Exactly how does one spend $43.5 million?

That's the question Cole Harbour native Sidney Crosby might be asking
himself since the Pittsburgh Penguins agreed Tuesday to pay him that
amount over five years starting in the 2008-09 NHL season.

But while Mr. Crosby, 19, may not have the answer yet, his Cole
Harbour neighbours have a few ideas.

"He could get Hannebury Drive a pave," Karen Costello said, referring
to the street the hockey star grew up on.

She said that as late as last summer, Mr. Crosby was still playing
ball hockey on the street with local kids and she hoped that might
serve as a motivator.

Another Hannebury Drive resident also stuck to the hockey theme.

"Cole Harbour doesn't have an outdoor rink," Steve Mac-Donald hinted.
"He should spend it on something he loves."

Like an SUV?

"He could get another SUV, he's got enough of those already," Shane
Warren suggested from his Hannebury Drive home.

At Cole Harbour Place, where Mr. Crosby could be seen on the ice
Wednesday afternoon, 14-year-old Lyndon Thomas said the big contract
was the source of a lot of talk among his friends.

"He should build another rink," the East Preston boy said. "Bigger and
better than this one."

Adrian Tansley, 16, was also at the sports facility but didn't bat an
eye when he was told he had just missed the world's best hockey player
by a few minutes.

"I see him at the gym a bunch anyway," Adrian said. He said a "nice
house and a nice car" would be a good place to start for Cole
Harbour's richest teenager.

That "nice house" is already well underway as Mr. Crosby is having
renovations done at his three-storey taupe-coloured house on Grand
Lake. About a dozen workers could be seen working around the house on
Wednesday, mostly on landscaping.

In a Cole Harbour Tim Hortons and Wendy's restaurant, financial advice
for Mr. Crosby was wide-ranging.

At one end of the age spectrum, a few seniors recommended that the
Penguins star save and invest his money because of the chance of a
career-ending injury.

But the younger set had more pressing concerns.

"Sidney should buy me a bunch of cookies," said Josh Kendall, 14.

"And Cole Harbour needs a McDonald's," said Ashley Sweet, 12, snacking
on a rival restaurant's fries.

At least Mr. Crosby wouldn't have to look far to find a celebrity
spokesman.