I’m Michelle Crechiolo, the
@penguins
Team Reporter. Former college hockey player lucky enough to cover Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang since 2010.
Crosby steps off ice and sees a 4-year-old boy in an 87 jersey outside the locker room.
Crosby: Are you allowed back here? Do you have a security pass?
Boy shakes his head no.
Crosby: Do you know the password?
Shakes his head no.
Crosby: It's OK. It'll be our secret.
-SK
Newcomer Alex Galchenyuk came to Pittsburgh with two sticks. Evgeni Malkin tried one. He liked it. Galchenyuk now has one stick. Welcome to the team
#Pens
-SK
Andrew Cogliano skated up to Nate MacKinnon as he was about to do an ESPN interview and just said, ‘87.’
When asked why: “Yesterday my room number was 1787, so we just felt like it was fate. We both love Sid, so we just knew we were going to win when I got that room number.”
Rick Tocchet on TNT: "I bought a brand-new $1,800 blue suit for the playoffs when we won the Cup. Halfway through, Sid pulls me off the bus. He goes 'Tocc, you know that blue suit you've been wearing? You're 0-2 with it. Please put it in the closet.' Never wore it again." 😂😂
Ready for the Big Three to take the ice for their 18th season together.
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang are set to surpass the New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada as the longest-tenured trio of teammates in NHL, MLB, NBA and NFL history.
Sullivan on ZAR: "We lose a guy to a broken jaw that's going to require surgery and a concussion because of another high hit to the head. At some point we would hope that the league might do something." -SK
Pittsburgh native Vince Trocheck said he had the entire Rangers team over to his house yesterday, and his grandma cooked everyone a big Italian dinner. The menu included chicken parm, pasta, and meatballs. "She made a big feast."
I asked Malkin what Crosby said after catching him with the puck.
"He say, next time, I shoot harder," Geno laughed. "I mean, I'm lucky it's Sid's shot and not like Tanger or Guentz. We know Sid does not shoot so hard."
Gotta love the chirps between the Two-Headed Monster 😂
After Malkin signed, he said Crosby and Letang texted him about taking the boys out. "They were like nice dinner, Geno, nice dinner. You need to start spending money, lots of money. Sid wants steak. Tanger wants sushi. I want McDonald’s."
🚨BIG NEWS🚨
EVGENI MALKIN IS WEARING A REGULAR CONTACT JERSEY FOR THE FIRST TIME!
Until now, he had been practicing in a non-contact fashion starting Nov. 29.
"You talk about Connor (McDavid). You talk about Auston (Matthews). They still have to go through one door. That's Sid's door. Sid's the best player in the game until knocked off." -Hall of Famer Paul Coffey
Sidney Crosby on his commitment to the Penguins: “Nothing's changed. (Trade rumors) are definitely a new subject I’ve had to deal with and hear about a little bit. I love playing here. This is where I’d love to play for the rest of my career."
Sidney Crosby, age 34, has 24 goals and 69 points in 55 games.
Evgeni Malkin, age 35, has 16 goals and 32 points in 30 games.
Both had their season debuts delayed with offseason surgeries, and have since gotten their games back to impressive levels. It's absolutely remarkable.
Came back to my office to find this guy sitting behind my desk. I’ve been using his old skates for years. He let me know it wasn’t appreciated
#MAF
🌸 -SK
Erik Karlsson's kids are Sidney Crosby's biggest fans 💛 as soon as he finished his postgame interview, they ran across the locker room yelling "SID! SID! SID!" and joined the captain at his stall.
Kessel scored during the Big Mac Attack, which means everyone in attendance gets a free Big Mac. The fans start chanting "Thank you Phil!" and he can't keep the smile off his face 😂 -MC
Alex Letang wanted me to let everyone know he had a great time tonight. "My dad cut one of his sticks and I got a puck, so we were doing passes. That was cool when I passed to all the All-Stars. I liked it because I really like hockey." -MC
Malkin noted that if the Penguins win another Stanley Cup, he'll be the first Russian player to win four. He said that's one of his motivations going into this season.
Evgeni Malkin just brought his 3-year-old son Nikita in the room. He’s stickhandling as his dad puts skates on and honestly his skills are so advanced. Like father like son! -MC
Sidney Crosby said he would love to know the story behind Kyler Murray wearing his jersey to Arizona's 35-31 win over the Eagles on Sunday. "Got somewhat of an idea, but it would be cool to hear the story behind it," he said with a smile. CC:
@AZCardinals
#Pens
Phil Kessel says he doesn’t follow the NHL scoring race. Asked if he wants an Art Ross Trophy, Kessel responded: “I don’t care. I’ve got two Cups.” -SK
Amanda Kessel suffered a concussion during the 2014 Olympics, and the symptoms were so bad that she couldn't play for two years and thought she would never play again. Now she's scoring shootout goals in the Gold Medal Game on her way to being an Olympic champion. -MC
An alarm started going off as we were talking to Evgeni Malkin about stepping up without Sidney Crosby.
