My photos

The two of them have spent a lot of time together over the years, with Emrick sitting next to Crosby at his stall in various locker rooms to have conversations and collect anecdotes to use for the broadcast.

When asked what it’s been like to work with Crosby, in typical ‘Doc’ fashion, he asked about the Crosby family golden retriever named Sam before getting into his answer.

“It’s just been magnificent, because not only was he a good athlete from the very beginning, but he learned ambassadorship right off,” Emrick said.

To Emrick, the definition of ambassadorship to the sport consists of three areas.

“First of all, you have to be THE best player,” Emrick said. “Secondly, you have to speak English - maybe not flawlessly - but well. Because we now have 32 franchises, and only two of them are bilingual.”

Third, and perhaps most importantly - according to Emrick - is that the player has to be willing to handle the demands that come along with the job every single day.

“That, in my mind, is what eliminates some,” Emrick said. “And Sid does it. He never does anything wrong. He never makes a mistake on social media. He does (Sidney Crosby’s Little Penguins Learn to Play) by giving out a thousand uniforms top to bottom and equipment to kids every year.

“I mean, you wouldn’t want to model anybody that going to grow up to be a hockey player after anybody other than him.”