Where in the World is Sidney Crosby?! (summer 2015)

Mackey: Bubble hockey with Crosby

blog.triblive.com/chipped-ice/2015/08/19/mackey-bubble-hockey-with-crosby/#axzz3jIXt5Eeh

ENFIELD, Nova Scotia – Walk down the steps to Sidney Crosby’s man-cave of a basement, turn left, and there’s one of everyone’s favorite childhood memories – including his – there to greet you.

A Super Chexx bubble hockey table. We all have stories, right? Mine include going to Chuck E. Cheese’s in West Mifflin with my dad and pretty much bouncing between that and air hockey, sometimes that football-throwing game with the big and little targets sprinkled in.

I did not travel to Nova Scotia expecting to play bubble hockey. But, presented with the opportunity, I wasn’t about to turn it down.
“Wanna play?” I asked Crosby.

He seemed confused that, in the middle of our time together, I was asking to play bubble hockey. I don’t blame him. I worried for a minute whether I was either going to get laughed back to Pittsburgh or booted on the spot.
Neither happened.

“Sure,” Crosby answered, smiling. “I love that game. Don’t play it nearly enough.”

None of us do, Sid. None of us do.

So we played – but only after Crosby had to open the coin-slot part and retrieve the missing puck.

Like he’s said in interviews, oh, only about 4 million times, Crosby recognizes the importance of a strong start. He scores off the opening faceoff. At this point, I start worrying what I’ve gotten myself into.

Is he a ringer? Are all NHL players just really, really ridiculously good at this game?

I also realize that I was controlling the red team – what I perceive to be Canada – while Crosby had what looked to be Team USA, in blue, although neither is specified.

Felt weird to me. Crosby said since nothing appeared on the jerseys, play on.

Then I score into my own net, more disaster.

I rally for a bit – or at least stop the embarrassing onslaught. Get a couple of huge saves. I joke with Crosby that “I’m getting a Fleury-like performance in goal here.”

Turns out I spoke too soon. Crosby goal from the slot, 3-0. I’m toast.

I did make a bit of an offensive push. Scored twice. Forced Crosby to become upset with one of his defensemen.

“No. 4 here’s roasting me,” Crosby says.

My rally doesn’t last long. Crosby strikes again. The game finishes, 4-2, with USA outshooting Canada, 21-4.

“Allowed two on four shots,” Crosby says of his own performance. “That’s not good.”

Crosby proceeds to explain that he’s really not that good at bubble hockey. He can see that I’m not. He says former NHL journeyman and Penguins player Mike Comrie is the best he’s ever seen at the game.

“It’s a good game,” Crosby said. “It’s fun. Comrie would have won 10-0 against me. He’s incredible.”
There’s plenty more coming Sunday, though nothing about bubble hockey. I’d still recommend spending the $1.50. I promise it will be worth it.

Be GRATEFUL to each other,
Mackey

My goodness, he's just adorable! Never happier then when he's playing hockey, in whatever format.

I am still kinda shocked that he even let them near his house. It is his hiding place away from the world, when he is at home.
Letting them inside has to be a big deal for him but im glad he did it.

I think he looks skinnier, or maybe because his new teeth but he looks really great! All in all he looks way more relaxed now and letting people have access to his lake house, he seems a lot more free now

He let the Pittsburgh media go to his lake house when he had his cup parade back in 2009 too. Shelly Anderson wrote about it.

Except her never let them into his house! I don't he's ever let media into his house!

Hi Ester. I know that he has had several media people in his home over the years to do print stories. But I don't think he has ever let anyone take video inside his home (he did when he lived with his parents though). I know for 24/7 he said that he would allow them to film in his car with him but not in his house ( www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/globe-on-hockey/behind-the-scenes-with-sidney-crosby/article4082377/ ). It has been mentioned that he's done the same thing with In The Room in the past. I'll be interested to see if In The Room has any footage from inside his home, or if it's just in the car and the exterior of his home (as we saw in the preview). I'm definitely looking forward to the first In The Room regardless of what it is.

great tbt articles from both Snarky and Jordyn, I really enjoyed re-reading them

Can't complain about that view

Teasing the Crosby Sunday story - blog.triblive.com/chipped-ice/2015/08/21/teasing-the-crosby-sunday-story/#axzz3jTT2FJ00

The following is an excerpt from my story on Sidney Crosby, reported around Nova Scotia, that will appear in your Sunday Tribune-Review:

Gaetan Tremblay, 49, also of Cole Harbour, met Crosby when the latter was a teenager. Tremblay handles Crosby’s equipment and ice procurement during the summer.

At the end of workouts, it’s Crosby who returns the nets to storage spots and gathers pucks, Tremblay said. He later told a story of Crosby, early in his career, refusing to drive his car too often because he feared exceeding the lease’s miles limit.

“I was like, ‘They might give you double what the car’s worth anyway because they can resell it to someone and say, ‘Sidney Crosby drove this,’ ” Tremblay said. “But that’s the type of guy he is.”

Gaetan was a trove of information and stories. He told me how Crosby and his family used to deliver newspapers. He laughed how a story involving Crosby, Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon and Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald eating fish and chips (and irritating their trainer, Andy O’Brien) made the local paper. He gave me a really, really good sense of the perception of Crosby up there.

Crosby, as I explain Sunday, is not fancy.

“I’ll never say he’s cheap; he’s frugal,” Tremblay said. “He has no problem donating a couple million dollars to a kids’ hospital, but he won’t go out and spend $100 on lunch when he can get it for $10.”

Tremblay has known Crosby since 2001, when Crosby played for the Dartmouth Subways, and has seen him change quite a bit over the past 14 years.

“Every summer when he’s come home, he’s grown,” Tremblay said. “It really started over the last couple of years; he’s looking to give back to the community. He gives back a lot anyway. He’s focusing on his career now but also on helping other people in their careers, helping kids and mentoring people.”

The story measures more than 2,500 words — lengthy even for this beat reporter, who’s never met an inch count he can’t exceed. Photos are by Chaz Palla, the only Harley Davidson-riding vegetarian I know. They are, predictably, really good.

Crosby let us tour his lakefront house and attend a pair of private workouts. We met many, like Tremblay, who’ve helped shape Crosby and are proud to call them their own. We sat in Crosby’s childhood living room with his parents, Troy and Trina, and sister, Taylor.

One of my favorite interviews, though, was definitely Tremblay.

Hope you’re able to read the story.

Be GRATEFUL to each other,

Mackey