from Mike Zeisberger of the NHL's website,

When the Timbit minor hockey kids came out on the ice at Scotiabank Centre during the first intermission of the Nova Scotia Showdown to play a truncated five-minute game Monday, each one of them was wearing No. 87.

Much like many of the fans in the stands who were watching them.

This, after all, was the first time in 17 years that center Sidney Crosby -- No. 87 in your programs for the Pittsburgh Penguins, No. 1 in the hearts of most hockey fans here -- was playing an NHL game in his hometown area, and the entire region was stoked. Wearing his jersey was their way of paying tribute to their local hero.

Message received.

Crosby is a native of Cole Harbour, 10 miles from downtown Halifax, and had been champing at the bit for months in anticipation of the Penguins’ preseason game against the Ottawa Senators, much like his legions of supporters here. His previous NHL appearance here came in a preseason game in 2006 when the team, in Crosby’s words, “was in and out of town.”

continued