Amid another lost season for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the fire that drives Sidney Crosby still burns

PITTSBURGH (AP) — It is the penultimate practice in a largely frustrating season, one filled with baffling losses on the ice and crushing ones off it.

And yet there is Sidney Crosby, in the waning days of a season that marks the end of two full decades in the NHL, sprinting up and down the ice at the UMPC Lemieux Sports Complex. The Pittsburgh captain's 37-year-old legs are churning with the same ferocity typically found during the opening week of training camp.

The Penguins are in the midst of transition, and a rocky one at that. The playoffs — once a rite of spring in western Pennsylvania — will go on without one of the league's marquee clubs and one of the game's brightest stars for a third straight year.

Pittsburgh hasn't made it out of the first round since 2018. And while general manager Kyle Dubas has stockpiled an avalanche of draft picks he hopes will help speed up reboot, nothing is guaranteed.

Well, except for maybe one thing: the way Crosby goes about his business. Yes, the losing has been difficult. No, it doesn't give him cover to take a game, a practice or even a drill off. That is simply not Crosby's way.

Crosby finished the season by averaging at least a point a game for the 20th consecutive year, an NHL record.

During Thursday night's finale against Alex Ovechkin and longtime rival Washington, Crosby delivered two more vintage Crosby moments. He delivered a no-look backhand pass to Bryan Rust for a second-period goal, then scored his 33rd of the season a short time later, dropping to one knee to blast a puck by Capitals rookie Clay Stevenson, who was all of 6 years old when Crosby made his NHL debut in the fall of 2005.

It's not a coincidence that this week Crosby's peers voted him the league's most complete player and the smartest, too, a testament to the level of respect he commands even though the halcyon days of “Sid The Kid” are long gone and the flecks of gray poking out from under his helmet are more noticeable than they used to be.

Asked what keeps that drive so fresh even now, when his legacy is secure and he could hardly be blamed for mailing it in for once, and Crosby shrugs.

“We’re pretty fortunate to do what we do here,” he said. “And you know as much as I said that there’s frustrations (and) it’s tough and difficult, in the big scheme of things we’re still pretty fortunate to do what we do. So I think you keep that in the back of your mind.”

While longtime running mate Evgeni Malkin has shown signs of slowing down — the Russian center who has long been the emotional yin to Crosby's cerebral yang will finish with the lowest point total of a season in which he's played at least 50 games — Crosby has not.

There Crosby was on Tuesday morning, one of the first players on the ice. There Crosby was battling with defenseman P.O. Joseph for a puck during a three-on-three drill. There Crosby was dropping down to do pushups with everyone else in a black jersey after “losing” to the gold squad.

The season that coach Mike Sullivan admitted has been difficult for Crosby in particular would be over in less than 72 hours. Watching the guy with the No. 87 in black stickers on top of his white practice helmet skate against teammates who grew up idolizing him, it was hard to tell.

Crosby was living out in real time what Dubas promised back in September, when he cited one of the main reasons he never considered a top-to-bottom strip down of the roster to jumpstart a rebuild he's never officially labeled as a rebuild was to allow the next wave of Penguin stars to watch Crosby go about his business.

“It’s critical,” Sullivan said. “I think he’s the standard for what it means to be a Pittsburgh Penguin. When these guys get an opportunity to be around him, they see how he carries himself every day. There’s no better mentor, there’s no example on how to be pro than to watch him.”

Even as Pittsburgh's slim postseason chances crumbled after the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off — where his smile was easy to see as he helped Team Canada claim the championship — Crosby continued to press on, ending the season with 33 points in Pittsburgh's 25 games to cross the 90-point total for a ninth time.

And while Ovechkin could consider retirement this summer after breaking Wayne Gretzky's mark for career goals — a notion Ovechkin shot down publicly on Thursday morning — a part of Crosby's mind has already turned the page to next year.

The chapter of Crosby's life when he could put the sticks away for a chunk of the summer and still be in the shape he expects of himself by the time training camp opens is gone.

