One of Sidney Crosby’s favorite stories about Evgeni Malkin is from their first season together.
Crosby had gone second to last before moving to last late in his rookie campaign, where he recorded 102 points. When the 2006-07 season opened, Crosby thought he was going to continue bringing up the rear.
“I didn’t even think about it, was about to go out, and Geno was still standing there,” Crosby said. “There’s a little bit of a language barrier, but not a ton when it comes to that. I could tell that he wanted to go last. I just said, ‘Do you usually go last?’ And then he told me, ‘Three years Super League.’
“The three years pro in Russia, I guess, was more than the one year I played in the NHL. He wasn’t budging at all. I was trying, like, ‘rock-paper-scissors every game?’ And he was like, ‘no.’ [laughs].”
At that point, Kris Letang was further up the order, before moving ahead of Crosby around the time they won their first of three Stanley Cup Championships together.
Now, when ‘The Big Three’ takes the ice tonight at Madison Square Garden to open the 2025.26 campaign – first Letang, then Crosby, then Malkin – they will make history as the longest tenured trio of teammates in major North American sports.
Crosby, Malkin and Letang are three of 38 players in the history of the NHL, NBA, MLB and NFL to play 20 seasons with a single team – and the only three to do so concurrently.
“It’s rare, and it’s definitely special,” Crosby said. “You don’t see that very often in hockey, let alone anything, any sport, really. So, I feel really grateful and fortunate that I’ve been able to play with these guys for this long, and that we have some great memories together, and that we’re able to continue to play together. It’s not something that that happens too often. So, definitely appreciate it.”
“I always say, it’s dream to play with same guys together, forever, you know?” Malkin said.
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