The rituals that Sidney Crosby wonât discuss: An old jock strap, sweat-stained hats and the McDonaldâs arches
Rob Rossi | The Athletic | November 4, 2019
Itâs not that Jack Johnson hadnât seen Sidney Crosby in 16 years. He just hadnât seen Crosby as a teammate during that span. So, during Johnsonâs first season with the Penguins, he couldnât help but notice that Crosby had brought to Pittsburgh a ritual from their time together playing for Shattuck-St. Maryâs prep team in Minnesota.
âOnce he taped it, he didnât like anyone touching his stick,â Johnson said of Crosbyâs longest-standing ritual. âThatâs the big one I remember.â
âAnd I think heâd always take the same walking path to the rink,â Johnson said. âI think they were starting to add up. He was just at the beginning.â
Over the next 17 years, Crosby would go on to craft one of hockeyâs great resumes. His talents are seemingly surpassed only by his competitiveness. But Crosby might also believe his achievements have something to do with his rituals.
We say âmightâ because we canât say for sure if Crosby really believes wearing the same jock strap for every NHL game has helped him captain three Stanley Cup champion teams, lead Canadaâs men to a couple of Olympic gold medals and the World Cup of hockey, and collect enough individual awards to require an addition to his homes in Halifax or Pittsburgh.
We do know that Crosbyâarguably as accessible to the media as he has been imposing to the oppositionâis loathe to discuss the rituals that seem to have become superstitions. While he is not alone among hockey players who have a certain way of doing specific things before each game, he is the first phenom to fulfill his promise during the internet age.
That means anything different heâs done has been overanalyzed to the point of exhaustion and annoyance.
Also, if Crosby believes details about his jock strap are nobodyâs businessâwell, who is going to argue with him?
Crosby has worn the same black Reebok jock strap dating back to when he played for Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior League. A couple months ago, Rimouski and the QMJHL retired Crosbyâs No. 87, which means the jock strap has outlived Crosbyâs junior hockey number.
The jock strap itself is not unusual, at least from afar. The edges of its elastic waistband are worn, but by all accounts its function has not suffered over almost two decades. He has worn the jock strap for every practice and game of his Penguins career. He also brought it along for stints with Team Canada.
Crosby likes the way the jock strap feels, so heâs kept it around and had it cared for professionally. Hey, people do the same with shoes, and those only cover feet.
Many members of the Penguinsâ equipment staff have âdoctoredâ Crosbyâs jock strap. None would dare discuss said doctoring on the record, but weâve managed to unearth the important information that has been on everybodyâs mind.
Indeed, Crosbyâs jock strap receives a good and proper sewing at least once a month during the season.
His shoulder pads are what truly test the skills of Penguinsâ equipment staffers, though.
As is the case with the jock strap, Crosbyâs shoulder pads are still with him because he likes they way they feel. NHL equipment has changed dramatically during Crosbyâs career, and many players have soured on breaking in the latest, lightest gear.
Crosby found a work-around. He just never upgraded, even though practically everyone around Crosby encouraged him to try newer pads.
His shoulder pads, which also date back to his days with Rimouski, have been repaired and repaired and repaired to the point they probably require a medical plan. A front section of the chest protector is dark blue and marked by what remains of the original Jofa lettering.
After a mid-October practice at PPG Paints Arena, Crosby removed the pads and handed them to an equipment staffer so that a computer chip could be removed. He laughed and offered âgood luck finding it in that mess.â
Clearly, Crosby was being kind. His shoulder pads stopped being a âmessâ many years ago.
Theyâre now a raggedy combination of patches that turn different colors depending on the section. Made by Reebok, the pads are thought to be the 6K model, according to head equipment manager Dana Heinze. Heinze believes this model is no longer produced, so finding replacement parts for the pads is a challenge.
The pads are refurbished when required to meet safety standards. Theyâre also regularly cleaned, gingerly, for sanitation purposes.
Like the jock strap, Crosby arrived in Pittsburgh with these very shoulder padsâor the frame of them, at leastâfor his first NHL training camp in September 2005. Heinze and his crew have been repairing them on an every-other-week basis from Day 1.
Why go to all the trouble?
If something makes him comfortable, the extra effort to provide him that comfort is worth it. Thatâs what they all say in Pittsburgh when it comes to Crosbyâs fondness for familiar gear.
At this point, the equipment staffers who have known him longest admit theyâre not sure if anything Crosby wears for protection has been changed this decade, last decade or ever. His elbow and leg pads do not appear as torn and frayed as the shoulder pads or jock strap, but thatâs not to suggest they, too, donât receive surgeon-level stitching from assistant equipment manager Paul DeFazio.
Crosbyâs conferences with either DeFazio or associate head equipment manager Jon Taglianetti are a frequent post-practice visual in the Penguinsâ dressing room. Much is said with looks, as if Crosby and the equipment managers are communicating telepathically about what needs done to keep his gear on life support.
Could Crosby play without his equipment? Heâll never have to if Heinze and Co. have anything to say about it. Which is about all theyâll say about it.
Crosbyâs teammates tend not to say anything about his gear or any of âthe things that make Sid, you know, Sid,â as Patric Hornqvist put it. That includes Crosbyâs habitual tracing of an on-ice McDonaldâs logo during pregame warmups at PPG Paints Arena.
It would be one thing if Crosby counted McDonaldâs as one of his many corporate sponsors. He does not.
Itâs just that one day he started standing at that logo and stick-handling up, down and around those famous golden arches, and heâs done it ever since. That was when the Penguins played across the street at the Civic Arena, fondly known in Pittsburgh as âthe Igloo.â There is a parking lot where the Civic Arena one stood.
