Sidney Crosby is grieving after a personal loss

Before he laced the skates up on Thursday to face the visiting Detroit Red Wings, Sidney Crosby honored the memory of fellow Nova Scotian Lowell MacDonald, the former NHL forward who passed away Sunday at the age of 84.

“With Nova Scotia, there wasn’t a ton of players that came out of there,” Crosby said during a post-practice media scrum Thursday. “You knew the history, you knew who those guys were, you looked up to those guys. The fact that there was a Pittsburgh connection there [with MacDonald] was obviously pretty special.”

MacDonald, a two-time NHL All-Star, played nearly 15 seasons in the league with the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguins, finishing his career with 180 goals and 390 points in 506 games, last skating in the 1977-78 season.

“Just a great man, and a proud Nova Scotian as well,” Crosby added. “I think you always appreciate the guys that you looked up to and that kind of paved the way, and he’s definitely one of them.”

After retiring from hockey, MacDonald spent almost two decades as a teacher, hockey coach, and athletic director at the University School of Milwaukee. He was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in 1982, cementing his legacy in his home province.

Crosby carried MacDonald’s memory onto the ice Thursday, scoring the first goal of 2026 for the Penguins in their game against the Detroit Red Wings: a fitting tribute to the man who inspired him from Nova Scotia to the NHL.

He had a second quick one moments later.

How fitting.