Biography
Sidney Patrick Crosby was born on August 7, 1987 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to parents Troy Crosby and Trina Forbes-Crosby. Sidney's father, Troy, was drafted 240th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 1984. Even though he never played in the NHL, it was a huge accomplishment for the Crosby family and he was a major influence on young Sidney.At the age of two, Sidney showed an interest in hockey. He began practicing hockey in his basement and never looked back - he had found his passion. A year later, at the age of three, he was skating. Just four years later at the age of seven he was tearing up the local leagues and wowing fans. Fans and media were in awe of this young phenom. Everyone who watched him play knew this was something special - a superstar in the making!
At 14, he led his Midget AAA team, the Dartmouth Subways, to the national championship. Sidney absolutely dominated the tournament scoring 18 points in just five games. He won both the MVP Award and the Top Scorer Award for his efforts.
In 2002-2003 Sidney attended Shattuck-Saint Mary's Boarding School in Minnesota where he led the school to the U.S. National Championship. Sidney averaged just over 2.5 points per game for Shattuck-Saint Mary's.
On June 7, 2003 Sidney Crosby was drafted by the Rimouski Océanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). In his rookie season, at just 16 years of age, he won the scoring title and set a new scoring record for his age group. He scored a staggering 135 points (54 goals and 81 assists). In just two seasons in the QMJHL, Sidney averaged 2.5 points per game scoring 303 points over a total of 121 games.
During his time with the Rimouski Océanic, Crosby also participated in the 2003/04 and 2004/05 World Junior Hockey Championships for Team Canada. He was the youngest player on the 2003/04 Team Canada squad and helped Canada capture the Gold medal at the 2005 tournament.
On July 30, 2005 Crosby was the first overall pick in the NHL entry draft by Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
On October 5, 2005, at the age of 18, he made his NHL debut against the New Jersey Devils recording one assist. He scored his first NHL goal two games later on October 8, 2005 against the Boston Bruins. Crosby finished his rookie campaign with 102 points including 63 assists - both of which surpassed the franchise record for a rookie set by Mario Lemieux. Crosby was the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points in a single season. He finished sixth overall in NHL scoring and was runner up to Alexander Ovechkin for the top rookie award - the Calder Memorial Trophy.
In his second season, Crosby scored his first NHL hat trick on October 28, 2006, against the Philadelphia Flyers. During his sophmore season, Sidney became the first teenager to lead the NHL in scoring since Wayne Gretzky did it in 1980. Crosby averaged just over 1.5 points per game and finished the 2006-07 NHL campaign with 120 points in 79 games. At only 19 years of age, he became the youngest player in NHL history to win the Art Ross Trophy and also the youngest scoring champion ever in any major North American professional sport.
He dominated the annual NHL awards taking home the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP and the Lester B. Pearson Award as most outstanding player as voted by fellow players around the league. Most recently, on December 11, 2007, he was awarded with the Lou Marsh award which is given annually to Canada's outstanding athlete.