REPORT: Multiple former teammates once tried to STRIP Sidney Crosby as Penguins captain - Malkin said NO!

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Ryan
April 6, 2023 (3:43 PM)

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Sidney Crosby is one of the greatest players to ever put on a pair of skates. But sadly there was a stretch at one point in Sidney Crosby's career where he went three straight seasons with playing in less than half of the regular season games. It was at the point where fans were starting to wonder if Sid 'the Kid' should retire before he had some even more serious injuries.

In 2011, Crosby was really struggling with these injuries and apparently during this time the Pittsburgh Penguins players began to discuss if the team should name a new captain to the team due to the long absences of Crosby.

Sidney Crosby's Concussion Timeline.
2011 Winter Classic - January 1, 2011
Crosby takes a hit to the head from Capitals forward David Steckel. Although he ended up finishing the game, a hit against the boards in a game 4 days later left him out for the rest of the season. pic.twitter.com/ejlSOrgqKP� The Steve Moore Foundation Doctor (@TheSteveMooreD1) October 27, 2019

What may come to a surprise to many is that the players looking to have Crosby replaced as captain, were the players that were already involved as team leaders in Brooks Orpik, Jordan Staal, Craig Adams and well, Matt Cooke.

If it were not for Evgeni Malkin, the long-time second line center of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who apparently took up in a meeting and shut down the whole idea, we could have seen someone else as captain of the Penguins.

Guys. Sid is the f****** captain.

thIs among many other reasons is why sid rides so hard for geno pic.twitter.com/DAa4uj3vYM— "he's a libra moon 😭" (@byulzgalov) July 13, 2022

It's great to see Malkin show his support for his long-time friend and teammate. Crosby has definitely returned the favour now on multiple occasions. There were rumours at one point that former GM Jim Rutherford wanted to trade Malkin, but Crosby stepped in and said ''It's me and Geno''.

Also this past summer when Malkin was a free agent, Crosby flew out to see Malkin and convinced both the new General Manager and Malkin to work out a deal.