Crosby has more than lived up to all the hype that preceded him before he was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins with the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft. He's a generational talent regarded for much of the 2010s as the best player in the world. No less than Wayne Gretzky said in 2016 that Crosby "has proven over and over that he's the best player in the game today. And it seems like the more important the game, the more impact that he makes on a game."

The native of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, played one season at Shattuck-St. Mary's, a prestigious prep school in Minnesota, and two seasons with Rimouski of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He led the QMJHL in scoring each time and helped Rimouski reach the Memorial Cup Final in 2005.

The Penguins won the NHL Draft Lottery and happily selected Crosby, who showed that he could produce offense at the NHL level by finishing his rookie season with 102 points (39 goals, 63 assists) in 2005-06, finishing second to Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals for the Calder Trophy despite playing for a team that finished 22-46-14. In 2006-07, Crosby helped the Penguins advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs by leading the NHL in scoring with 120 points (36 goals, 84 assists), winning the Art Ross and Hart trophies and the Lester B. Pearson Award (now the Ted Lindsay Award).

Crosby was still 19 when he was named captain of the Penguins on May 31, 2007. Injuries limited him to 53 games in 2007-08, and he dropped to 72 points (24 goals, 48 assists). But he powered the Penguins into the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1992, although they lost to the Detroit Red Wings.

The Penguins returned to the Cup Final in 2009; this time, they defeated the Red Wings in seven games. At age 21, Crosby became the youngest player to be captain of a Cup-winning team in NHL history.

Crosby led the NHL in goals in 2009-10 (51) and 2016-17 (44) and won his second scoring title in 2013-14 with 104 points. The scoring title came after he had missed large parts of the previous three seasons, primarily with concussion-related issues.

By 2015-16, Crosby was healthy enough to play 80 games, earn a berth on the NHL First-All-Star Team and win the Conn Smythe Trophy after helping the Penguins win the Cup. The Penguins repeated in 2017, with Crosby joining Mario Lemieux and Bernie Parent as the only players to win the Conn Smythe in consecutive seasons. By then, he was not only an offensive force but had rounded out his game to the point that he was arguably the most complete player in the NHL.

In January 2017, Crosby was named to the 100 Greatest NHL Players.

His success has extended to international hockey. Crosby scored the gold medal-winning goal for Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and helped Canada repeat at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. He was also named MVP at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey after leading the tournament in scoring.

Crosby joined Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin as the only active NHL players to score 500 goals, scoring against Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart in the first period of the Penguins' 5-4 overtime win at PPG Paints Arena on Feb. 15, 2022. He scored two goals, including in overtime, and had an assist to reach 1,400 NHL points in the Penguins' 3-2 win against the Nashville Predators on April 10, 2022. He became the 22nd player to reach the milestone and third active, joining Joe Thornton and Alex Ovechkin, and was the seventh-fastest to reach the mark, behind Wayne Gretzky (580 games), Mario Lemieux (691), Marcel Dionne (1,022), Phil Esposito (1,070), Jaromir Jagr (1,086) and Steve Yzerman (1,093).

Crosby's assist on Jake Guentzel's goal at 3:38 of the second period in Game 4 of the 2022 Eastern Conference First Round was his 200th NHL postseason point. He was the sixth player to reach the milestone, joining Gretzky (382), Mark Messier (295), Jari Kurri (233), Glenn Anderson (214) and Jagr (201).

Crosby scored for the Penguins in a 5-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on March 22, 2023 to give him 30 goals for an 11th season, tying Lemieux for the most in team history. He became the first player in NHL history to have a 30-goal season at the age of 18 and again over the age of 35. Crosby then became the 15th NHL player to reach 1,500 points, and seventh with one team, when he had two goals and an assist in a 5-1 win against the Red Wings on April 8.

On Dec. 29, 2022, Crosby earned recognition as an Officer of the Order of Canada "for being one of the greatest hockey players of all time and for supporting community service initiatives for youth." The Order of Canada is one of the country's highest honors that recognizes people across all sectors of society who have made extraordinary and sustained contributions.

NOTES & TRANSACTIONS

• QMJHL All-Rookie Team (2004)
• QMJHL First All-Star Team (2004, 2005)
• QMJHL Player of the Year (2004, 2005)
• Canadian Major Junior First All-Star Team (2004, 2005)
• Canadian Major Junior Rookie of the Year (2004)
• Canadian Major Junior Player of the Year (2004, 2005)
• NHL All-Rookie Team (2006)
• NHL First All-Star Team (2007, 2013, 2014, 2016)
• NHL Second All-Star Team (2010, 2015, 2017, 2019)
• Played in NHL All-Star Game (2007, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023)