One in (87) Million

Sidney Crosby left many people speechless with the terms of his new deal - including Phil Bourque - as the captain declined a well-deserved raise in an effort to help the Penguins win both now and in the future.

“I don’t think anybody can truly put into words what Sidney Crosby did by agreeing to a two-year contract extension at the same number he had from his previous contract,” the Penguins Radio Network color analyst wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). “He is not only one in 1 million in the NHL, he truly is the most unselfish athlete to play any sport.”

Crosby’s actions were yet another reminder of how fortunate we are to have him as the leader of this franchise. It’s been an honor and a privilege for all of us who have been part of his journey in some way, and a few individuals have been around the captain on a daily basis since the beginning.

Bourque, Dan Potash and Paul Steigerwald have covered virtually every game that Crosby has played over the past 19 years, while Mike Lange has provided the soundtrack to many of the captain’s greatest moments. Because of that, they all have a unique perspective on the player and person he is. They were gracious enough to provide some insights on what Crosby and the Penguins have meant to each other, and the impact he’s had on the franchise and city.

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Mike Lange

Role(s) in the Crosby era: Hall of Fame Voice of the Penguins

“He's been one of the great ambassadors of the game in his ability to handle all situations, particularly off the ice or in the locker room. He welcomes anybody that wants to come in. He'll give them the time, in most cases, he remembers those people – and they're forever grateful, really. You don't understand how important that is to people around the league. He's a master at it, and he's really good. He's genuine, and that's a beautiful thing to have when you've got a player like that. He demands so much respect, and yet, he's not looking for that. He's just trying to be a good human. That, probably, is his greatest asset. He, to me, is the ultimate captain with his team, with his personality… I mean, he just has that innate ability to be able to meet somebody with humility. That's what really stands out to me with Sid. He came that way. He was packaged and ready to go from the start. If you remember the early games, he had to be the front-and-center guy. He stepped in as an 18-year-old and there he is, talking to all these people not only in English, but French, too. I don’t think other people remember that he knows French, coming from Rimouski. So, just a pretty special guy. I think it was the right city for him to come to. The culture was right. He kept the culture going, and I'm looking forward to more years from him. When you're ready to retire Sid, let us know. But we'll take you on one leg. We’ll take you on one leg for as long as you want to play. This city, you know how much it’s grown on him. You know, there's a movie called the Body Snatchers. They snatch people up, and they got me, and I think they got Sid, too. I think they got him too. My god, they got us [chuckles]. But we’re happy they did.”

Dan Potash

Role(s) in the Crosby era: SportsNet Pittsburgh lead studio host, SportsNet Pittsburgh rinkside reporter

His first interaction with Sidney came in the summer of 2005 when traveling from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles. The California native’s direct flight got canceled, and his new itinerary featured a layover in Detroit AND the dreaded middle seat assignment. The person at the window had an equipment bag squeezed under their feet, and Potash decided to try and make the best of their cramped quarters by striking up a conversation. Turns out the guy next to him was none other than Sidney Crosby.

“I remember our conversation on that flight from Detroit to SoCal in the summer of 2005 like it was yesterday! I introduced myself and told him that I was from LA, but considered Pittsburgh my home. He was curious about my job with Fox SportsNet and what it was like to live in Pittsburgh. At the same time, he answered all my questions about growing up in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. Here is hockey’s next superstar, and we hardly talked about hockey. It was great! Weeks later, the Pens win the draft lottery and then select Sid with the first pick and on the first day of training camp he walks into a packed room to speak with the media, and says hello to ME! His life has been turned upside down since we first met, and he remembers ME! We just picked up our conversation from weeks earlier, and two decades later, the conversation continues. All this time has passed, and he is the same guy I met on that flight. I am thrilled that our talks will continue here in Pittsburgh. As a superstar, he is always in demand by fans and the media, and he always makes time for everyone. No one would expect a player of his popularity to be so readily available day in and day out, yet there he is signing autographs and answering questions. That’s a real captain! It’s a credit to who he is as a person and how he was raised. We have been spoiled to have someone like that represent the Penguins and the city of Pittsburgh on and off the ice for almost two decades. Lemieux… Jagr… Crosby… seriously, could you see him in anything but Pittsburgh black and gold? The tradition continues.”

