In a world where kindness should be second nature, some people still choose cruelty over compassion. One such incident unfolded at a Pittsburgh supermarket, where an impatient woman insulted a young worker with Down syndrome. But what happened next turned the situation into a moment of inspiration—thanks to none other than NHL legend Sidney Crosby.

A Shocking Display of Disrespect

It was a busy afternoon at the local grocery store, and Alex, a young man with Down syndrome, was diligently bagging groceries with a bright smile. Despite his slower pace, Alex loved his job and took pride in helping customers.

However, not everyone appreciated his effort.

A woman in line grew impatient, tapping her foot and huffing in frustration. “Can you hurry up? This isn’t a daycare,” she snapped, rolling her eyes. Her words cut through the air, leaving an uncomfortable silence.

Alex’s face fell. His enthusiasm drained as he stumbled over an apology, clearly hurt by the woman’s cruel words. Other shoppers looked on, unsure how to respond.

Sidney Crosby Steps In

But then, a deep, calm voice broke the tension.

“Excuse me, ma’am, but I think you owe him an apology.”

All heads turned to see Sidney Crosby, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ captain and one of the greatest hockey players of all time. He had been standing in line, quietly observing the situation. But when he saw Alex being mistreated, he refused to stay silent.

The woman scoffed. “And who do you think you are?”

Crosby didn’t flinch. “Someone who respects hard work,” he replied. “Alex here is doing a great job, and there’s no excuse for treating him like that.”

The woman muttered something under her breath, grabbed her bags, and stormed out.

A Hero Beyond the Ice

With the rude customer gone, Crosby turned to Alex and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Hey, don’t let people like that bring you down. You’re doing awesome.”

Alex’s face lit up again. “You… you’re Sidney Crosby!” he stammered in amazement.

Crosby grinned. “That’s me. And I think I just became your biggest fan.”

The entire store erupted in applause, celebrating not only Crosby’s actions but also Alex’s resilience.

Sidney Crosby has always been known for his sportsmanship and leadership on the ice. But in that moment, he showed that true greatness isn’t just about winning championships—it’s about using one’s voice to stand up for others.

This incident serves as a powerful reminder that kindness matters, and that standing up for what’s right can turn even the ugliest situations into moments of hope.

Alex continued his shift with a newfound confidence, knowing that Pittsburgh’s biggest hockey star—and a true role model—had his back.

And as for the rest of the shoppers that day? They left the store with more than just groceries—they left with a lesson in humanity.

Random Penguins thoughts: Crosby’s record chase, lottery watch and Rickard Rakell

Sidney Crosby gets closer to another record, why I do not care about the NHL Draft Lottery odds for the Pittsburgh Penguins this season, and more thoughts on Rickard Rakell.

Consider this a Pittsburgh Penguins notebook of random thoughts rolling around in my head that may not be enough to turn into a full-length article.

Let’s go!

Sidney Crosby’s point-per-game pace is looking promising

This is one of the biggest things to be watching for the duration of the regular season. After collecting a couple of points in the Penguins 5-3 win over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night, Crosby is up to 72 points in 66 games and remains on track to break Wayne Gretzky’s record of most point-per-game seasons. He is eight points away (because he missed two games and would only need 80 points) from securing what would be his 20th season averaging at least a point-per-game.

I know this record is not as glamour as the all-time goals record, or an overall scoring record, or a raw number counting record, but it still an incredible accomplishment that not only highlights Crosby’s remarkably high level of play, but also his incredible consistency.

Especially when you consider the eras both he and Gretzky played in.

While Gretzky played the bulk of his career in the highest-scoring era in NHL history, Crosby spent a significant chunk of his career playing in one of the lowest-scoring eras in NHL history.

Since the start of Crosby’s career during the 2005-06 season only 23 players have played in at least 100 games in the NHL and averaged more than one point per game in the NHL.

Between 2008-09 and 2018-19, a solid decade-long stretch, there were only eight players that topped the point-per-game mark.

Keep in mind that includes an especially low-scoring era between the 2010-11 and 2015-16 seasons were only four players in the entire NHL that played more than 100 games and averaged more than a point-per-game: Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Kane and Steven Stamkos. That was it.

Throughout Gretzky’s career there were 51 players that averaged more than a point-per-game, and 47 during his peak era between the 1980-81 and 1990-91 seasons.

Doing what Crosby has done in this era is insane. It is incredible.

