NHL superstar Sidney Crosby has always tried to stay involved in his home province, Nova Scotia. (© Paul Mckinnon - Dreamstime.com)
Sidney Crosby has spent pretty much his entire hockey career being known as the best player of his generation. Three Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins, several Olympic gold medals for Canada, endless other trophies and titles. But not only does he keep on pushing himself to be better, he keeps giving to others.
Especially in his home province of Nova Scotia.
Even though he's been playing in the United States for over 14 years, the native of Cole Harbour, N.S. returns often. And recently he's made an incredible donation of hockey gear that is perfectly timed for the holidays. The superstar bought 87 bags full of hockey gear for three separate charities: Hockey Nova Scotia Black Youth Ice Hockey Program, the Hockey Nova Scotia Indigenous Female Hockey Academy, and the Hockey Nova Scotia–ISANS New Canadians Hockey Program.
87 from 87
Crosby in action against the New York Islanders earlier this season. (Getty Embed)
Of course, if you know Crosby then you know that the number 87 means something. It's his sweater number, inspired by the fact that he was born August 7, 1987 (a.k.a. 8/7/87). But this number wasn't a hard and fast rule as to how many bags of equipment that he would buy. As Hockey Nova Scotia executive director Amy Walsh told CBC recently, it was just a perfect coincidence!
"Ironically enough," she said, "the 87 number was exact when you combined the three programs' needs, so it worked out perfectly."
Getting a head start
Hockey may be a Canadian pastime, but it is also an extremely expensive sport to get into. All of that equipment costs a lot of money. The three charities that Crosby gave hockey gear to are each focused on helping a different minority group: black youth, Indigenous women, and new immigrants (in particular, Syrian refugees).
Basically, his donations are the difference between them getting a start in the sport and not playing at all. In a Nova Scotia Hockey press release, Crosby said that he "wanted to be sure [the new players] had the best experience learning the game. Having the right equipment is the first step to getting started."
So true. Way to go, Sid!
