Docuseries Reveals Why Sidney Crosby Hangs An Empty Frame On His Wall

There is a scene in the third episode of FACEOFF: Inside the NHL Season 2 that, depending on your view of the Pittsburgh Penguins, is either highly inspirational or the saddest thing ever.

In it, Sidney Crosby is sweating and grunting through a set of squats in a workout room that he has personally decorated with portraits of the past 16 Stanley Cup winners. He apparently started putting these pictures up in 2008, after the Penguins lost in the final to the Detroit Red Wings. That summer, Crosby hung a photo of Nicklas Lidstrom hoisting the Cup. He then hung up an empty frame next to it as motivation for the following season.

The Penguins went on to win the Cup in 2009. Since then, Crosby has continued the tradition.

“I always put the winning captain up,†Crosby said in the Prime Video docuseries. “When we lost in â€08, I just wanted as a reminder, so I started doing that. Kept putting them up and leave the empty one there.â€

Hereâ€s the thing: no one — and I mean absolutely no one — is picking the Penguins to win the Stanley Cup this season, let alone qualify for the playoffs. The Hockey News’ Yearbook predicted that the Penguins, which finished last season in seventh place in the Metro, will end up dead last in the division. But even in what is being framed as a rebuilding year, he still believes that this could also be the year where he adds another one of his photos to the empty frame.

Call him an idealist, if you want. Or delusional. But you have to love the competitiveness fire that still burns brightly inside the veteran captain. You also have to wonder why Crosby is pushing towards a goal that seems so unrealistic and unachievable.

When asked by an off-camera producer what keeps him motivated at this stage of his career, the Penguins captain was succinct in his answer: “I think winning,†he said. “I donâ€t really know any different.â€

FACEOFF: Inside the NHL Season 2 premiers on Prime Video on Oct. 3, with the six-episode docuseries featuring Crosby, the Tkachuk brothers, William Nylander and more.

Episode 3, according to NHL.com, “raises eyebrows and questions as Crosby and his agent, Pat Brisson, talk about his future with the Pittsburgh Penguins.â€

“Sid and Pat were just amazing to us on this project,†director Daniel Amigone told NHL.com. “Itâ€s hard to get that kind of access. It was certainly not guaranteed throughout. Hopefully, we represented it accurately, and we stand behind what we have in the show.â€

Indeed, Crosby only knows one way. But that way is at odds with the path that the Penguins are forging.

GM Kyle Dubas is not trying to win a championship this season. Heâ€s not even trying to make the playoffs. No, with an over-the-hill roster and a cupboard that is bare of top-end prospects, heâ€s trying to win the No. 1 pick in the draft. In order to do that, the Penguins need to lose. And they need to lose big — and probably for more than just one season.

So what is Crosby doing staring at a wall of portraits and squatting? Itâ€s like the life-imprisoned convict who keeps his sanity by digging a hole to freedom, only to realize that heâ€s been digging towards the cell next to him. The goal is not only unrealistic, itâ€s unreachable.

That is, as long as he remains in Pittsburgh.

Which raises the question: if the only thing motivating Crosby is winning, then why not accept a trade to Colorado or even Montreal, where the chances at winning are much greater than they are in Pittsburgh?

After all, at the age of 38, itâ€s not like he has many more years of this.

“I mean, I understand it,” Crosby said of the speculation surrounding his future while at the NHL/NHLPA Player Media Tour in September. “It’s not something that you want to discuss. You’d rather be talking about who are we getting at the deadline, or where we’re at as far as are we one, two or three in the division?

“But, you know, it’s one of those things that’s the hard part about losing. I think everybody thinks that losing is, the buzzer goes, you lose the game, and that sucks. But there’s so much more. Itâ€s the turnover, it’s the unknown, the uncertainty, the question marks. Thatâ€s the stuff that’s tough, and it makes you appreciate all those years of we’re competing and going after that big acquisition every single trade deadline. I don’t think I took it for granted, but I definitely appreciate it that much more now.”

Despite Turnover And Uncertainty, Sidney Crosby Remains Loyal To The Penguins For Now
You can say many things about NHL icon Sidney Crosby.

You could argue that Crosby has won enough and done enough where chasing another Cup isn’t that important on his to-do list.

Sure, Crosbyâ€s already a three-time Stanley Cup winner and a two-time Olympic gold medallist who probably deserves to be placed next to Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe on the Mount Rushmore of the greatest players to have laced up their skates.

But heâ€s also a player who finished in the top-10 in scoring last season with 91 points and who captained Canada to a championship at the 4 Nations Face-Off. In February, Crosby will participate in his third Olympics, where heâ€ll try to lead the country to its third gold medal.

In other words, he can still win. And he can still help a team, whether itâ€s a Colorado or Montreal, win. But what he canâ€t do is help the Penguins win, no matter the motivation and no matter how many squats heâ€s performing.

“It hasn’t changed my approach,” he said. “I mean, I still go out there trying to win every single game and try to be the best that I can be. I think that youth and having that energy around you isn’t a bad thing, either. And we’ve got a lot of hungry guys, a lot of competition for spots. So, I think you just try to find different things that you can feed off of, and still continue to learn through it.â€

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