Sidney Crosby's having a busy summer, but make no mistake: he still has time for his friends. Especially Pascal Dupuis.
Dupuis, of course, retired in December after dealing with blood clots, but he remained an integral part of the Pittsburgh Penguins on their march to the Stanley Cup.
The 37-year-old had his day with the Cup over the weekend, and while he called winning it as a spectator "bittersweet," according to NHL.com's Sean Farrell, Crosby made sure to remind Dupuis of the crucial role he played on the team.
"You get the Cup, you want to celebrate," Dupuis said. "But at the same time I got a gift by the mail. Basically, it's a book of all the pictures of all the good stuff we went through. It came from Nova Scotia, so you guys can figure out who it came from, but (Crosby) couldn't give it to me during the season, he saw me skating a little bit.
"And he sent it (Saturday), before my day with the Cup, so he knew what he was going to get me right (in the heart)."
What a captain, that Crosby.
"This one is certainly different," Dupuis added. "The first, you win one with the team we had in 2009 and we thought we would repeat and repeat, but you see how hard it is to win this trophy. And with everything that has happened to me since 2009, that I had to stop playing, this one has a different taste to it."
A good taste, still, to be sure.
Dupuis celebrated his day with Stanley by sharing it with family and friends. His kids ate cereal out of it and the Cup ended up in each youngster's bed, too.
Let's face it, there's little better to wake up next to.