“I really enjoyed that (break),” Crosby said. “I thought it was important to get away. I don’t think I have that luxury anymore at my age ... It’s better to kind of keep going at this point.”

Crosby signed an extension last fall that runs through 2027, when he will turn 40. Dubas has repeatedly stressed he plans to have Pittsburgh return to contention before Crosby ultimately steps away. The only person might know that timing is Crosby, who is almost pathologically incapable of talking about any sort of mile marker in his career — and there have been many at this point — until it happens.

The one thing for certain is that he has no desire to go out meekly. The weight of the team's collective failure this season is mostly centered on shaky defensive play and even shakier goaltending. Yet the next time Crosby will publicly call out a teammate will be the first, and his demeanor in the dressing room hasn't changed.

“For him, it hits harder than most because he’s been here for his whole career, this is all he’s known,” goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic said. “And all he has known really is (winning) and success, from Stanley Cups to gold medals to even at Four Nations, where he played so well.”

The finale against the playoff-bound Capitals was one last opportunity for Crosby to pull on his sweater this season. One final chance for PPG Paints Arena announcer Ryan Mill to draw out every syllable of his name during pre-game introductions. One more chance to feed the internal fire that still burns so brightly even now in the twilight.

When Crosby wakes up Friday morning, it will mark the start of another summer that will seem interminable at times as the sport goes on without him. It's one of the reasons shortchanging the game he's helped redefine, even when there's nothing really at stake, is not an option.

“I think you’re always trying to get better,” he said. “You know, find different areas of your game that you can improve no matter how long you play and ultimately those things hopefully translate to wins. That's the motivation behind it.”

That's standard — the Sid standard — too.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby (87) and Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin (8) skate during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby (87) get a shot past Washington Capitals goaltender Clay Stevenson, left, for a goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Penguins' Bryan Rust (17), Sidney Crosby (87), and Evgeni Malkin (71) sit on the bench in front of head coach Mike Sullivan, left rear, and assistant coach Mike Vellucci during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins in Pittsburgh, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby (87), and Evgeni Malkin sit on the bench during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins in Pittsburgh, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) battles for the puck with New Jersey Devils defenseman Brian Dumoulin in the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, April 11, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) scores a goal past New Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen in the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, April 11, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) reacts after scoring a goal past New Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen in the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, April 11, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

NEW YORK (AP) — The public knew Sean “Diddy” Combs as a larger-than-life cultural icon and business mogul, but behind the scenes, he was coercing women into drug-fueled sexual encounters and using violence to keep them in line, a federal prosecutor told a jury Monday during opening statements in Combs' sex trafficking trial.

"This is Sean Combs,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson told the Manhattan jury as she pointed at Combs, who leaned back in his chair as she spoke. ”... During this trial you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant’s crimes. But he didn’t do it alone. He had an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit crimes and cover them up.”

Those crimes, she said, included: Kidnapping, arson, drugs, sex crimes, bribery and obstruction.

On the contrary, Combs' lawyer Teny Geragos said during her opening, the trial of Combs is a misguided overreach by prosecutors, who are trying to turn consenting sex between adults into a prostitution and sex trafficking case.

“Sean Combs is a complicated man. But this is not a complicated case. This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money,” Geragos told the eight men and four women on the jury. “There has been a tremendous amount of noise around this case over the past year. It is time to cancel that noise,” she added, noting the intense public attention the case has received.

Combs, wearing a white sweater, entered the packed courtroom shortly before 9 a.m., hugged his lawyers and gave a thumbs up to supporters seated behind him. Earlier, the line to get into the courthouse stretched down the block. Combs' mother and some of his children were escorted past the crowd and brought straight into the building.

Combs, 55, pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment that could land him in prison for at least 15 years if he is convicted on all charges. He has been held at a federal jail in Brooklyn since his arrest in September.

Lawyers for the three-time Grammy winner say prosecutors are wrongly trying to make a crime out of a party-loving lifestyle that may have been indulgent, but was not illegal.