Phil Bourque

Role(s) in the Crosby era: Penguins Radio Network color analyst, rotating color analyst for SportsNet Pittsburgh

“Probably two things come to mind seeing Sid sign this deal. Number one would just be pride. Proud to know the person and the player representing the Pittsburgh Penguins for what they have been for over 50 years, for what they are today, and what they are in the future. I know he represents everything past, present, and future. I guess you feel a personal connection, not only in regards to your personal relationship with Sid, but you feel like he's walking in the same shoes that Mario walked in for so many years – that not only is he a Penguin, but he's a Pittsburgher. I think Sid and the Penguins have been such a good fit because of the foundation that Mario laid out. There was a winning tradition and a standard that wasn't here until Mario got here. It dipped down before Sid got here, and Sid was able to find the path that Mario went down to bring the Penguins not only back to respectability, but back to being a championship team. The stats say one thing, the championships say another thing, but the style of play – I'm so impressed with that. Never taking shortcuts and understanding the way to win in the National Hockey League is paying attention to those details, never shying away from the physical play … whether he's 18 or 36, he still has that courage and fearlessness to play the game like he was a 6-4 player. To put into words what he's doing at his age seems to have been said by so many people, so many different ways, that it's tough to find a new way to describe how difficult it is to do what he is doing at his age. Again, the stats are one thing, but what impresses me the most is how high his conditioning is and the dedication it takes to do that at his age, so that he's able to maintain a certain level of play that he knows other people expect… but more importantly, he expects.”

Paul Steigerwald

Role(s) in the Crosby era: Penguins Radio Network host, SportsNet Pittsburgh play-by-play announcer, Penguins Radio Network color analyst

“I think that Sidney was a godsend in the sense that our franchise was definitely on the verge of moving. It could have gone completely sideways at the time we won the lottery. To understand Sid’s impact, you have to know where we were before he got here. We had gone to the depths, finished last again… we were absolutely in a state where we didn't know what the future was going to hold for the franchise. We really got lucky, because we hit the lottery. But it was the perfect situation, because Mario had already met Sid, he skated with him in California. Sid gets to stay at Mario's house, so immediately, he has a full understanding of our franchise inside and out. I think the biggest thing was Sid was willing to basically take a discount for many years in his contract so that the team could have more money to spend on other players and be successful, so he made sacrifices in order to experience winning. He didn't bankrupt the team by taking the maximum amount of money he could have been making all these years, because he wanted to win. That was just so great. He was not selfish, he was selfless. He wanted to win the Stanley Cup. He fulfilled his promise, a total of three times. And look at the hell he went through with his injuries and everything, and the concussions. He went through a tremendous amount of adversity, different than the adversity that Mario went through, but similar in the sense that it was, I think, career-threatening. His overall health as a person could have been really negatively affected by that long term, but it wasn't, thank God. I chuckle when I hear all these pundits in Canada and all these hockey experts thinking that they're inside Sidney's head and they know what he's going to do. I think we know from our personal interaction with Sid that he's genuinely, very, very dedicated to the Penguins, to Pittsburgh. I think he cares about his legacy in some ways, not because of what other people think, but because he has his own inner belief in how he should conduct himself in his career. I think he's following that path, just like he always did. He has agents who watch his back and do all that, but Sid is his own man. Ever since he was a little kid, he's kind of charted his own course. The only decision he couldn't make was who picked him in the lottery, and I think he's just as happy to have been picked in the lottery by the Penguins as the Penguins were to have picked him. Then, he's proven again and again his level of commitment and dedication to the Penguins, so getting a new contract, to me, is just another chapter in a story that began unfolding right from the start – when Sid was able to justify to himself taking less money in order to help the team win. I think the fact that he's willing to do that again tells you that he has faith in the organization's ability to compete. I think it also shows that he does feel a sense of loyalty to the team, to the fans, the city of Pittsburgh, this community – all of that. He's not jumping ship. He’s captaining the ship, and the ship might go through some stormy seas at times. But he gets it. He understands that's the nature of sports, that's the nature of the business. That’s how I see it. I see him as a guy who feels blessed, accomplished about everything he can accomplish. He's won three Cups. He's won Conn Smythes. He’s won Hart Trophies. He's won scoring titles. He's won the gold medal. His last thing that he's going to win is the respect of everyone who's finally going to realize that he is the genuine person that we have come to know and love in Pittsburgh.”