The truth behind Crosby's controversial locker room outburst is revealed.

Last week, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was caught in an awkward moment when a viral clip circulated that appeared to show him disrespecting the Slovakians at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World championship of Hockey.

An Out of Context Clip Ignites Controversy

The cameras were rolling in the Canadian locker room during the intermission period of a head to head matchup between Slovakia and Canada, and as the Canadian players entered the locker room Crosby was overheard making a very controversial statement.

"You know they're f***ing terrible," Crosby could be heard saying.

Here is a look at the clip in question:

Slovakia Was Never Disrespected

While some found it hard to believe that Crosby had even made the comment, as it turns out it was indeed the captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins who uttered those words. However Crosby was never talking about his opponents at all, but was instead venting his frustration at the international referees after having butted heads with them just prior to intermission.

The news isn't hard to believe at all given that Crosby had already been caught on camera butting heads with the international officials earlier in this tournament.

Crosby Shows Great Class Despite Being Falsely Accused

Crosby has been a tremendous ambassador for the sport of hockey and for his home country of Canada during his time as a professional hockey player and he once again proved that following this latest controversy.

Although Crosby had never disrespected the Slovakians at all, he still made it a point to reach out to the Slovakian management team and personally issue an apology over the mere perception that he had disrespected their players. You can hear members of the broadcast crew discussing that apology in the short clip below:

While complaining about referees in such a fashion should not be encouraged, you can hardly blame Crosby for expressing his frustration in what he likely believed was the privacy of the Canadian locker room, well out of ear shot of those same officials.