Thieves swipe jersey Penguins Crosby wore in his first NHL game
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05284/586262.stm
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Sidney Crosby will always have the memories of his first game in the National Hockey League.
He might not have the jersey he wore in it, however.
That disappeared from a piece of luggage his father, Troy, had checked before taking a US Airways flight from Pittsburgh to Buffalo late Sunday afternoon.
"When I got the bag off [the baggage-claim conveyor] belt in Buffalo, it was partially unzipped," Troy Crosby said. "I noticed it right away."
He immediately went through both of his checked bags in an effort to locate the white jersey his son wore during the Penguins' regular-season opener in New Jersey on Wednesday, but could not find it. At that point, Mr. Crosby alerted personnel in the lost-baggage office at the airport.
"The people in Buffalo called their supervisor from the baggage area out on the ramp, and I spoke to him," he said. "He said he had unloaded that plane and that he was positive it didn't happen here in Buffalo."
The jersey, Mr. Crosby added, was in a plastic bag inside of his luggage. None of the other items in that bag, including dirty laundry and running shoes, were missing.
Mr. Crosby said he did not have any tags on the outside of the bag that identified it as his, but noted that the claim tag attached to it did bear his name.
"Someone saw my name on that [claim tag]," Mr. Crosby said. "They took a look inside, and hit the jackpot."
US Airways officials at Pittsburgh International told Mr. Crosby they will investigate the incident, but he had not heard back from them yesterday.
"It's an important jersey to Sidney and to me and to our family, although it's not life or death," he said. "But it would be nice to get it back."
US Airways spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said, "We are investigating the situation with the goal of locating and returning the jersey as quickly as possible." She declined to divulge details of how the investigation will be conducted, or by whom.
Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby's teammate and the Penguins' primary owner, said the team plans to be actively involved in the effort to recover the missing jersey.
"We're going to probably call some people and try to investigate this a little further," he said. "Put some people on this."
This is the second time in less than a year that Sidney Crosby has had a game sweater vanish from a piece of checked luggage.
"I can't believe it," he said. "For it to happen once, I was in shock. But this time, it's almost like ... 'It can't be real.'"
The first time happened after Canada won the world junior championships in January, when the red sweater he wore in the championship game was removed from his bag while he was changing planes in Montreal.
Mr. Crosby's initial flight had originated in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and took him to Montreal, where he caught a plane to Rimouski, Quebec, home of his junior hockey team.
News of that jersey's disappearance generated national attention, and Mr. Crosby got it back after Jacques Lamoureux, an Air Canada baggage handler who told police he wanted it for his daughter, stuffed it in a mailbox in Lachute, Quebec, about a week after it went missing.
Mr. Lamoureux did not receive a criminal record for stealing the jersey, but lost his job and was forced to apologize and donate $300 to crime victims.
The jersey subsequently was auctioned and raised $22,100 Canadian for youth hockey charities and tsunami relief, which might indicate what the one now missing is worth. Not that Mr. Crosby's family can assign a dollar value to it.
"It's an important jersey to us," Troy Crosby said. "You can't put a price on it."
Mr. Crosby, while obviously cognizant of what happened last winter, said he had no reservations about transporting the jersey in a piece of checked luggage because the flight from Pittsburgh was nonstop and brief.
"I thought there was no risk of it being lost, because it was a short little flight with no connections," he said.
Mr. Lemieux noted that when he's traveling with a keepsake such as a special sweater, he carries it with him rather than checking it. Nonetheless, he was visibly unhappy about what happened.
"It's hard to take," he said. "This is something special for him and his dad. You'd think when you're traveling that it's pretty safe, that when you check your luggage and get to your destination, everything's going to be intact."
Troy Crosby, though, suggested the disappearance of the jersey "goes to a bigger issue about airport security" in the post-9/11 world.
"If you can take something out of a bag without being caught, you can put something in a bag, as well," he said. "If this can happen, what can stop an act of terrorism from happening the same way?"
