When Tony Stevens and his wife Melinda found out they were expecting twins, the longtime Penguins fan joked, “Oh great! A Sydney and a Crosby!” A few months later, that became reality.
Once the initial laughter wore off, the couple began to think it over. “Well, she (Melinda) has always liked the name Sydney for a girl… we can go with that,” Tony said. “And the Crosby thing, once we learned the meaning of the name and really thought about it, it was like, ‘You know what, we’re okay with that.’”
In the end, the deciding factor was Melinda. “Ultimately, she picked Crosby. She was the final decision-maker on that, not me,” Tony said.
And so, on Jan. 7, 2025, Sydney and Crosby Stevens became the newest little Penguins fans, named after the Captain.
Tony, a graduate of PennWest California, became a Penguins fanatic at a young age – even while living in Abingdon, Va. “I’ve been a Pittsburgh fan before I even lived in Pittsburgh,” Tony said.
“Back when I was 7 or 8 years old, we had one of those giant, Earth-to-Mars-sized satellite dishes in the backyard. We lived out in the country, and that was the only way we'd get TV. I got exposed to hockey... at that time, it was the Mario (Lemieux) era, and I became a Penguins fan then.”
Not too long after Tony formed his connection with the franchise, it became even more personal. “Once I was about 12 or so, we moved to Pittsburgh,” Tony said. “That part was very exciting to me because I got to be near the Penguins, and it just continued from there.”
However, Melinda’s journey to the Penguins family took a much different path. Growing up in Johannesburg, South Africa, she was introduced to the Penguins when she met Tony. While they are both so impressed with what Crosby has accomplished on the ice, it is how the captain conducts himself off the ice that made them feel good about naming their first two children after him.
“Everything that we can tell, whether it be genuine reactions or just his genuine demeanor on the ice and off the ice, everything about Sid has been very positive,” Tony said. “He has a fantastic work ethic. He wants to be the best at what he does, and he will stop at no ends to do it. We want them to have that same work ethic.
“On top of that, he’s a great leader. Everybody looks up to him inside the locker room and outside the locker room. His attitude carries everybody, and we want our kids to be great leaders.”
With the twins having that immediate connection to Crosby, it’s only natural to wonder if Sydney and Crosby will be hockey players themselves. It’s something Tony and Melinda have already been keeping an eye on.
“I think it would be great,” Tony said. “It’s a great sport. I love it, she loves it, and it’s great for kids to learn things about life and to develop.”
Although the twins aren’t even a month old, their personalities are already showing their parents what types of players they might become.
“(Sydney’s) got ice in her veins, nothing seems to faze her, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s a goaltender,” Tony said. “Because that’s what you need to be a goaltender: ice in your veins.”
Crosby, on the other hand, is a different story.
“He’s loud,” Melinda said.
“He might be a defenseman that sits there and chirps, hard to say,” Tony added.
The Stevens currently reside in Sherrills Ford, N.C., where the twins have an Iceburgh stuffed animal and hang out with their parents during games, where they “react when Dad reacts,” Tony said jokingly.
“I think when Sydney and Crosby grow up and realize the connection (of their names), it’s going to be fun to tell them the stories and for them to go back and learn what kind of player he was, what kind of leader he is, and what he’s done for the community around Pittsburgh and even his hometown up in Nova Scotia, what he’s done there,” Tony said. “For them to learn that that’s the kind of guy you’re named after may inspire them to do similar things with their life.”
