Pittsburgh Penguins captain and three-time Stanley Cup champion Sidney Crosby has been named as one of 99 new appointments to the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest honors.
Crosby will be recognized as an officer. Being an officer recognizes “achievement and merit of a high degree, especially service to Canada or to humanity at large.”
In a statement made by Rideau Hall, Crosby earned the honor “for being one of the greatest hockey players of all time and for supporting community service initiatives for youth.”
Crosby has always been a player who has given back to the community and the country. A couple of his most recent donations include donating 87 sets of CCM gear to underprivileged programs within Hockey Nova Scotia in 2019. This wasn’t the first time Crosby ave back to the sporting community of Nova Scotia, in 2017, he donated $50,000 to KidSport Nova Scotia, and in 2018 he donated $50,000 to Special Olympics Canada. Then during the beginning months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Crosby donated 100,000 meals, the equivalent of 120,000 pounds of food to 11 counties across Pennsylvania.
On the hockey side of things, the 2005 1st overall pick has accumulated 1,452 points (536G, 916A) in 1,143 career regular season games; all with the Pittsburgh Penguins. That number puts him 17th in the league’s all-time points list. Throughout his illustrious career so far, Crosby has won the Maurice Richard Trophy twice, the Art Ross Trophy twice, the Hart Trophy twice, the Ted Lindsay Award three times, the Mark Messier Leadership Award, and the Conn Smythe Trophy twice.
The 35-year-old is one of just a number of players to be in the “triple gold club” winning a World Junior Championship, World Championship, and Olympic Gold. At the 2010 Winter Olympics, hosted in Vancouver, B.C. Crosby became a national hero after scoring the overtime winner on a feed from Jarome Iginla to help Canada defeat the USA and win Olympic gold at home. Crosby would then donate his Olympic proceeds to the “Sidney Crosby Foundation” which was created in 2009 to help provide financial support for charities benefiting children, Bell Canada matched the donation. A true testament to his class.