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05284/586262.stm
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Sidney Crosby will always have the memories of his first game in the National Hockey League.
He might not have the jersey he wore in it, however.
That disappeared from a piece of luggage his father, Troy, had checked before taking a US Airways flight from Pittsburgh to Buffalo late Sunday afternoon.
"When I got the bag off [the baggage-claim conveyor] belt in Buffalo, it was partially unzipped," Troy Crosby said. "I noticed it right away."
He immediately went through both of his checked bags in an effort to locate the white jersey his son wore during the Penguins' regular-season opener in New Jersey on Wednesday, but could not find it. At that point, Mr. Crosby alerted personnel in the lost-baggage office at the airport.
"The people in Buffalo called their supervisor from the baggage area out on the ramp, and I spoke to him," he said. "He said he had unloaded that plane and that he was positive it didn't happen here in Buffalo."
The jersey, Mr. Crosby added, was in a plastic bag inside of his luggage. None of the other items in that bag, including dirty laundry and running shoes, were missing.
Mr. Crosby said he did not have any tags on the outside of the bag that identified it as his, but noted that the claim tag attached to it did bear his name.
"Someone saw my name on that [claim tag]," Mr. Crosby said. "They took a look inside, and hit the jackpot."
US Airways officials at Pittsburgh International told Mr. Crosby they will investigate the incident, but he had not heard back from them yesterday.
"It's an important jersey to Sidney and to me and to our family, although it's not life or death," he said. "But it would be nice to get it back."
US Airways spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said, "We are investigating the situation with the goal of locating and returning the jersey as quickly as possible." She declined to divulge details of how the investigation will be conducted, or by whom.
Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby's teammate and the Penguins' primary owner, said the team plans to be actively involved in the effort to recover the missing jersey.
"We're going to probably call some people and try to investigate this a little further," he said. "Put some people on this."
This is the second time in less than a year that Sidney Crosby has had a game sweater vanish from a piece of checked luggage.
"I can't believe it," he said. "For it to happen once, I was in shock. But this time, it's almost like ... 'It can't be real.'"
The first time happened after Canada won the world junior championships in January, when the red sweater he wore in the championship game was removed from his bag while he was changing planes in Montreal.
Mr. Crosby's initial flight had originated in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and took him to Montreal, where he caught a plane to Rimouski, Quebec, home of his junior hockey team.
News of that jersey's disappearance generated national attention, and Mr. Crosby got it back after Jacques Lamoureux, an Air Canada baggage handler who told police he wanted it for his daughter, stuffed it in a mailbox in Lachute, Quebec, about a week after it went missing.
Mr. Lamoureux did not receive a criminal record for stealing the jersey, but lost his job and was forced to apologize and donate $300 to crime victims.
The jersey subsequently was auctioned and raised $22,100 Canadian for youth hockey charities and tsunami relief, which might indicate what the one now missing is worth. Not that Mr. Crosby's family can assign a dollar value to it.
"It's an important jersey to us," Troy Crosby said. "You can't put a price on it."
Mr. Crosby, while obviously cognizant of what happened last winter, said he had no reservations about transporting the jersey in a piece of checked luggage because the flight from Pittsburgh was nonstop and brief.
"I thought there was no risk of it being lost, because it was a short little flight with no connections," he said.
Mr. Lemieux noted that when he's traveling with a keepsake such as a special sweater, he carries it with him rather than checking it. Nonetheless, he was visibly unhappy about what happened.
"It's hard to take," he said. "This is something special for him and his dad. You'd think when you're traveling that it's pretty safe, that when you check your luggage and get to your destination, everything's going to be intact."
Troy Crosby, though, suggested the disappearance of the jersey "goes to a bigger issue about airport security" in the post-9/11 world.
"If you can take something out of a bag without being caught, you can put something in a bag, as well," he said. "If this can happen, what can stop an act of terrorism from happening the same way?"
