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The Penguins captain was overcome with emotion while watching the video tribute honoring the 2016 team on Saturday. Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images
PITTSBURGH — Old age is turning Sidney Crosby into a big softie.
The 38-year-old captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins broke into tears during a pregame ceremony that honored the 2016 Stanley Cup champions at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday afternoon before the Penguins took on the New York Rangers.
“Obviously love that group,” Crosby told ESPN’s Kevin Weekes from the bench during the first period. “It’s pretty special when you have that bond, when you win together. To see them all here and see some of those clips, yeah, it’s definitely emotional, but still awesome to see them.”
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Many members of that 2016 team were introduced to the capacity crowd, one by one, with Crosby and Evgeni Malkin serving as the final two players to be introduced. Crosby and Malkin are two of the four players who still play for the Penguins. The others are Kris Letang and Bryan Rust. Letang, who sustained a broken foot on Thursday against the Blackhawks, emerged from the locker room in a walking boot. Rust is serving the second game of a three-game suspension, but was also on hand.
The event also marked the return of former general manager and current Vancouver Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford to Pittsburgh. He has not appeared at a game in Pittsburgh since resigning abruptly as the team’s general manager seven games into the 2020-21 season. He was greeted with a standing ovation, as was former head coach Mike Sullivan, who now resides behind the Rangers bench.
Other former players appearing at today’s game included Marc-Andre Fleury, Patric Hornqvist, Matt Cullen and fan favorite Pascal Dupuis.
Among those who did not appear was Phil Kessel.
After each player and executive was introduced, the Penguins aired a lengthy video tribute to the team.
At that point, Crosby was caught on camera wiping tears from his face.
The 2016 Stanley Cup team was the second of the three championship teams that Crosby has captained in Pittsburgh. He has often said that the 2016 team means a significant amount to him because the Penguins, hyped as a future dynasty after their 2009 championship, went through six straight playoff frustrations before returning to the top of the mountain against San Jose that year.
Josh Yohe is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. Josh joined The Athletic in 2017 after covering the Penguins for a decade, first for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and then for DKPittsburghSports.com. Follow Josh on Twitter @JoshYohe_PGH
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