“Got pigeon tossed by Sid’s mum,” Paul Bissonnette REVEALS reason behind change of jersey no.67 during time with Penguins

Paul Bissonnette talks about how Sidney Crosby’s mother was behind his jersey no. change reason during his time with the Penguins.

“Got pigeon tossed by Sid’s mum,” Paul Bissonnette REVEALS reason behind change of jersey no.67 during time with Penguins

Paul Bissonnette [Image Credit: AZCentral]

Former NHLer Paul Bissonnette revealed the real reason behind his jersey number change during his stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He reveals that Sidney Crosby’s mother Trina-Forbes Crosby was behind his number change from 67 to 16 for a stunning reason. 

‘Biz Nasty’ started by recalling how No.67 stuck with him since training camp and even after making it with the Penguins, he wanted to have the number on his back. But unfortunately, things turned out differently than what he imagined. 

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Penguins former equipment manager Dana Heinze came up to Bissonnette during the first games of the season noting “Hey, pick a number here, we’re going to change it up”. Biz was absolutely against the number change and even addressed “I like to stick with 67” and “I like to keep my number.”

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Sadly, for him, he was forced to change from No.67 to No.16. Heinze explained the reason by saying,  “Sid’s parents were watching the game, and it looks too much like 87,” so he got to change it up. 

So basically, I got pigeon tossed by Sid’s mum, and I had to change my number.
Paul Bissonnette as per The Hockey Beast.

Furthermore, Bissonnette also talked about this incident on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). He noted,

Fun Fact: The team made me switch numbers from 67 to 16 because people kept getting me and Sid mixed up.
Paul Bissonnette on X.

Pittsburgh Penguins unspoken rule surrounding Sidney Crosby’s jersey No.87

Sidney Crosby, also known as ‘The Next One’ is undoubtedly the cornerstone of the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise. He has done a lot to boost the team to three Stanley Cup Championships and is continuing to do so even at 36. His commitment and excellence in the game were even praised by ‘The Great One’ Wayne Gretzky who bluntly stated that Crosby saved the organization from failing.

Sidney Crosby [Image Credit: The Athletic]
Sidney Crosby [Image Credit: The Athletic]

He is the captain of the Pens and one of the most respected and loved players throughout the NHL. However, whether it’s out of respect or an unspoken rule, no one in their team wears a number higher than Crosby. This is no official rule, but something the players follow even today.

Ex-Pens player Drake Caggiula said that when he first got on the team he was told that “no one wears a higher number than Sid.” His words were attested by Rickard Rakell who added, 

I guess I could have picked another one, but you can’t go higher than Sid’s.
Rickard Rakell as per The Athletic.

One of the news sources said “it’s not a hard rule”, but no one has ever worn any number higher than Crosby and many recruits start to believe it’s a rule to not wear one. The fact of this statement can be proved by former goalie Tomas Vokoun who had worn jersey no. 92.

Even former GM Ray Shero told how Crosby himself “didn’t care about that at all” and that players were never discouraged from wearing a higher number. That being said, Paul Bissonnette seems to be an unfortunate victim of No.87 since his No.67 looked similar to several viewers during an on-ice game.

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