Biography

Sidney Crosby was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) first overall after earning back-to-back CHL Player of the Year Awards and leading his club to the 2005 Memorial Cup during his two-year major junior career with the Rimouski Océanic. Crosby was one of the most talked about junior hockey players in history. He represented Canada at the 2003-04 World Junior Championships at the age of 16 years 4 months and 24 days. His goal vs. Switzerland made him the youngest player to ever score for the team. Wayne Gretzky is quoted as saying Crosby is the best player he has seen since Mario Lemieux, making him a highly regarded draft pick leading many to refer to the 2005 Draft Lottery as the “Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes”

In his first season, he finished sixth in scoring with 102 points (39 goals, 63 assists). By his second season, he led the NHL with 120 points (36 goals, 84 assists) to capture the Art Ross Trophy, becoming the youngest player and the only teenager to win a scoring title in any major North American sports league.That same season, Crosby won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the most valuable player as determined by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and the Lester B. Pearson Award as the most valuable player as determined by the NHL Players Association. He is the seventh player in NHL history to haved earned all three awards. After losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, Crosby won his first Stanley Cup in 2009, becoming the youngest captain in NHL history to win the championship.