Crosby's grandmother can't watch him play hockey out of fear she'll see him get hurt

One of Sidney Crosby's biggest fans - his grandmother - can't watch him play hockey anymore because she's scared she'll see him get hurt.

"Wouldn't any grandmother?" Catherine Forbes asks.

"I flip the TV over every once in awhile to see what's going on and then I shut it off when I see him on the ice," Forbes said. "I close my eyes and plug my ears."

Forbes said as a mother of two boys who also played hockey, she's been down this road before.

"I came up through the system and I know there's blows and there's bangs and other goings-on," she said.

Forbes, who lives in Halifax, said she last saw Crosby play in Buffalo about a year ago.

"But other than that, I just don't watch hockey," she said.

The Cole Harbour native has lead his Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL's Eastern Conference final against cross-state rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers.

Crosby, who missed almost two months of the regular season because of a high ankle sprain, is among the top playoff scorers in his third season in the league.

Forbes said while she's proud of Crosby, she's equally proud of all her grandchildren.

"Sidney is one of 17 grandkids and every one of them are doing well. They're all educated and they all have good jobs," she said.

"That's Sidney's job, that's what he's been working for, and it's the same for rest of them in what they're doing."

Forbes said even though she doesn't watch Crosby play, she's very aware of when her grandson is playing, and worries she'll hear something bad happened.

"One day just goes into another, and you say 'Oh God, there's a game tonight. Oh God, here we go,'" Forbes said.

kmoar@hfxnews.ca