Sidney Crosby on the Penguins keeping star players: “Definitely something I would like to happen”

Sidney Crosby emerged from the early part of his offseason in Vegas for the NHL Awards and shared some answers with the media about his summer, dealing with the team’s trade rumors and his thoughts on the team.

On being nominated for the Hart trophy: “It’s an honor but I’m not going to get my hopes up too much because there was two pretty good seasons in the group (among the other nominees). It’s great to be nominated and it’s an honor to be here”

An update on his summer: “I was traveling in Europe for probably five weeks, just got back yesterday and head to Canada after this [NHL awards]. [It’s been a] pretty long offseason and plenty of time to think about the end of the season.”

On Rutherford’s comments not committing to Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang or Phil Kessel necessarily being surefire parts of future: “When you lose there’s always a lot of things that are said, rumors and possibilities and everyone’s got to evaluate what happened. I don’t think you ever like hearing that - it’s not a fun part of what we do. Everyone’s got a job to do and the team always tries to evaluate our season, whether it’s a successful one or one if we don’t like the way we finish, it’s part of it. As a player you have to be able to deal with that and prepare and get ready for next year regardless of what could be said or possibilities. Our job is to go out there and play and get ready and that’s what I’m gonna try to do.”

On if he would like to finish his career with Letang and Malkin: “Yeah, it would be unbelievable. That’s so hard to do nowadays with so much movement with players and change turnover with teams and the league getting younger and younger that’s not easy to have happen. The fact that we’ve won a few Stanley Cups together, and we still want to be able to win more. That’s definitely something I would like to happen, but like I said that’s part of it when you lose, everyone has to re-evaluate everything and you just gotta deal with that.”

How he handles the break: “In the summer I try not to read and get away from everything. When you lose there’s always more questions and more talk and chatter. Experience has helped me with that, having gone through different situations you realize that’s part of it. Sometimes there’s a lot said and nothing happens, sometimes there’s not a lot said and there’s a ton of moves. You can’t try to predict what’s going to happen or anticipate anything, you just let everyone do what they need to do and as a player you prepare for the next year. I don’t think you ever get used to that, there’s always going to movement.”

On where he went to in Europe: “I kinda bounced around. I was in Spain, England, I went to Germany and Switzerland and Austria. Once you get over there it’s easy to get around. I drove so it was interesting. Part of the experience. It was good, I spent a lot of time over there last summer and enjoyed it. I had a little bit more time this offseason to do it and I was able to train over there so it worked out well.”

Do his legs feel fresh? “Maybe. You play to play long in the playoffs and you’re more than happy to deal with short summers if that’s what it means. There’s a certain aspect of being in big games and having those fresh in your mind when you come back in September. I like that. I think that for five months when you don’t have that you miss it. I think that part of is tough but as you said, you try to take the positives from it and use the rest. This is probably the longest offseason that I’ve ever had. I think about all the years we had early exits, I probably played in World Championships or played hockey at some point kind of later on. I’ve got to make the most of the rest and make sure I’m ready to go at the start of next season.”

On where he sees the team and if they’re still a championship caliber: “We believe in our group. Obviously there’s always going to be turnover. There was turnover when we won. There was turnover when we had years that didn’t go as well. That’s just the nature of playing, and you understand that. There’s always a little bit more focus, and it’s magnified a little bit more when you lose. There’s a little bit more pressure with that, and you understand it but like I said earlier there’s a lot of times there’s a lot said and a lot of predictions and not a lot happens. I don’t think you can get caught up in it too much.”

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Pretty standard Crosby speak to the media, he’s not going to open up too much and obviously is going to be supportive of his close friends that he’s played with for a while. Interesting to hear his perspective and European travels though!

Sid also sat down for a one-on-one interview with The Hockey News

Crosby will be at the NHL Awards show in Vegas Wednesday, and like he said will then be heading back to Canada to start his usual summer training regimen in preparation for training camp in September.