Last week, the Wall Street Journal released a study by reachers that diceased hockey player Bob Probert suffered from CTE. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a degenerative brain disease caused from repeated trauma to the head. Crosby’s father Troy told ESPN, “We’re just trying to get him healthy again… However long that takes, that’s how long it’s going to take.”

Hockey players have a stigma as the roughest and toughest athletes, but the behind the scenes look at the Washington Capitals in HBO’s miniseries Road To The Winter Classic is proving otherwise. In the newest episode, tattooed defensman Mike Green is seen riding an orange scooter on the mean streets of Pittsburgh, and Alexander Ovechkin, who may just be the game’s best player still lives with his Russian parents… one point for Sidney Crosby, who at least lives with Mario Leimieux.

HBO 24/7 Penguins Capitals Ep. 2: Ovechkin at Home from Greg Wyshynski on Vimeo.

Hall-of-famer Jermey Roenick will also be joining Ovechkin and Crosby, to give away Stanley Cup Finals tickets.

I hope the winner is a hockey fan because let’s face it there aren’t many of us out there!

The NHL tried to leverage the metrosexual readership of Vanity Fair to expand their fanbase for a sport where the mullet is acceptable and fighting is encouraged. Despite the NHL’s effort, Vanity Fair only printed a 290-word preice withouth any quotes form either athlete. But let’s face it, Vanity Fair is way classier than anything Ovechkin would have said.

This year’s Winter Classic is at Pittsburgh Steeler’s Heinz Field, and while the Capitals don’t have a particularly strong fan base, the main reason for this match up is because of the Ovechkin Crosby rivalry.

The two stars are polar opposite, not only in their playing style but Ovechkin loves his Russian ladies… while Crosby still lives at the home of Penguins owner Mario Lemuiex.

In a Vanity Fair online exclusive interview, Crosby touches on their rivalry saying, “It always feels like there’s a bit more there just because of the emotion, because of the intensity. I guess that’s what makes rivalries—when it seems like there’s a little bit extra there…He’s got speed; he’s big; he’s physical. He can score from pretty much anywhere.”

Another noteworthy comment from Crosby is that his favorite player is Steve Yzerman. After being a fan of Crosby from when he was 13 (creepy I know), I had to abruptly end my Crosby fanhood when he cheated me out of seeing the Red Wings win two Stanley Cups in person (2008′s Game 5 and 2009′s Game 7). Finding out Crosby is a fan of Yzerman, only the greatest player ever, may have just reignited the flame.

To read Crosby’s entire transcript click here!

I suspect after the game was over, Penguins owner and hockey legend Mario Lemieux grounded Crosby from TV for a month. Crosby has taken a lot of flack for living with Lemieux from 2005 until this season.

Give credit where credit is due…. Sidney Crosby was hanging out at PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and hit an out of the park home run. Oh yeah Sid, thanks for stealing that gold medal from the US, and thanks again for ruining my dream of seeing a Stanley Cup win by the Red Wings in person (not once but twice).

In his first NHL season, Crosby finished sixth in scoring with 102 points (39 goals, 63 assists). By his second season, he led the NHL with 120 points (36 goals, 84 assists) to capture the Art Ross Trophy, becoming the youngest player and the only teenager to win a scoring title in any major North American sports league. That same season, Crosby won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the most valuable player as determined by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and the Lester B. Pearson Award as the most valuable player as determined by the NHL Players Association. He is the seventh player in NHL history to have earned all three awards. After losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, Crosby won his first Stanley Cup in 2009, becoming the youngest captain in NHL history to win the championship. In the 2009-2010 season, Crosby finished 2nd in NHL scoring with 109 points (51 goals, 58 assists). His 51 goals were a new career high and tied him with Steven Stamkos for the league lead in goals, thus earning him his first career Rocket Richard Trophy. At the Annual Awards show, Crosby took home his first Mark Messier Leadership Award.

Internationally, Crosby has represented Team Canada in two World Junior Championships, winning silver in 2004 and gold in 2005. He competed for Team Canada at the 2006 IIHF World Championship and led the tournament in scoring. In the 2010 Winter Olympics, Crosby scored the game-winning goal against the United States to win the gold medal for Canada, 3–2 in overtime.

Source Wikipedia