As Sidney Crosby celebrates his 30th birthday, TSN.ca looks at 30 definitive moments from the Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia native's storied hockey career.

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1. April 10, 2003 – A 15-year-old Crosby, alongside future NHLers Drew Stafford and Jack Johnson led Shattuck-St. Mary’s prep school to the 2003 USA Hockey Tier I 17 & Under National Championship in Laurel, Maryland with a 5-1 victory over Team Illinois. It would be Crosby’s only season with the team before heading back to Canada for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Rimouski Oceanic.

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2. December 28, 2003 – In a preliminary round game of the 2004 World Junior Hockey Championship in Finland, Crosby scored in a 7-2 win over Switzerland to become the youngest scorer in the history of the competition at just 16 years of age. That mark would be broken in 2012 by Finland’s Sasha Barkov. Crosby and Canada would advance to the final of that tournament, but would fall short of a gold medal, losing 4-3 to the United States. It wouldn’t be the last time the World Juniors saw Crosby, though.

3. January 4, 2005 – Redemption came for Crosby and Canada. In the final of the 2005 World Junior Hockey Championship in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Canada hammered Russia 6-1 to capture gold. Crosby, a key member of a star-studded team including the likes of Ryan Getzlaf, Patrice Bergeron and Jeff Carter, finished the tournament with six goals and three assists in six games.

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4. April 7, 2005 – Like he did the year before, Crosby cleaned up at the QMJHL’s annual honours night, the Golden Puck Awards. Crosby repeated as the Michele Briere Trophy winner as the league’s most valuable player and claimed the Jean Beliveau Trophy as its top scorer, the Telus Offensive Player of the Year Award, the Mike Bossy Trophy as the Q’s top pro prospect and the Paul Dumont Trophy as the personality of the year. Over two seasons in the Q, Crosby collected an astonishing 11 individual awards.

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5. May 29, 2005 – Crosby’s Oceanic are crushed 4-0 in the Memorial Cup final by the host London Knights led by Corey Perry. Though he came up short, Crosby still led the tournament in scoring six goals and five assists in the five games. It was enough for a place alongside Perry and the tournament’s all-star team.

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6. July 30, 2005 – Since the 2004-2005 NHL season was wiped out due to the lockout, the draft order for the 2005 NHL Entry Draft was determined by a lottery held the week before it. The Pittsburgh Penguins won the lottery and had the opportunity to select first in the draft for the second time in three years (goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was taken with the top pick in the 2003 draft). With the first overall selection, the Pens took Crosby as was widely expected. Bobby Ryan went second to the Anaheim Ducks, while Crosby’s former high school teammate Johnson was taken third overall by the Carolina Hurricanes.

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7. October 5, 2005 – On a Wednesday night in scenic East Rutherford, New Jersey, an 18-year-old Sidney Crosby made his NHL debut as the Penguins visited the Devils at Continental Airlines Arena. The Pens were blown out 5-1, but Crosby offered a brief flash of his prodigious talent in assisting on Pittsburgh’s lone goal, a third-period marker from Mark Recchi to ruin Martin Brodeur’s shutout attempt. Crosby was a -2 on the night in 15:50 of ice time.

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8. October 8, 2005 – In his third career NHL game, Crosby would score his first ever goal. Late in the second period of a contest against the Boston Bruins, Crosby sprung on a rebound and beat Hannu Toivonen to knot the game up at 5-4. Only three days after getting his first point as a pro on a goal by Mark Recchi, it was Recchi’s rebound from which he scored. The Pens would go on to drop the game to the Bruins, 7-6, in overtime.

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9. November 10, 2005 – There’s going to be another shootout goal on this list, but there’s a reason why this seemingly random regular season game was a special one. It’s no secret that Crosby grew up a Montreal Canadiens fan and this was his first contest at the Bell Centre. Crosby opened up the scoring that night with a power-play goal in the first period. With the game tied 2-2, Crosby was given the chance to win it in the shootout with his father watching in the stands. Coming in on Jose Theodore, Crosby showed forehand, but went backhand and roofed it. The Pens beat the Habs, 3-2.

