How does Penguins' Sidney Crosby fend off Father Time? 'It's a fine line.'

PITTSBURGH — It wasn't quite as newsworthy as Alex Ovechkin setting the NHL's all-time scoring record, but last season Sidney Crosby also had an unprecedented accomplishment that spoke to both his brilliance as a hockey player and his remarkable longevity.

The Penguins' superstar center and captain became the first player in NHL history to average at least one point per game in a season over 20 consecutive campaigns. When he started his streak, George W. Bush was president, Twitter and the iPhone had yet to be unveiled and you could still hear Howard Stern on a regular radio.

In 2024-25, Crosby finished 10th in the NHL with 91 points. Eight of the nine men ahead of him were in their 20s. The other, Nikita Kucherov, is six years his junior.

Last month, Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas marveled at how Crosby continues to play at an elite level. Dubas then compared him to Tom Brady.

"He's a player that if he played [until he was in his 40s] at that level, it wouldn't be surprising," he said. "There's nobody that puts as much [work] into it as he does."

So what did Crosby do this summer to ramp up for a new NHL season? This week, he chatted with the Post-Gazette about trying to stay a step ahead of Father Time.

After the Penguins' season ended in April, a consequence of the team missing the playoffs for the third year in a row, Crosby did not need much time to think about how he wanted to attack a long summer, during which he would turn 38 years old.

Like he does every spring, Crosby listened to his body, looked at his notes from the season and huddled up with longtime trainer Andy O'Brien to get his perspective.

"I think it's just about understanding which areas are realistic to really improve in and which areas maybe just need a little bit more maintenance," Crosby said. "You see with each and every year how you feel on the ice when you do certain things."

Even though he's put a lot of miles on his odometer over the years, Crosby decided vacations and his home back in Halifax, Nova Scotia, could wait. He wanted to keep playing. He committed to play for Canada at the IIHF World Championship in May.

Sure, one reason for doing that was his strong desire to play meaningful hockey in the spring, something he hasn't done in a few years. But he also believed it would be beneficial for his 2025-26 outlook. He said at his age, the longer he is off the ice during the offseason, the more difficult it is for him to ramp back up in his training.

So, after the Penguins' season ended, he stuck around in Pittsburgh to skate a few days per week and train with the staff here. He headed over to Europe in early May and finished third on Canada with 12 points over his eight tournament games.

"If I didn't go, I wouldn't have played a game from early April until September," he explained. "It was only a month [of additional training and games], but I think that helps when you get into the routine for the summer, not having as big of a layoff."

The Canadians were knocked out of the tournament May 22. After that, it was time to rest and reset. Crosby went on vacation "for a couple of weeks." He did not pack his hockey skates. Instead, his exercise was mostly long hikes and tennis matches.

"It's hard to be completely off in terms of not doing anything," he said. "Regardless of whether I played hockey [for a living], I'd be active. I don't enjoy sitting around."

Crosby said he was back in Halifax for July and August. It is well documented the small maritime city has a pretty stacked summer skate. Nathan MacKinnon and Brad Marchand are among the NHL players who train with Sid in the summertime.

Early in the summer, the group typically skates twice a week. When August arrives, it increases to three or four sessions, depending on what else they have going on.

Crosby said his on-ice training is "more of a focus" than what he does inside his home gym, which was recently shown in a Prime Video docuseries. He chuckled as he said his days of setting new highs in "max quad" and the 100-meter dash are long gone.

Instead, Crosby said the emphasis off the ice is maintaining what he already has.

When he met with O'Brien right after the season, Crosby shared with his trainer a list of observations, good and bad, he had made when taking stock of last season.

"After [the season], if there's things that I felt served me well, I will continue to do those things. And if there's other things I want to add or improve on, I will jot those down and go over that with Andy O'Brien. And he'll give me what he sees," Crosby said.

O'Brien then made a personalized workout plan for Crosby. Before Crosby went to the World Championship, they hit the gym so the trainer could get a firsthand look at areas of emphasis or concern for Crosby, as well as demonstrate new exercises.

"It is more about staying strong," he said. "I'm trying to really push it on the ice."

Crosby said he designs his on-ice workouts to be a slower build toward the season opener. The Penguins start their season Tuesday against the Rangers in New York.

For Crosby, those summer skates are about building stamina and regaining his feel for the puck, so when he gets to camp, the high-speed plays feel "more instinctive," whether he is corralling a skipping puck with his skate or letting a one-timer fly. Everything will get ratcheted up a few notches in camp and the preseason games.

"It's a fine line," the center said. "You want to be ready Tuesday, but you don't want to be peaking first day of camp. You want to be ready for camp. You want to be in shape. But it's a process, so you try to rely on your experience. And I think with a new coach and things like that, you're feeling out a little bit because it's different."

Camp is over now, and the Penguins wrapped up their preseason schedule Friday.

Crosby needed most of the offseason to build to this point. But he's ready to rock.

"I feel good. I feel good. Just a matter of getting into games at this point," he said.