At least Crosby did not insist on the McDonaldâs logo remaining in the spot it had been before and then crossing the street to play at PPG Paints Arena for every game. Though, had he insisted, the Penguins might have gone for the idea.
We can already hear general manager Jim Rutherford saying donât give Sid any ideas. And, keep in mind, Rutherfordâprobably the most talkative GM in league historyâwonât speak to anybody on days of games because of a superstition that dates back to his playing days as a goalie.
We bet youâre wondering what Crosby does during pregame warmups on the road. Itâs not like McDonaldâs has its logo planted in the neutral zone at every NHL rink.
Away from Pittsburgh, Crosby tends to find logos that have staying power. In Detroit, Little Caesarâs Pizza is one of his go-to tracing spots outside PPG Paints Arena.
AT&T SportsNet, the Penguinsâ television broadcaster in Pittsburgh, is as ritualistic at showing Crosbyâs warmup stick work as Crosby is about sticking to his warmup routine. Itâs not like Hornqvist skating laps without his helmet has become a money shot for that networkâs camera operators.
âWeâre all in the same situation; we all have routines,â Hornqvist said. âSome guys more than others.
âIf you watch Sid every gameâthatâs a guy Iâd want to watch, tooâhis routines are good stuff. And, yeah, I like those small things around the game. You can see how guys get dialed in right away, and itâs fun to see.
âHeâs been doing it a long time and heâs been quite successful. I fully understand why he keeps doing it.â
So, Hornqvist has discussed the McDonaldâs logo tracing with Crosby?
âNo,â Hornqvist said. âAnd you know what? If he wants to keep the reasons for those things in his head, nobody needs to know about that. Those are Sidâs things.â
The one rule about âSidâs thingsâ is you donât talk about Sidâs things.
An exception may have been granted to fellow Nova Scotian Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche. He and Crosby train together during the summer, so MacKinnon has seen firsthand whether Crosbyâs quirks continue in the offseason.
âIf things are in a certain spot, heâll leave them there ⌠like in his car, like an envelope or something,â MacKinnon said. âHeâs pretty superstitious. Heâll be the first one to admit that.â
But weâre used to a code of silence from Crosby on this particular subject matter. In Pittsburgh, PPG Paints Arena and the Lemieux Sports Complex are hockey houses the Penguins built because Crosby is a player of unrivaled influence. His houses, his rules.
âWhen Iâm at his house I donât move anything or touch anything,â MacKinnon said of Crosbyâs actual home in Halifax. âMake sure I get the go-ahead before I touch anything.â
Weâre guessing the Halifax residence has at least one closet that stores a box of smelly black ball caps that Crosby has donned over the years when verbally dancing with reporters.
There would be only 14 from the Penguins and a handful from his Team Canada appearances. Crosby picks a cap at the beginning of a season, or international competition, and wears it for hockey-related activities (interviews, workouts, team meetings, etc.) until the season or competition is over for him.
Few people in Pittsburgh picked up on this habit until midway through Crosbyâs rookie season, when his cap had appeared to age many years in a matter of months.
Once again, comfort seemingly trumped everything when it came to what Crosby would wear.
Although, he produced 100 points as a rookie, won the Hart and Art Ross trophies in his second season, went to the Cup final in his third, won the Cup in his fourth, and scored the Golden Goal at the Vancouver Olympics in his fifth. So, if Crosby had been looking for evidence that his one-cap-for-all-season approach was magical, he had more than enough to keep with the practice.
A good cap is priceless. But as one of Reebokâs signature international athletes, Crosby could get Reebokâs CEO on the phone and request fresh apparel for every hour of every day.
Alas, Crosby wouldnât. He is loathe to seek special treatment, which is the real reason he avoids podium interviews in the playoffsâalthough, indeed, most people have confused that preference for another one of his superstitions.
Not true. It couldnât be.
The Penguins have won the Cup three times during postseasons when Crosby also talked from behind a podium on a stage in a makeshift dark room inside an arena. We know. We were there.
Those close to Crosby have said Crosby opts against the podium in the postseason so that attention can be spread to other teammates. He recognizes the interest in having him front and center for media opportunities, but Crosby also believes itâs better for team chemistry if the captain cedes the spotlight to a player or players who also played a significant role in a victory.
When he does do the podium after games or practices, Crosby is usually joined by a teammate. Each time, his ball cap has been altered by Penguins equipment staff to show the Cup final logo. Otherwise, the cap would be indistinguishable from the one he had worn the previous January. Other than a few more sweat streaks rising from its edges.
Finally, thereâs the pregame mealâanother holdover from Crosbyâs days at Shattuck-St. Maryâs: peanut butter sandwiches.
âHeâll mix it up a little bit for a pregame meal,â Johnson said. âBut before a pregame meeting, itâs a peanut butter sandwich every time. I sit next to him in those meetings and he walks by every day and I just get a big whiff of peanut butter. But thatâs not too bad, right?â
Somewhere, weâd like to think Ronald McDonald is in anguish.
A cap for each season. A jock strap and shoulder pads from his junior-hockey seasons. Taped sticks that stay away from everybody. And a warmup routine involving a fast-food logo. These are a few of âSidâs (favorite) things.â
âItâs funny, some of them are pretty minute,â Johnson said.
Taken together, they show a side of Crosby that is at least ritualistic, perhaps superstitious. His reluctance to address any of these things also reflects a competitiveness from Crosby that Johnson said he has never experienced from anyone in any walk of life.
Johnson said of Crosby, his longtime friend, that ânothing is way out thereâ regarding the rituals of the so-called Face of the NHL. He reasoned that âeverything with Sid is time-based to get him ready for games.â
âTheyâre routines, every guy has them,â Johnson said. âItâs just that some routines are more extreme.
âSome youâd say are weird. Some youâd say are normal. Itâs all relative.â
