QMJHL to award Sidney Crosby Trophy to top rookie starting this season

The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League is naming its rookie of the year award after one of its most famous graduates.

The league announced Tuesday that its top rookie will be awarded the Sidney Crosby Trophy, starting this season.

Crosby, from Cole Harbour, N.S., had a dominant major junior career with the QMJHL’s Rimouski Océanic. He had 135 points in 59 games in his first season and was named the league’s rookie of the year in 2003-04.

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Crosby followed that up with 168 points, including 66 goals, in 62 games in 2004-05 as the Océanic won a QMJHL title. He was named the MVP of both the QMJHL and the Canadian Hockey League, which also includes the Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League, both seasons.

His junior success translated immediately to the NHL after he was selected first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2005 draft. He made his debut as an 18-year-old in 2005-06 and put up 102 points in 81 games.

Crosby, the Penguins captain since 2007 and a three-time Stanley Cup winner, has 609 goals and 1,045 assists in 1,327 career games. He is set to captain Canada at the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off international tournament.

“Some of my fondest memories of hockey come from my time in the QMJHL playing for the Océanic,” Crosby said in a release “It is an absolute honour to have the league’s rookie of the year trophy named after me.”