Mark Madden: With milestone looming, an appreciation for Sidney Crosby's accomplishments

Sidney Crosby will play in NHL game No. 1,000 Saturday night.

It’s not the most dynamic milestone: 349 players have hit that mark, many of them to little discernible effect besides showing up. When Crosby plays game No. 1,001, he ties the great Steve Staios. No. 1,003 knots him with the immortal Matt Stajan. It’s the stuff dreams are made of.

But skating in a thousand games makes Crosby the first to play that many in a Penguins uniform. Evgeni Malkin (921) and Mario Lemieux (915) rank just below. That is select company.

It also recalls Crosby’s concussion problems, which began at the Winter Classic at Heinz Field on New Year’s Day, 2011, and didn’t fully dissipate until well into the next season. Crosby’s career was in legit jeopardy. Reaching 1,000 games then seemed preposterous, but here we are.

To stop playing, you have to quit. Crosby doesn’t know how.

When stars hit milestones, the tendency is to look back at their greatest games and moments.

With Crosby, those boil down to the “golden goal” he scored at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, giving Canada the gold medal over the U.S. in overtime of the championship game. Canada derives all its self-esteem from hockey, so that was massive.

Crosby has had a ton of great goals and highlights with the Penguins, but his effect is more cumulative: He can certainly dazzle, but mostly Crosby adds up. Three Stanley Cups, two MVPs, two playoff MVPs, two scoring championships and two goal-scoring titles speak for themselves, as do five gold medals at the international level.

His play on the backhand is frightening. It’s not a stretch to say Crosby is the best ever at using the other side of the stick. He’s also the No. 1 grinder of all time (more to come).

A thousand games later, it turns out Crosby is really good. He’s one of the top five players of all-time — if not by acclamation, then by common sense. (My rankings: 1. Mario Lemieux. 2. Bobby Orr. 3. Wayne Gretzky. 4. Sidney Crosby. 5. Gordie Howe. Don’t @ me.)

Praising Crosby requires a bit of tip-toeing. I once called him the “best grinder ever.” He didn’t like it. Teammate Carl Hagelin said the same thing. Crosby didn’t like it. New Penguins GM Ron Hextall recently called him a “grinder superstar.” Crosby may yet let Darren Dreger trade him.

Crosby’s quirks and superstitions are fun to discuss. He’s OCD, but it’s a happy version. Is there a nice way to call him an obsessed lunatic?

• Crosby wears the same jockstrap and cup he did in junior hockey. The Penguins’ equipment staff has put it back together countless times. Not a glamorous task.

• Before every shootout, Crosby re-tapes the blade of his stick.

• Crosby does a stickhandling ritual around the on-ice McDonald’s logo during warmup at home games. How has that not got an endorsement deal? He uses other logos at the away rink.

• Crosby goes to the red line with exactly five minutes left in warmups and re-ties his skates.

• When Crosby is on the team bus and it goes over railroad tracks, he lifts his feet so they’re not touching the floor. (How many NHL cities still have railroad tracks?)

• Everything is 87. Crosby was born on August 7. His number is 87. His salary-cap hit is $8.7 million. Crosby’s agent probably wishes he’d been born in December.

• When Joe Vitale was dressing-room DJ for the Penguins, he played a certain song before a game. The Penguins won. Crosby got two assists. Crosby told Vitale the song reminded him of a trip he took to Italy. Vitale played the same song before the next game. The Penguins won. Crosby told Vitale exactly the same story. Vitale kept playing the song. The Penguins enjoyed a lengthy win streak. Crosby kept telling Vitale the same story about Italy, almost word for word.

• Crosby wears the same ratty, dirty, sweaty baseball cap to do postgame interviews for an entire season. He might as well put the old jockstrap on his head.

This is just scratching the surface. They should make a movie: “What About Sid?” “Dr. Leo Marvin’s a genius. Your death therapy cured me, you genius…”

Crosby is nuts, but it’s a lovable sort of nuts. The quirks work.

One thousand games later, Crosby is still a top player, a good man, and a marvel to witness. The Penguins have arguably had the best player in hockey non-stop since 1984.

Can Edmonton’s Connor McDavid overhaul Crosby and break into hockey’s all-time top five? Perhaps he can. But you’ve got to win. Crosby excels at that most of all.