Not worried about the NHL Draft Lottery odds

Look, I understand the situation the Penguins are in this season and with their rebuild. The farm system has improved pretty dramatically in one year and they also have a cupboard full of draft picks over the next three years. There is pretty clearly a plan in place, and you do not need to squint too much to see it working. The one thing they are missing is the truly high-end prospect. The superstar prospect. The prospect that can change the franchise.

The best way to get that is at the very top of the draft. Most likely with the No. 1 overall pick, or at least something in the top two-or-three. With each game the Penguins win down the stretch, they lower their odds of getting such a pick this season.

I might be in the minority with this, but I am mostly okay with that. I am not going to get frustrated with them winning or Tristan Jarry playing well down the stretch.

Most championship winning teams have a top-pick somewhere on their roster, but the important thing is just simply having high-end talent no matter how you get it.

So I am not stressing this.

For one, watching other rebuilds around the NHL I am becoming more and more convinced that bottoming out and gutting your team is not the way to do it. You put yourself too far down in a hole and it becomes too much to dig yourself out of it even if you have the right player. The right player helps. It is not a cure-all, however. At least not in the short-term.

Yeah, Chicago has Connor Bedard … but it is not even remotely close to contention. It’s going to be years before that team is even in the playoff hunt, let alone competing for a championship.

Yeah, San Jose has Macklin Celebrini … but that organization is still in the “we are gutting our roster” stage of the rebuild.

When the Penguins had Sidney Crosby early in his career they were in the playoffs in year two, in the Stanley Cup Final in year three and winning the whole damn thing in year four.

If Chicago or San Jose make the playoffs by year four of Bedard or Celebrini I will be mildly surprised.

With a 32-team league, with the draft lottery odds and draft lottery process being what it is now (with two different lotteries and more teams being in play for the No. 1 overall pick) it is harder to bank on simply being bad to get you that No. 1 pick in the right year.

When Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin were entering the NHL in 2004 there was a real benefit to being unspeakably bad. The worst team in the league was guaranteed no worse than the No. 2 overall pick. Same thing when Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel were entering the NHL.

But now? The worst-record has a higher chance of picking third (55 percent) than it does of picking in the top-two. The second-worst team has a higher chance to pick fourth than it does to pick in the top-two.

You can finish with the 11th worst record in the league and, in theory, still win the No. 1 pick.

It used to be that you had to finish bottom-five of the standings.

There has been so much movement at the top of the draft lottery in recent years that you almost just have to take your chances on the lottery balls falling your way.

There is also no true prize at the top of this year’s class.

Plus, I just think it is really hard to erase the stink that comes with accepting losing. The players and coaches are not actively tanking and trying to lose. But when losing becomes acceptable to the fans and executives, for any reason, the whole vibe changes. You do not want to become Buffalo.

Keeping Rickard Rakell was the right move

There was perhaps no Penguins player on the roster debated more at the NHL Trade Deadline than Rickard Rakell. Trade him? Keep him? Sell high? Keep him long-term? There were compelling arguments on both sides, and while I understand the desire for a rebuilding team to aggressively shop a 31-year-old winger having a career year I do still think the Penguins made the right move in not moving him unless they were absolutely wowed with a trade offer.

Is there a chance that Rakell regresses next season from his 17.6 shooting percentage and does not score the 30-40 goals he is on pace for this season? You better believe there is. In fact, I would say it is probably very likely. But I also do not think he regresses so much that he drops down to his 2023-24 level of production, because that season is starting to look like more of an outlier. At least based on what he has done recently. He has scored at a 25-goal pace per 82 games in three of the past four seasons.

Even if you do not intend on keeping him long-term, he is still going to be in a position this offseason where he is going to have a robust trade market. You also might have more teams involved that are able (or willing) to make a push for him given their salary cap situations or their intentions for the 2025-26 season. Teams that might have been sellers at the deadline (or stand pat teams) might look to add in the summer. Maybe a contender has a better salary cap situation than it did in early March.

Small sample size alert

He has only appeared in five of the games during this stretch, but the player on the roster with the highest-expected goals share over the past 10 games is Vladislav Kolyachonok.

It is good that Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen, Owen Pickering, Vasily Ponomarev, Joel Blomqvist and Sergei Murashov are playing playoff style games together in the American Hockey League right now. That will probably benefit them more in the long-term than playing 14 meaningless games at the end of this NHL season. Keep them there for the season and let them taste some winning and success. But you have to find out if Kolyachonok can hang as long as he is here.