For the second time in a little more than three months, Sidney Crosby got to celebrate with the people of Nova Scotia.

The Penguins' center and captain had the Stanley Cup in his hometown of Cole Harbour and nearby areas in August, including the city of Halifax.

Last night, Crosby was an Olympic torch-bearer in an historic area of Halifax packed with spectators.

"It was really nice," Crosby said of the experience. "It was a lot of people. We get spoiled by the support people show here, but the torch was something pretty special."

Crosby is one of a group of runners that is expected to reach 12,000 who are carrying the Olympic flame on a relay across Canada on its way to Vancouver, where the 2010 Winter Games will be held in February.

After practice at Mellon Arena, the rest of the team flew to Ottawa, where the Penguins play tonight, while Crosby flew to Halifax.

He joined the other torch-bearers for the evening route in a shuttle that stopped to let each runner out at a designated checkpoint.

"It was nice to meet all the others," Crosby said. "They were from all parts of Nova Scotia."

One was Kirk Boudreau, who preceded Crosby on the relay. He had a wheelchair with a specially fitted arm to hold the torch.

"He was a guy from Cape Breton," Crosby said. "A big Penguins fan."

As Crosby stepped out onto Brunswick Street, cheers rose from the crowd on both sides. Kirk passed the flame to Crosby's torch at 5:52 p.m. Eastern time as the Penguins' superstar began his short leg -- 300 meters, two city blocks.

Wearing an Olympics-issue warmup suit that was white with a green and blue Vancouver Olympics logo on one side, a white tuque and big red gloves, Crosby held the lit torch in his right hand and waved to the crowd with his left.

"It was very quick," he said of the run. "I tried to keep it as slow a jog as I could."

About two minutes later, officials signaled him to stop in front of historic Citadel Hill, which was packed with spectators.

"It was neat because a few months ago I was there with the Cup," said Crosby, who in June became the youngest NHL captain to lift the Stanley Cup. He was 21 then and turned 22 Aug. 7, the first of his two days with the Cup.

The stainless steel and aluminum torch he carried was designed by Bombardier. It is 37.125 inches long and weighs 3.5 pounds -- one-tenth as much as the Stanley Cup.

Most of the 12,000 torch-bearers have not been announced, but it is expected that at least a few other current or past NHL players will carry it. Crosby was the first.

After passing the flame to Olympic snowboarder Sarah Conrad, who is from nearby Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Crosby was scheduled to fly to join his teammates in Ottawa.

Also yesterday, Crosby was nominated by Sports Illustrated's Michael Farber as that publication's Sportsman of the Year.

Penguins Plus, a blog by Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson, is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.