20 Seasons of 'The Big Three'

One of Sidney Crosby’s favorite stories about Evgeni Malkin is from their first season together.

Crosby had gone second to last before moving to last late in his rookie campaign, where he recorded 102 points. When the 2006-07 season opened, Crosby thought he was going to continue bringing up the rear.

"I didn't even think about it, was about to go out, and Geno was still standing there," Crosby said. "There's a little bit of a language barrier, but not a ton when it comes to that. I could tell that he wanted to go last. I just said, 'Do you usually go last?' And then he told me, 'Three years Super League.'

"The three years pro in Russia, I guess, was more than the one year I played in the NHL. He wasn't budging at all. I was trying, like, 'rock-paper-scissors every game?' And he was like, 'no.' [laughs]."

At that point, Kris Letang was further up the order, before moving ahead of Crosby around the time they won their first of three Stanley Cup Championships together.

Now, when ‘The Big Three’ takes the ice tonight at Madison Square Garden to open the 2025.26 campaign – first Letang, then Crosby, then Malkin – they will make history as the longest tenured trio of teammates in major North American sports.

Crosby, Malkin and Letang are three of 38 players in the history of the NHL, NBA, MLB and NFL to play 20 seasons with a single team – and the only three to do so concurrently.

“It's rare, and it's definitely special,” Crosby said. “You don't see that very often in hockey, let alone anything, any sport, really. So, I feel really grateful and fortunate that I've been able to play with these guys for this long, and that we have some great memories together, and that we're able to continue to play together. It's not something that that happens too often. So, definitely appreciate it.”

“I always say, it’s dream to play with same guys together, forever, you know?” Malkin said.

Especially because there were times along the way – most notably three years ago, before Malkin and Letang signed new deals – that having this longevity wasn’t guaranteed.

“Just in general (with) all sports, you see more and more turnover,” Crosby said. “It’s pretty rare that you see guys be with one team for long periods of time. Because of that, I think I probably didn’t allow my hopes to get up too much. That’s what makes it even more special. There’s no guarantees and I think that’s what makes it what it is. It’s super rare. It makes us appreciate knowing that could have happened so many different times.”

Their on-ice success is staggering. They are the highest-scoring trio of teammates with a single team in NHL history. Crosby and Malkin have accumulated many individual awards, while Letang owns every single significant record for a defenseman.

But there have also been some lows along the way, particularly when it comes to injuries.

“You think about, individually, what we’ve been through as hockey players and athletes,” Crosby said. “Working together through those things, knowing that you have guys that you can lean on, that you can trust that you believe in (and) also believe in you... we’re not going to agree on everything all the time. But we can tell each other that.

“We’ve been there for one another for a really long time, been through a lot of different situations, individually and as a team. When you go through that stuff, it builds that trust and that belief and that bond even more. At this point, we’ve been through a lot together. There’s just a lot of trust there.”

Simply put, they are family. And they really do get along like siblings, which was evident on the team’s Creative Day, where there are a variety of stations set up to gather assets for the organization to use throughout the season - including headshots, PensTV and videoboard features, social media content and interviews. The trio went through it together as part of the celebration for their 20^th season together.

“Hey, he play 21 years! Me and Tanger play 20 years,” Malkin exclaimed. “We’re together, he’s out,” Letang agreed. Then, in unison: “He’s too old!”

Crosby is held in the highest regard in both Pittsburgh and the entire hockey world. At the 4 Nations Face-Off, young Dallas Stars defenseman Thomas Harley even said, “It’s a little bit like he’s a god. You’re gonna go blind if you look at him for too long.”

But Malkin and Letang treat Crosby just like everyone else, always ready with a good-natured chirp, which keeps things light.

“Obviously, me and Geno know how important Sid is to the city and what he’s accomplished. But we try to give him a hard time,” Letang said with a grin. “That's what's good about hockey and your dressing room is that you spend so much time together that you're supposed to tease like brothers, and when you've been together for 20 years, it's even more natural.”

No one knows what the future holds, particularly with Malkin entering the last year of his current contract. So, they are going to do their best to appreciate every moment of this season.

“I try not to think about it too much because when you’re in certain moments or you’re at practice or you’re in a game, you want to try to take that in. But at the same time, like, we’ve played together for 20 years,” Crosby told Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast.

“You just want to be in it. I think that we’ve had some amazing memories together. The fact that it could be that is crazy. It’s gone by like that. But I’m just going to try to enjoy each and every day, and we’ll see what happens.”