.

“Then, to be as great as he's been through his career for as long as he has is the ultimate hockey thing that everyone aspires to, and that's him. So, look at me – like, my hair is gray and I'm old, this is his 20th year [laughs]. It's pretty amazing, the greatness that we've been able to witness. The consistency that he's done it at speaks volumes of the player he is.”

As a rookie, Crosby recorded 102 points in 81 games in the first season post-lockout, with the league emerging from a clutch-and-grab era that had made scoring difficult to come by.

“His rookie season was out of this world. It was like, wow. Like, here we go, okay, we got something, we got something cooking, and he never took his foot off the gas,” said Armstrong, who played alongside Crosby at the start.

Chris Kunitz was one of Crosby’s longest-tenured linemates, spending years on Crosby’s wing. He was there while Crosby worked his way back from concussion and neck issues during the 2010-11 and ’11-12 seasons, figuring out how to get back to the top of his game, and remain there like he has.

“The longevity of seeing somebody produce at that level for multiple generations, when most of us only have careers for eight or so years – it’s special,” Kunitz said. “To watch Sid do it as the phenomenal teenager, get into some years with the injuries, and then to come back and just propel his team every night... for him to keep doing it this late into his career, no one else has done that for this long. It’s a hats off to all the success from how hard he works every day.”

The throughlines across Crosby’s career that have led to this milestone – in addition to his elite talent, of course – are his passion for the game, his drive to be the best, and his willingness to put the work in to do so.

“Ultimately, for it to be 20 years and see him back when he first started, it's so inspiring, actually – to just understand that we shouldn't limit ourselves, but to keep pushing,” said Ryan Malone, another linemate from the early days. “To see it from the hockey perspective now, and see all these records he's breaking, it's just been amazing. It's so deserving, as someone that has worked so hard for it.”

Crosby’s love for the sport – which seems to grow stronger as he gets older, now 37 years old – is the foundation for it all. As six-time Stanley Cup Champion Bryan Trottier once put it, “He’s a special kid in the sense that he finds the pure joy of the game. I think that is the 8-year-old in him that is the consummate rink rat.”

Or, according to Armstrong, a ‘Creature.’

“I nicknamed him that,” grinned Armstrong, a color analyst for the Penguins who played alongside Crosby in the early days. “Like, he's a creature of the game. He loves every little thing about it. His preparation, his summers, his workouts, coming to the rink every day and getting ready to play, all that – he loves all of that stuff, the process of it all. I think having that mindset and being, ultimately, super dedicated beyond anyone else – whether it's his diet or anything he has to do to prepare for a season or a game – that kind of crazy love for the game has, I think, separated him from everyone else.”

Armstrong joked that Crosby tends to be a bit secretive about what exactly he does in the offseasons. “It's kind of weird, I've asked him some questions, and he's like, I can't tell you,” Armstrong laughed. “He's got something that's special!”

A good portion is spent at home in Nova Scotia, working with longtime trainer Andy O’Brien alongside fellow Cole Harbour native Nathan MacKinnon, with their competitive nature bringing out the best in both of them. And maybe, a little bit of the worst, as told to Elliotte Friedman.

Often described as a student of the game, Crosby has put in the work to learn his body’s physiology and is so in tune to it, figuring out what he needs to be successful at every stage. While the superstitious captain is certainly a creature of habit – “I don't think he's changed up too much in the last 20 years,” Bryan Rust said with a laugh – Crosby has adapted his approach here and there along the way, while maintaining the same incredible level of discipline.

“His routines in the weight room… the way he takes care of his body... there's a daily endeavor to that,” Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said, who’s said the genius of Crosby’s legacy is that it’s like an iceberg. That the tip is magnificent hockey, but there’s so much substance underneath.

“It's all the routine that he puts in with some of the dynamic warmup stuff and the activation stuff, so that he takes care of his hips and his groin and his back... That's why he’s good. A lot of it's tedious. Like, you don't want to do it. It’s a pain in the ass. That's how most guys are. He just does it, and he revels in the arduous task that it is.”

That applies on the ice as well, as Sullivan said Crosby is the only player he has ever coached that actually embraces the grind in practice.

“When we do down low drills, he relishes it. Every other player on the ice is miserable. And he relishes it,” Sullivan said. “He comes to me all the time, and says, we need more grind, we need more grind. I’m like, Sid, we’re trying to give these guys a rest! [Laughs]”

Crosby’s been like that since the beginning. He’s always had an insatiable appetite to improve and get better, and that hasn’t wavered despite everything Crosby has accomplished.

“Even if the situation is what it is right now, he still works on his craft,” Kris Letang said. “He still wants to be the best player out there. He still goes out early in the morning and tries to work on different things.”

“For him to be doing it this good, this many years, you have to have some kind of crazy hunger in you, and he does. He has it,” Armstrong added. “It's been built in him. He wants to be good. He wants to be the guy.”

“Sometimes I ask him, like, why can’t you just trust that you’re one of the best players of all time? Maybe that’s the difference,” Rakell said. “To be that consistent for 20 years, always at the top, he just sees the game differently, plays the game differently, has different expectations on every shift.”

What also impresses Sullivan and Rust about that approach is that Crosby always finds a way to bring that mentality, even when he’s tired. Because while it’s hard to believe sometimes, Crosby is human, too. That’s the biggest lesson Rust has learned from his teammate.

“Just work every day. It doesn't matter if you've been on a really good streak, a really bad streak, you're having an off day, or slept horribly. Just keep bringing it to the rink every day,” Rust said.

The standard Crosby has set and maintained has helped raise the level of everyone around him, which they all appreciate.

“He was very demanding, even when he was young when I played with him,” Armstrong said. “It made me so much better... I would find myself wanting to play well for him, in a sense. So, he draws you into it just because of the way he is. I loved being pushed every day, in practice, every drill. If I got to go with him, or if we lined up, I knew you had to be ready to go. I think ultimately, that's the culture here in Pittsburgh. That's what's been here for 20 years, since he's been here, that’s been built and ingrained in the teams every single year.”

Malone, who also sat next to him in the locker room, had to laugh when he reflected back some of the feedback received.

“When I passed him the puck, if it was a little wobbly, he wanted a perfect flat pass, and I was telling him to slow down a little bit, maybe,” Malone chuckled. “But I think it's that consistency and those expectations of every day, bringing the best of whatever you got, showing up and to continue that growth mindset.”

That doesn’t mean it’s all work and no play. Talk to any of the guys from those years when they had a young group coming into the league together. More often than not, they’ll say their fondest memories are from having friendly but intense competitions, then hanging out in the locker room wearing their half gear until staff told everyone to go home.

“Obviously, playing together, winning together, those are such good memories and a lot of fun and all the best,” Marc-Andre Fleury said. “But to be with these guys every day, and the group of guys that we had all these years is awesome, you know? To battle with them and have some laughs in practice.”

As for the games, Crosby’s expectations for his line each time they go over the boards are high.

“I think that’s something that was eye-opening to me, is that he expects us to score every shift, or do something,” Rakell said. “If we have a shift where nothing happens, he won’t accept it.”

Malone loved how that mentality really did manifest into production... year after year, times 20 and counting.

“It was just a lot of fun. Getting out there, we believed we could score anytime we were on the ice. I think that belief was something special,” he said. “We generated through practice and preparation. But ultimately, it was great. We loved the game, and the game loved us back. So, it's great to see him continue with this run and break so many records. Couldn’t think of a better ambassador for the game of hockey, the way he is as a person, not just as an amazing player.”