"I need to be fire," he said with a laugh. "I will be fire."
Geno =🔥🔥🔥
-MC
Instead of flying directly from Arizona to Pittsburgh, the Penguins went to Montreal on Monday to attend the funeral of Kris Letang's father, Claude Fouquet.
"There's bigger things than hockey. Family is No. 1, and we all consider him family," Bryan Rust said.
Crosby: "I’ve been in that situation before. Guys can kind of cross the line or take it a little far sometimes. I thought he did everything in pretty good taste. He had the section laughing and had me and one of the officials in the box laughing." -MC
Asked Geno how happy he is to be back. He then turned and posed the same question to Potash: “You happy I’m coming back? You’re still my favorite Potash!”
Good morning! It's going to be 80 degrees and sunny on this beautiful Sunday in Pittsburgh, and your Penguins are in first place in the East Division. 😎
Fleury on picking the Frozen song: "It was my pick. I didn’t think anyone else would pick a Disney song. It keeps you stress free, ya know? Let it go." -SK
Erik Karlsson, the reigning Norris Trophy winner as the league’s best defenseman and one of the best to ever play the position, is officially a Pittsburgh Penguin.
He's now teammates with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.
Let that sink in:
My favorite quotes on Sidney Crosby from his fifth All-Star appearance (a thread):
Starting with Alex Ovechkin. "I’m pretty sure when me and him are retired, we're just gonna have a couple beers together and talk about the whole thing and what happened in the past 15, 16 years."
Letang’s contract has an average annual value of $6.1 million, down from the $7.25 million he was making on his previous deal. He took a big discount to remain a Penguin for life. 💛
#Pens
Letang brought a young kid into the locker room. Taking him around to get autographs. Arrived at Sid. After signing Sid talked to him for 5 minutes. That guy really gets it. Kid will never forget that moment. -SK
At the trade deadline, I was struck by how adamant Ron Hextall was about not wanting to mess with the special chemistry of the group - and being equally adamant that Jeff Carter would fit right into it. He certainly knew what he was doing. What a tremendous move by the Pens GM.
Malkin: "I’m happy for Sid. He’s an amazing player. He deserves everything. Every goal he scores, I’m glad to give him assists. Great memory for me, for sure. I hope someday, he can give me an assist on my 500th goal."
Right now, Geno is at 430.
The entire Penguins team left the bench to go congratulate Sidney Crosby after he scored No. 500. I've never seen anything like that. Just a testament to their closeness and how highly they think of their captain.
Brian Boyle on Sidney Crosby:
"I know my 6-year-old at home is excited for whenever he can get back on the ice. He was disappointed last night. I got him a Penguins jersey and he turned it around, and I saw the disappointment on his face when it said BOYLE 11 on it."
😂😂😂
Letang called head athletic trainer Chris Stewart on Monday, saying he had a migraine and that something didn't feel right. At that point, head team physician Dr. Dharmesh Vyas said he needed to go to the hospital immediately, where tests revealed he had a stroke.
After flying Evgeni Malkin’s wife and son in for Sunday’s game, the Penguins surprised him by bringing Sergei Gonchar in tonight.
Geno is so grateful for everything the organization has done, saying, “the last three days, I cry every day.”
🥹🥹🥹
Crosby has had enough. Drops the gloves with Dubois and takes him down. Stands up and asks the crowd "Are you not entertained?!" (I may have added that last part) -SK
Kasperi Kapanen said the move on his breakaway goal was inspired by Jason Spezza, who scored on a similar move Saturday night and just texted him about it.
Malkin interviews are just the best 😂 Geno, who is currently tied for the league lead in points with Auston Matthews, had us cracking up with this line:
"I hope tomorrow the season is over, and I win Hart Trophy!"
Sullivan: "Geno's family means a lot to him, and when his parents come into town, he clearly wants to be at his best. So, there's no doubt in my mind when his parents are here and his family's here and when he's around the people he cares deeply about, he's at his very best."
Raks has learned from his mistake heading into this year’s Summer Sticks golf outing 😂
Cracking up at the story his wife Emmeli posted on her Instagram this morning
Kris Letang, on what this has been like for his family: "Scary, to be honest. My kids, they don't care if I'm a hockey player or not,. They care about having a dad. Same with my wife. She knows there's so much more than hockey. It was hard, but we've been through this."