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‘It’s just a number’ -- Sidney Crosby celebrates 30th birthday with the Stanley Cup

2017 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

NASHVILLE, TN - JUNE 11: Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates with the Stanley Cup trophy after defeating the Nashville Predators 2-0 in Game Six of the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Final at the Bridgestone Arena on June 11, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)

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‘Sid the Kid’ isn’t really a kid anymore.

Sidney Crosby, the Pittsburgh Penguins captain and arguably the best player in the game, celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday and he did so with a very special guest -- the Stanley Cup, a trophy he has hoisted three times in his National Hockey League career.

“It’s just a number,” Crosby told the Penguins website of his age. “When I think about that, it’s a number. Sometimes I don’t feel 30. Sometimes I do. It depends. I just try to enjoy things as much as I can. It’s pretty special to be able to do this on my birthday, share with everybody. I’ll just take that as a great experience and move on.”

Crosby brought the Stanley Cup to Halifax and then to Rimouski, Que., where he played his junior hockey before being taken No. 1 overall by the Penguins in the 2005 NHL Draft.

He has since gone on to what will be a Hall of Fame career. The Penguins have won three championships and been to the final four times since 2005. Not only does Crosby have a trio of Stanley Cup rings, he has twice won Olympic gold, scoring the winning overtime goal versus the U.S. in 2010 in Vancouver. It has become one of the iconic moments in Canadian hockey history, as he threw his gloves and stick into the air in celebration.

“It’s amazing how fast time goes by,” said Crosby, per The Canadian Press. “It makes you realize that it doesn’t get any easier and that’s why things like this (parade) — you have to enjoy it.”

There was a time, however, not long ago in which his career was completely sidetracked by concussions. In 2011-12, Crosby appeared in only 22 regular season games. He later opened up in an interview with CBC’s Peter Mansbridge about the prospects of his playing future given his concussion history.

From the Globe and Mail:

There were some dark days when the thought he may never play hockey again at the professional level entered his mind.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I thought about it,” Crosby told Mansbridge.

Crosby suffered another concussion during the 2017 postseason but didn’t spend much time out of action, returning to help lead Pittsburgh to its second Stanley Cup in as many years. For the second straight year, Crosby claimed the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Related: Crosby ‘in the company of all-time greats’