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10. April 18, 2006 – Crosby would cap his remarkable rookie campaign in style during the season finale against the Toronto Maple Leafs. A three-assist performance against the New York Islanders the previous night brought Crosby into the final regular season game with 100 points, level with Mario Lemieux for the team’s rookie record. The Penguins would fall 5-3 to the Leafs that night, but Crosby scored in the second period and assisted on a Colby Armstrong goal in the third to finish the campaign with 102 points and sole possession of the Penguins’ rookie record. The mark made him the youngest player in NHL history hit the 100-point plateau.

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11. April 7, 2007 – Crosby notches a pair of assists in the last game of the regular season, a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers. The two points bring Crosby to 120 on the season, six points ahead of San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton, to lock up the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer. At 19, Crosby became the youngest scoring champion ever in North American professional sports.

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12. May 31, 2007 – Less than two weeks following their ouster from the Crosby’s first ever trip to the playoffs by the Ottawa Senators (where Crosby notched five points in the five-game series), the Penguins name the then-19-year-old Crosby their 12th captain in club history. At the time, Crosby became the youngest captain in National Hockey League history. His mark was, of course, broken in October of 2016 when the Edmonton Oilers put their “C” on Connor McDavid.

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13. June 14, 2007 – Already the Art Ross winner, Crosby would add to his trophy cabinet at the annual NHL Awards night in Toronto. Crosby was named the Lester B. Pearson Trophy (now the Ted Lindsay Award) winner, given to the league’s most outstanding player as voted by his fellow players. Crosby capped off the night by winning the Hart Trophy as league MVP, becoming the youngest player to claim the award since Wayne Gretzky in 1990.

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14. December 20, 2007 – If Sidney Crosby was to be the successor of Wayne Gretzky, who was the successor to Gordie Howe, it was only fitting for Crosby to live up to that lineage. In a game against the Boston Bruins, Crosby recorded his first Gordie Howe hat trick. Less than a minute into the contest, Crosby assisted on an Evgeni Malkin goal and then scored one of his own less than seven minutes later. In the second period, Crosby fought Andrew Ference for his first career tilt to complete the hat trick. The Pens would go on to win 5-4 in a shootout.

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15. January 1, 2008 – As mentioned above, this is the other shootout goal on this list. Crosby and his Pens took on the Buffalo Sabres on New Year’s Day from Ralph Wilson Stadium – home of the Bills – in the first ever edition of the Winter Classic. As the snow began to fall, Crosby beat Ryan Miller in the shootout for a 2-1 victory. Beating Ryan Miller outside of regulation would become a hallmark of Crosby’s career as we will see later.

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16. October 18, 2008 – The Pens topped the Leafs 4-1 on the evening with Crosby scoring a goal and adding three assists. Sure, that was just another great game for Sidney Crosby, but why was it momentous? Well, it was his 100th NHL goal and the three assists gave him 200 assists for his career and 300 points. Leave it to Crosby to achieve such a rare feat.

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17. May 18, 2008 – In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final, Crosby notches two assists in a 6-0 shellacking of the archrival Flyers as the Penguins advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1992. Ultimately, though, Crosby’s maiden voyage to the Stanley Cup would end in defeat as the Pens fell in six games to Mike Babcock’s Detroit Red Wings. Like with the World Juniors before it, Crosby would be back in the Stanley Cup Final sooner than later.

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18. June 12, 2009 – Back in the Stanley Cup Final and looking to avenge the previous year’s loss, Crosby and the Pens would do just that against those same Detroit Red Wings. In Game 7 in what would end up being the last Stanley Cup game ever played at Joe Louis Arena, the Pens defeated the Red Wings 2-1 to become the first road team to win a Stanley Cup Game 7 since the 1970 Montreal Canadiens. Crosby’s game was cut short due to a knee injury he picked up early in the third, but he was on the ice to hoist the Cup as the youngest captain to do so at 21.

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19. December 28, 2010 – Crosby was the game’s first star with two goals and two helpers in a 6-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets. It marked the 25th straight game in which Crosby registered a point. Over the streak that began on November 5, Crosby notched 27 goals – with three hat tricks – and 23 assists. This was the 11th-longest point streak in NHL history.

