Sidney Crosby Caught Stealing Own Equipment

By ALISHKA LEVINE (AP)

Sidney Crosby has been caught in a self-promotional scheme involving missing equipment. The scheme was unearthed when an assistant trainer was found to be receiving the Pittsburgh Penguins captain's game-used gloves and jersey by mail. When confronted by team officials, Crosby first denied the plot, but later admitted that he knew it would cause a buzz for himself and his team during a hard-fought playoff series with the Montréal Canadiens. As confusing the motives may have been for the 22-year-old star, even more shockingly he seems to have pulled the same stunt in the past.

On Tuesday morning, Crosby alerted Penguins equipment manager Dana Heinze that he was missing two sticks and his lucky athletic supporter. He claimed that he discovered the equipment missing following the return home from Montreal on Monday night. Team officials, together with several interns apparently searched the locker room area all night but found nothing. Then this morning, an off-duty Pittsburgh police officer caught team assistant, Marco Horvath, acting suspiciously around a neighbor's mailbox and intercepting a package. The package was found to contain the missing equipment.

The affair has team officials scratching their heads, and wondering whether they should prepare to defend against a criminal complaint, if a crime is determined to have occurred. The only possible reason speculated by local police, seems to be that Sidney Crosby has deliberately engineered the fake thefts, all in an attempt to shamelessly promote himself. Crosby has been named to the NHL All-Star game multiple times, and has won numerous prestigious awards, both individual and with his teams- including a Stanley Cup victory in 2009.

"It doesn't make any sense to me, but I guess the kid's got some insecurity issues, maybe", said pollice captain William "Gunt" Greggson.

In October 2005, the jersey Crosby wore in his first NHL game vanished from a locked suitcase in a Pittsburgh airport. The jersey, which has been estimated to have worth tens of thousands of dollars, surfaced later, but the sports world was talking about the swiped sweater for weeks. Then in the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Crosby's stick and gloves went missing following Team Canada's gold medal victory. Wild rumors circulated for weeks- ranging from jealous opponents thieving the equipment, to souvenir-hunting fans, to a operation initiated by a wealthy collector. Eventually, the glove and stick were found- innocently misplaced elsewhere.

When reached for comment before Wednesday night's Game 7 showdown, Crosby was unrepentant. "So what?", said Crosby, "If I was a nobody like Dups <Pascal Dupuis> or Billy <Bill Guerin>, then this wouldn't even be a story. But because I'm the top player in the world, everyone wants to bring me down."

The matter has been referred to NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell, though there is no timetable for when he would meet with Crosby or head coach, Dan Bylsma. It is thought to be unlikely that any disciplinary action, such as a fine or suspension, would be meted out until the playoffs are over.