It's one of the weirder sights you'll see this NHL offseason. Two big-time NHL players gathered around to celebrate the Calder Cup win of the Toronto Marlies. But, it can be explained.
After winning the AHL championship, Marlies captain Logan Shaw brought the Calder Cup to his home province of Nova Scotia along with teammate Landon Sim. Some extremely normal stuff to do when you get possession of the trophy for a couple days after all the hard work you put in to winning the thing.
But as revealed in a photo circulating around social media, it wasn't just Shaw and Sim and their family and friends, a couple of current legends of the game were there to give a pat on the back.
Sidney Crosby and Brad Marchand were seen with both Shaw and Sim during the celebration and were even in a group photo.
Marlies captain Logan Shaw brought the Calder Cup back to Nova Scotia, along with Landon Sim… joining the celebrations, Sidney Crosby and Brad Marchand 🤯
— Leafslatest (@Leafslatest) July 19, 2026
Not bad company to keep 😅#leafsforever pic.twitter.com/v1RpEQctHA
Notably, both Marchand and Crosby are basically celebrities around Nova Scotia during the summer, as they head back home. There is no clear connection between the Marlies and Crosby and Marchand, but it's a small enough province and a small enough hockey circle that there must be some friend of a friend or past tournament they played with or against each other -- there must be something.
Shaw is from Glace Bay, NS, a small town on the northern peak of Cape Breton Island -- which is fairly far from Crosby's hometown of Cole Harbour and city-slicker Marchand who was born in Halifax. But a Nova Scotian is still a Nova Scotian.
Maybe those two stars just want to get a closer look at the Calder Cup. Since it is the one trophy that neither of them have won. Stanley Cups, Olympic golds, World Championship gold, World Juniors gold, 4 Nations, QMJHL championships; but never the Calder Cup. It is obviously the reason why they are in that group photo as two players approaching the end of their time in the NHL and knowing they will never get their name on the Calder Cup. We're being completely serious.
Shaw has been the Marlies captain for four seasons and has been a representation of consistency. The 33-year-old scored 23 goals and 54 points in 72 games, and has never dipped below 42 points in a season since signing with Toronto.
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