Sidney Crosby delivers tickets to the Neal Duryea family.Photo by Shelly Anderson Sidney Crosby is is a history buff, but his math is plenty good enough to see what is coming as the Pittsburgh Penguins head into training camp later this week. Twelve or 13 forward spots, but a lot more bodies than that competing.
Crosby, the long-time team captain, doesn’t have to worry about his top-line center position, and some others have slots pretty much assured. There are other spots up for grabs, with a mix of players who will be trying to snatch them — veterans, young players, holdovers and newcomers — with the unvarnished promise that several will be disappointed simply because of the math.
In addition, there are only three days of full, three-group practices this year in a condensed camp as the NHL expands the regular-season schedule from 82 games to 84. “Competition’s good,” Crosby said Tuesday while making his annual preseason visit to season ticket holders, this stop at the Sewickley home of Neal Duryea.
“I think it gets the best out of everybody. I think this is probably a little unique, with the amount of spots that are available.
And it’s with a new setup with camp, too. “I think it’ll be intense.
Guys are going to be battling out there for spots. I think that’s something that should help everybody, though, regardless of your position or where you’re at.
That should make us better.” That’s something particular to this training camp, but considering this is his 22nd Penguins camp, Crosby overall gets the same feels as always. “It’s kind of the same,” he said.
“I feel like the excitement or anticipation has probably been pretty much the same from when I started. Every year there’s new challenges.
In this case, this year, you’re looking at a much shorter camp, so I think just that approach and making sure we make it as best as we can, make sure that we’re ready to go.” Although there has been some public criticism of the Penguins’ offseason, particularly with no identified impact players added, Crosby, as pretty much always, feels optimism after the team exceeded expectations and broke a three-year playoff drought last spring.
“Just building off of last year,” Crosby said of his outlook. “The expectations probably weren’t as high going into last year.
With getting to the playoffs and taking a step there, I think they’re probably a little bit higher, having gone through that. I think for the guys that are back, it’s good for us to, hopefully, build on what we did last year and be better.
It’s a good challenge for everyone coming into this season.” In other topics covered Tuesday: #Crosby, 39, shrugged when asked about his contract situation. He is signed through this season but is eligible to sign an extension.
He said earlier this week that his agent, Pat Brisson, and Penguins GM Kyle Dubas are talking. He added Tuesday that he doesn’t have any specific expectations.
“I’m just going to let Pat and Kyle figure that out,” he said. “I wouldn’t say there’s a hard timeline.
Like I said before, at this point in my career it’s hard to project how long I’m going to play for, but it’s just something that I’ll see what happens there.” Asked if he feels any stress in terms of getting a new contract done, Crosby said, “No. I’m comfortable with them having the conversations and I just want to focus on playing and they’ll handle that.” #As for that career timeline, Crosby isn’t watching for any specific skill to show signs of regression that might let him know when it’s time to hang up his skates after a Hall of Fame career.
“I think it’s just a combination of everything,” he said. “You talk to guys who are later in their careers, and I think it’s different for everyone, and I don’t think you ever know until you get to that point, but it’s your level, it’s how your body feels, a combination of all those things.
“Overall I feel pretty good, so I’m hoping that it’s not something I have to think about too much, but that’s just the reality of things. We’ll see, but I’m happy with the way I feel and we’ll just go from there.” #One of Crosby’s longtime cohorts, Evgeni Malkin, 40, signed a one-year extension worth $5.5 million in late May.
It had been a significant question mark, and Malkin had indicated he would be interested in playing for another NHL team if he became a free agent and the Penguins didn’t bring him back. “It was great,” Crosby said of Malkin, who had 19 goals, 61 points in 59 games last season.
“He had a great year last year, and I’ve been fortunate to play with him for so long. It’s not something you take for granted by any means.
Grateful I’ve been able to play with him this long. I’m really happy for him.” #Crosby has participated in the preseason ticket delivery for years and years, going back to when he arrived with actual paper tickets.
It’s given him a chance to interact with a lot of season ticket holders and their families and friends. “Every time we do it, you just recognize the pride that people have, hearing their stories, how long they’ve had tickets for or how they got connected to going to games, things like that,” he said.
“It’s fun when you hear that, but you always feel the support. That’s the main thing.
I think it’s a pretty cool event that we’ve been able to do for a long time. It doesn’t ever get old.
“It’s a little more personal, and you can get a better idea of how they got into hockey and how long they’ve been following it. A lot of times it’s something that brings their family together.
Pittsburgh is a sports town, and you can see the pride that everybody has in the team, but just getting more of the details behind that is fun. Just to interact, that’s a big part of it.”