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20. February 25, 2010 – You just knew this going to be on here because this might have been the most momentous occasion in Crosby’s storied career. In overtime of the gold-medal game of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics at GM Place between Canada and the United States, Crosby – quiet for much of the tournament – barreled into the American zone and took on defencemen Brian Rafalski and Ryan Suter. He failed to split the pair and the puck rolled to goalie Ryan Miller, who played it to the sideboards. Crosby regained control of the puck there, but briefly lost it in the skates of the linesman. He dropped it off for Jarome Iginla and headed back towards the net. Screaming, “Iggy!” to signal that he wanted the puck, Crosby received a pass from Iginla and beat Miller between his legs to win the gold medal for Canada and sent the nation into a frenzy.

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21. January 5, 2011 – Only four days after taking a hit to the head in a collision with the Washington Capitals’ David Steckel in the Winter Classic, Crosby incurred another blow to the head after a check from Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman. Experiencing head and neck trauma, Crosby would sit out for the remainder of the season and miss the playoffs, as well.

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22. November 21, 2011 – Still feeling the effects of his injuries, Crosby missed the first 20 games of the 2011-12 season, but would return against the New York Islanders. As is typical Crosby fashion, his return came in style. In a 5-0 thrashing of the Isles, Crosby scored twice and set up two more. His return would prove to be short-lived, though.

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23. December 5, 2011 – After playing eight games between his return and December 8, Crosby incurred another neck injury in a game with the Bruins in which he appeared to be elbowed by David Krejci. While he remained in for the rest of that game, Crosby wouldn’t play again until March 15 with what was diagnosed with a soft-tissue injury in his neck that began to cause swelling in the upper vertebrae. Crosby’s season that year was limited to only 22 games.

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24. February 23, 2014 – Once again Crosby donned the Maple Leaf at a Winter Olympics and once again Canada would triumph. In the gold-medal game in Sochi, Crosby – who captained Team Canada this time around – scored on a breakaway against Henrik Lundqvist en route to a 3-0 victory. It was Crosby’s first and only goal of the tournament.

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25. June 24, 2014 – Fresh off another Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer (36 goals and 68 assists), Crosby was named the Hart Trophy winner for the second time at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas. With the win, Crosby became only the 18th player to claim the trophy multiple times. Crosby also won the Ted Lindsay Award that night, marking the second time he was named the league’s most outstanding player by his peers.

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26. May 17, 2015 – Canada belted Russia 6-1 in the gold-medal game of the IIHF World Championship from Prague, giving Canada its first world title since 2007. Crosby was a dominant force in the tournament, scoring four goals and seven assists in nine games. With the title, Crosby became the 26th member of the Triple Gold Club (World Junior, Olympic and world titles) and the first member to captain all three teams on which he was victorious.

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27. June 12, 2016 – Returning to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in seven years, Crosby would once again dominate as the Penguins defeated the San Jose Sharks in six games to capture the franchise’s fourth Stanley Cup. Crosby had four assists in the Final and 19 points in the playoffs and would be named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoff MVP for the first time in his career.

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28. September 29, 2016 – Canada, captained by Crosby, defeated Team Europe to win the best-of-three World Cup of Hockey final, 2-1, in Game 2 in Toronto. Canada went undefeated in the tournament over six games with Crosby scoring three times and adding seven assists to lead the tourney in scoring. For his efforts, he was named tournament MVP. With that honour, Crosby became just the third player in history after Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky to win the Hart Trophy, the Conn Smythe and the World Cup MVP (Orr and Gretzky both won MVPs when the tournament still existed in its Canada Cup form).

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29. February 17, 2017 - Nearly midway through the first period of a game against the Jets, Crosby set up Chris Kunitz for a goal. On the marker, Crosby recorded his 1,000th career point, becoming the 86th player to hit that milestone and the 12th fastest to do so. The Pens would go on to win the game, 4-3 in overtime, on a goal from - yup, you guessed it - Sidney Crosby.

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30. June 11, 2017 – After two grueling seven-game series victories over the Washington Capitals and Ottawa Senators to advance to a second-straight Stanley Cup, the Pens clinched their second title in a row with a 2-0 Game 6 win over the Nashville Predators. The Pens became the first team to win back-to-back Stanley Cups since the 1997-1998 Red Wings. Crosby had a goal and five assists in the Final and eight goals and 19 assists in the playoffs. He was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner for a second year in a row, becoming the third player in history to do so behind Bernie Parent and Pens owner and legend, Mario Lemieux. Coincidentally, in Game 5 of the series, Crosby passed Lemieux with his 20th point for most ever in the Stanley Cup Final by a Penguin.