Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, Ryan Graves excited for Halifax homecoming vs. Senators

If Sidney Crosby and Ryan Graves keep calendars on their refrigerators, it’s likely Monday has been circled in red for some time.

At 6 p.m., the Pittsburgh Penguins play a neutral-site preseason game against Ottawa in Halifax, Nova Scotia, creating a homecoming for Crosby and Graves, both of whom hail from the Canadian province.

“It’s one of the first things I thought of when I signed (with Pittsburgh),” Graves said. “The opportunity to play in your home province is not going to come along very often for us. (I’ll have) a lot of friends and family there. Just the idea of playing in a rink so close to home that has history for me is cool.”

Graves grew up in the small town of Yarmouth, about a three-hour drive from the Scotiabank Centre, where Monday’s contest, billed as the “Nova Scotia Showdown,” will be played.

Playing in Halifax is of even greater significance for Crosby, who is from Cole Harbour, part of the capital city’s immediate suburbs, and spent his early adolescent years in the area before his blossoming youth hockey career took him to Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Minnesota and elsewhere.

Crosby enjoyed a Halifax homecoming early in his career, when the Penguins played a preseason game against Ottawa at the Scotiabank Centre (then known as the Metro Centre) in September 2006, ahead of his second NHL season.

The Penguins then played a game in Moncton, New Brunswick, against Philadelphia.

“It’ll be fun,” the Penguins captain said. “I didn’t think I’d get the opportunity to have everyone play at home and experience it, so I’ll definitely try to enjoy it.”

Last time around, the Penguins’ visit to the Maritimes was nearly disastrous, seeing as then-20-year-old rookie Evgeni Malkin dislocated his left shoulder in a collision with linemate John LeClair vs. the Flyers.

“(Malkin) kind of suffered a slow-motion crash that everyone saw,” recalled former Penguins forward Colby Armstrong, now a broadcaster with SportsNet Pittsburgh. “It ended up being a pretty hard fall for him, and he ended up missing a little bit of time.”

Malkin went on to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie behind a 33-goal, 52-assist campaign but was sidelined for the Penguins’ first four regular-season games of 2006-07.

If Crosby and Graves seemed excited at the opportunity to skate on familiar ice in front of family and friends, the residents of Halifax long have reciprocated the sentiment, with Monday’s game having sold out in mid-July.

Resale ticket prices for the Nova Scotia Showdown were reported to exceed $1,800 U.S. dollars.

“People love hockey there,” Graves said. “The community’s going to be super excited. It’s going to be a fun weekend and different from a lot of the cities we go to.”

As if Crosby’s long list of athletic achievements wasn’t enough, the 36-year-old long has endeared himself to Halifax and Nova Scotia with his community work, such as the Sidney Crosby Foundation and Sidney Crosby Hockey School, both of which are headquartered the area.

“I think this is a great trip for the Penguins organization,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think it’s a terrific trip for Sid in particular, going to his hometown. He’s done so much for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He’s done so much for the NHL. He’s done so much for the city of Pittsburgh. To have the opportunity to bring his team to his hometown and play an exhibition game there I think is a great tribute to him.”

The Penguins had some down time on their hands upon arriving in Halifax, conducting team outings, including a round of golf, and community events.

After an off-day on Saturday, the Penguins practiced Sunday at Cole Harbour Place — Crosby’s childhood rink — and were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd.

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— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 1, 2023

While their attention now turns to preparing for the Senators, an opportunity to break the monotony of the preseason and build some chemistry with several of the club’s new players has been welcomed.

“There will be a lot of new faces, and just to get together and get out of the routine of camp a little bit, we haven’t been able to do something like this for awhile,” Crosby said. “Some teams do stuff like this every year, so it’s nice that it worked out that we could do this.

“Obviously, still gotta get ready and there’s still some work to do, but it’s cool to be able to play in Halifax. I know everyone there’s excited.”

Staff writer Seth Rorabaugh contributed to this story.