Favorite Canadian Sports Guy for July 1st

Sidney Crosby
From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things

 Hockey is one of my favorite sports to watch. Canada's Sidney Crosby certainly is getting a lot of attention these days. Love his curly hair and killer smile.

 Sidney Patrick Crosby, ONS (born August 7, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who serves as captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Crosby was drafted first overall by the Penguins out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). During his two-year major junior career with the Rimouski Océanic, he earned back-to-back CHL Player of the Year awards and led his club to the 2005 Memorial Cup final. Nicknamed "The Next One", he was one of the most highly regarded draft picks in hockey history, leading many to refer to the 2005 Draft Lottery as the "Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes".

 In his first NHL season, Crosby finished sixth in league scoring with 102 points (39 goals, 63 assists) and was a runner-up for the Calder Memorial Trophy (won by Alexander Ovechkin). By his second season, he led the NHL with 120 points (36 goals, 84 assists) to capture the Art Ross Trophy, becoming the youngest player and the only teenager to win a scoring title in any major North American sports league. That same season, Crosby won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the Professional Hockey Writers Association's choice for most valuable player and the Lester B. Pearson Award as the NHL Players Association's choice for most outstanding player, becoming the seventh player in NHL history to earn all three awards in one year.

 Crosby started the 2007–08 season with the team's captaincy and subsequently led them to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, where they were defeated by the Detroit Red Wings in six games. The Penguins returned to the Finals against Detroit the following year and won in seven games; Crosby became the youngest captain in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup. In the 2009–10 season, Crosby scored a career-high 51 goals, tying him with Steven Stamkos for the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league-leader; with 58 assists, he totaled 109 points, second in the NHL. During the off-season, Crosby received the Mark Messier Leadership Award. In 2010–11, Crosby sustained a concussion as a result of hits to the head in back-to-back games. The injury left him sidelined for ten and a half months. However, after playing eight games in the 2011–12 season, Crosby's concussion-like symptoms returned in December 2011, and he did not return until mid-March 2012 after extended treatment by neurologists at UPMC and chiropractic neurologist Ted Carrick, whom Crosby credits with helping him return to hockey.

 Internationally, Crosby has represented Canada in numerous tournaments for the country's junior and men's teams. After competing in the 2003 U-18 Junior World Cup, he represented Canada in back-to-back IIHF World U20 Championships, winning silver in 2004 and gold in 2005. At the 2006 IIHF World Championship, he led the tournament in scoring, while also earning Top Forward and All-Star Team honours. Four years later, Crosby was named to Team Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Playing the United States in the gold medal game, he scored the game-winning goal in overtime. He captained the 2014 Canadian Olympic Hockey Team at the Sochi Olympics, leading the team to a Gold Medal victory over Sweden.

Crosby lived with the Lemieux family in Sewickley, Pennsylvania from 2005 until 2010. In the spring of 2010, Crosby purchased his own home in the same area. In June 2006, he bought his first house on Grand Lake in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

In time for Crosby's first season, Gare Joyce wrote Sidney Crosby: Taking the Game by Storm, a biography. The November 2005 edition of GQ Magazine featured him in a series of shirt-less photos. In 2007, Crosby was nominated for Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People list. He has an endorsement deal with Reebok and designed a fashion line in 2007.[ On May 29, 2010, it was announced that Sidney Crosby will sign the richest endorsement deal in NHL history with Reebok. The deal is expected to pay Crosby $1.4 million a year for five to seven years. Crosby also has endorsement deals with Bell, Tim Hortons and Gatorade.

In 2008, Crosby appeared in the documentary film Pond Hockey, where he discusses his experiences of playing pond hockey.