The Sidney Crosby Show: News From Max, Fun With Sidney

Before we get started, you'll need a little background info. About a week ago, I received this email:

Just letting you know that our local sports network, RDS, signed on Max Talbot as an NHL correspondent. There's a lot of Pittsburgh fans, and especially a lot of Sidney's friends in Montreal, who wanted more updates on the Penguins situation throughout the year--especially since, well, half the team is from Quebec :-P. Talbot signed on and is going to provide weekly coverage and blogging to keep us updated on the situation and how things are going for them out there. Because Talbot and Sidney are fairly good friends, I suspect there will probably be a lot of neat insider info coming out.

The downside, of course, is that it'll be in French. But no worries, I'll be checking it regularly, and if anything is mentioned, I'll translate it for you guys :)

It was from Friend of The Show and past TSCS translator Lisa-Marie W. This morning when I woke up, this was in my inbox:

(The article was long--but he mentioned at the beginning that playing against the Habs is always special, especially for Sidney. Max says that Sidney always gets extra hyped when they play the Canadiens.) [snoop: That's pretty obvious. If you can read lips, then you already know that Sid's got an, um, shall we say, 'extra-colorful vocabulary' during these games...]

From Max's blog: "If they gave me the choice of which team to join, like most Quebecors, I would have picked the Canadiens. But now that everyone is talking about the Penguins, there's a certain pride associated with being part of this team.

When I saw that Sidney Crosby was drafted by the Penguins, I became proud of this team. My first year in the NHL, I was 20 years old and it was on lockout. The next year was my first official year in the NHL--like Sidney.

Skating with Sidney every day helped me progress as a player. His habits and his work ethic continue to surprise me every day, and it's a privilege for me to be a part of the same team as him. He makes EVERY player better. I play the same position as him, and just watching him play and observing him outside the rink, his way of passing the puck and the way he approaches each game, it helps me.

His one point in two games doesn't worry him. For him, the success of the team comes before his personal statistics. He's not frustrated that he has one point. He knows the results will be there, and the rest of the team knows it too, because he's the best. What matters is that we win games. And if we do that, then Sidney is happy."

That makes US happy, too Max! :) A big thank you once again goes out to Lisa, without whom we would miss this awesome story. Well, okay, at least I would miss it, as my French is more than a little rusty.

Now for the fun with Sidney. The guys over at ThePensblog.com have had some of their readers send in some really great photoshops this past week. With their permission (and the permission of the photoshop creators), I am bringing you two that star our man Sid. Both pictures are outstanding, and I present them in no particular order.

First up is one for the person that submitted the nickname "Dizzy" in TSCS's nickname vote (I'm sorry - I've forgotten your name!). The creator of this picture, Brian Steimer, said that "In honor of Crosby's new found love of the spin-o-rama, I created this nugget of awesome:"

Brian Steimer's Tasmanian Crosby

Next up is one that my friend Jeff, who is one of ThePensblog's personal photoshop gurus, came up with the idea to see what the Penguins would look like if they were brothers. He morphed the players with each other, with the coach, with the general manager, and with the owner. A few of the morphs were my own requests (thanks, Jeff!). You can and should check them all out by clicking here, but for TSCS, there's one you MUST see. It was one that I requested. Ever wonder what Sid and Mario would look like if they came from the same family tree? Here's your answer: