It was February 2012. The Penguins were mired in a six-game losing streak and Crosby had played in only eight games in 14 months because of a concussion. Some Penguins believed it was worth discussing if a new, temporary captain should be selected given Crosbyās absence.
As the story goes, in all, eight players took part in a meetingā¦ The meeting abruptly ended when Malkin stood up and said, āThis is fucking stupid. Sid captain.ā
Case closed, Malkinās legendary loyalty to Crosby having never been on greater display.
Malkin possesses his own quirks, sure, but he plays a primary role in making said personalities click. Iām fairly certain heās often the one who brings everyone in that locker room together.
There once was a time when he wore the āAā on his sweater because of his Hall of Fame talent. Nowadays, there is far more substance to that letter.
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they king and lionhearted so hard they broke ao3
A few more specifics from this reddit thread because I canāt find the original The Athletic article rn:
It was 2011. Crosby was still out with the concussion and had been out for the better part of a year. There was a now infamous meeting in the Penguinsā locker room. On one side stood Brooks Orpik, Jordan Staal, Craig Adams and Matt Cooke. Those four were exploring the possibility of naming someone else team captain until Crosby came back. On the other side of the debate were Marc-Andre Fleury, Malkin, Pascal Dupuis and Arron Asham. A rather heated discussion broke out. At the end, Malkin made his point clear: āGuys. Sid is the f captain.ā Then he left the room. And the conversation was over.
Geno famously got into fisticuffs with Craig Adams during a Pens practice session; he bloodied Adamās mouth.
More about it here
