![\"Sidney](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2199640336-scaled-e1770522755683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia natives Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon are close friends and Team Canada teammates. (Minas Panagiotakis \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Crosby\u2019s Penguins and Canadian teammates alike have long appreciated his approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cSid just wants to win,\u201d said Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon, Crosby\u2019s close friend and Team Canada teammate. \u201cHe always leads the way, and he leads the way the right way. You just follow him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even those who have been Crosby\u2019s teammates for a matter of days are impressed by the team-first philosophy that, by all accounts, is completely authentic and sincere. Brett Kulak, Connor McDavid\u2019s Edmonton Oilers teammate before a December trade sent him to Pittsburgh, is already in awe of Crosby as a captain.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to appreciate him and all that he does,\u201d Kulak said. \u201cWe all deal with pressure and stress that revolves around the game and wanting to win. But I can\u2019t even imagine how much he has on his plate, that he\u2019s able to process mentally. That\u2019s one of the things that separates him. Another thing that separates him is his ability to be successful under pressure and in stressful situations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crosby also has a rare ability to relate with everyone in a locker room and to make the pressure seem a little less daunting.<\/p>\n
Kulak said Crosby is unlike anyone he\u2019s ever been around.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the thing,\u201d Kulak said. \u201cYou know who he is, but he just always puts everyone in the locker room before himself. That\u2019s the thing about him that you notice right away. He always puts everyone else first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crosby, in his 21st NHL season, is having a typically outstanding campaign. His 59 points in 56 games put him ahead of a point-per-game pace, which he\u2019s accomplished in every other season of his career en route to breaking a Wayne Gretzky league record<\/a>. His Penguins are making an unexpected romp toward the Stanley Cup playoffs in a season they were expected to finish near the bottom of the NHL standings.<\/p>\n Still, the expectations in Canada over the next two-plus weeks are sky-high \u2014 but it\u2019s nothing he hasn\u2019t experienced before.<\/p>\n \u201cMore than anything, I\u2019m just trying to find balance with my game and with how I handle my time and everything else,\u201d Crosby said. \u201cI\u2019m excited. But I also want my game to be in a good place going into the Olympics. You want to be playing well.\u201d<\/p>\n Crosby has only two points in his past six games, an oddly quiet stretch that he\u2019s highly aware of. He doesn\u2019t seem terribly concerned, though, and believes the production will come.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been preparing for it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a busy few days, even before our first game in the Olympics (on Thursday<\/a>). A very busy few days. So I have to keep balancing that stuff. The physical work, that preparation, it\u2019s already done. At this point, it\u2019s getting everything else ready on the mental side of things, planning your schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n