Penguins Honor Crosby with No. 87 Jerseys, Superstitions in Warmups

The Pittsburgh Penguins have a flare for class and honoring its heroes. During warmups on Saturday night before the Penguins hosted the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena, the entire team wore No. 87 jerseys and even participated in some of the superstitious rituals captain Sidney Crosby goes through before every game.

Crosby played in his 1000th game, all with the Pittsburgh Penguins, on Saturday and became the only player in franchise history to do so. Evgeni Malkin trails Crosby by 79 games. Penguins owner and all-time great Mario Lemieux only played 915 games with the franchise.

Sidney Crosby played his first game with the Penguins on Oct. 5, 2005, at New Jersey and registered one assist. The Saturday tilt vs. the Islanders was his 313th game at PPG Paints Arena. He also played 184 games at the Mellon Arena.

The Penguins honored their captain by stopping with six minutes to tie their skates, the right one first, just as Crosby does before every game.

However, the team did not stickhandle around the McDonald’s logo as Crosby religiously does, as well.

The short stat line on Crosby: 

He became the 25th active player to reach 1000 games.

The 10th active player to reach 1000 games with one team.

When measuring only the first 1000 games, Crosby is eighth all-time with 1276 points. He could move into a seventh-place tie with former Edmonton Oilers winger Jari Kurri with a three-point night in Game No. 1000.

Crosby is the 10th player to reach 1000 games while wearing a Penguins jersey. The last to do so was Miroslav Satan in 2009.

The Penguins also paid tribute to Crosby before the opening puck drop with a tribute video. The team invited his girlfriend Kathy and had recorded messages from Crosby’s parents, his sister, and from luminaries such as John Tavares, Bill Guerin, and Mario Lemieux. Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin also paid tribute.

Here is the Penguins tribute vide

Sensational talent.
Unmatched leadership.
Cheering you on for 1,000 NHL games has been our pleasure, Sid. pic.twitter.com/jakUdzyFZ5

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 21, 2021