Prosecutors say Combs coerced women into drugged-up group sexual encounters, then kept them in line through violence. He is accused of choking, hitting, kicking and dragging women, often by the hair.

Johnson started her opening statement by going right to the prosecution’s claim that violence was a critical tool Combs used to make people do his bidding.

She told jurors about a night when Combs allegedly kidnapped an employee and threatened his one-time girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, whose legal name is Cassandra Ventura and who is expected to be a key witness. Combs told Cassie that if she defied him again, he would release video of her having sex with a male escort — video that the prosecutor called “souvenirs of the most humiliating nights of her life," Johnson said.

That was “just the tip of the iceberg,” Johnson said, telling jurors that Cassie was far from the only woman Combs beat and sexually exploited.

“For 20 years, the defendant, with the help of his trusted inner circle, committed crime after crime,” Johnson said. “That’s why we’re here today. That’s what this case is about.”

Central to Combs’ sexual abuse, prosecutors say, were highly orchestrated, drug-fueled sex parties he called “freak offs,” “wild king nights” or “hotel nights.” Combs’ company paid for the parties, held in hotel rooms across the U.S. and overseas, and his employees staged the rooms with his preferred lighting, extra linens and lubricant, Johnson said. Combs compelled women, including Cassie, to take drugs and engage in sexual activity with male escorts while he gratified himself and sometimes recorded them, Johnson said.

Combs would beat Cassie over the smallest slights, such as leaving a “freak off” without his permission or taking too long in the bathroom, Johnson said. Combs threatened to ruin Cassie’s singing career by releasing to the public videos of her engaging in sex with male escorts, the prosecutor said. “Her livelihood depended on keeping him happy,” Johnson said.

Combs sat expressionless as he looked toward Johnson and the jury as the prosecutor described what she said was a pattern of violence, sexual abuse and blackmail.

Cassie is expected to testify early in the trial. She filed a lawsuit in 2023 saying Combs had subjected her to years of abuse, including beatings and rape. The lawsuit was settled within hours of its filing, but it touched off a law enforcement investigation and was followed by dozens of lawsuits from people making similar claims.

Prosecutors plan to show jurors security camera footage of Combs beating Cassie in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.

Johnson told the jury they will hear the lengths Combs’ inner circle went to help him hide the attack and get what they thought was the only video recording. She said a security guard was given a brown paper bag full of $100,000 in cash while Combs’ bodyguard and chief of staff stood by. “This is far from the only time that the defendant’s inner circle tried to close ranks and do damage control.”

Jurors might also see recordings of the “freak offs.” The indictment said the events sometimes lasted days and participants required IV-drips to recover.

Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo has said that the Bad Boy Records founder was “not a perfect person” and was undergoing therapy, including for drug use, before his arrest.

But he and other lawyers for Combs have argued that any group sex was consensual and any violence was an aberration.

After the video of Combs assaulting Cassie in the hotel aired on CNN last year, Combs apologized and said he took “full responsibility” for his actions. "I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”

The Associated Press doesn’t generally identify people who say they are victims of sexual abuse unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has done.

The trial is expected to last at least eight weeks.

Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.

Janice Combs, mother of Sean "Diddy" Combs, right, arrives to the courthouse in New York, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Family and supporters of Sean "Diddy" Combs, including King Combs, second from right, arrive to the courthouse in New York, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Family and supporters of Sean "Diddy" Combs arrive to the courthouse in New York, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Janice Combs, mother of Sean "Diddy" Combs, second from right, arrives to the courthouse in New York, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Family and supporters of Sean "Diddy" Combs, including his sons Quincy Brown, third from left, and Justin Combs, second from right, arrive to the courthouse in New York, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Family and supporters of Sean "Diddy" Combs, including his sons Quincy Brown, second from left, and Justin Combs, third from right, arrive to the courthouse in New York, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Sean 'Diddy' Combs, right, turns around and looks at the audience during jury selection at Manhattan federal court, Monday, May 5, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

FILE - Cassie Ventura, left, and Sean "Diddy" Combs appear at the premiere of "Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A Bad Boy Story" on June 21, 2017, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)