HALIFAX - Sidney Crosby has added another iconic piece of hardware to the collection he's hoisted in his stellar hockey career - the Olympic torch.

Huddled under the glow of street lights, thousands of people lined both sides of a downtown Halifax street Wednesday evening to watch the captain of the Stanley Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins grasp the torch in a mitten-covered hand.

Clad in an official torchbearer uniform, the 22-year-old grinned and jogged below historic Citadel Hill as the bright, orange flame burned above his head.

"You look at the people out there, you see the signs of the excitement,'' Crosby said later about the massive crush of fans who slowed his jog to a crawl.

"You never dream of carrying the torch. For me, that wasn't something that I ever thought would be a possibility.''

At one point in his short, 300-metre jaunt, Crosby stopped and turned slowly with the torch, eliciting wild cheers from the delighted crowd.

His jog turned into a walk when a sea of fans and flashing cameras swallowed him and snowboarder Sarah Conrad as they exchanged flames. Conrad, a native of Dartmouth, N.S., later lit a cauldron in front of Halifax City Hall.

Crosby, who won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer and the Hart Trophy as league MVP, said the opportunity to return to his home province and run with the torch was too good to pass up.

"It's not just about me carrying the torch or another person - this is a celebration of the whole country and just to be a part of that, I feel so honoured,'' Crosby said.

"Whether I was playing hockey or whether I was someone here locally who just got the chance to do it, I think we can all say that it's a tremendous opportunity and we're proud to be able to do it.''

Crosby, whose hometown of Cole Harbour lies across the harbour from Halifax, was one of 12,000 torchbearers tasked with carrying the flame across Canada as part of a massive relay.

The flame touched down in Nova Scotia on Monday morning. It will criss-cross Nova Scotia until Saturday, when it will be ferried to Prince Edward Island as part of its East Coast leg.

Clutching a torch emblazoned with Crosby's autograph, Daren White could hardly contain his excitement even after the flame had passed by.

White, who ran with the flame earlier in Elmsdale, N.S., muscled his way through security to get Crosby's attention as the hockey star waited for his leg of the relay to start.

"I said to him, 'For a fellow torchbearer, would you sign?' and he grabbed my marker and gave me a wink and signed,'' said an elated White, 44. "It's my gold medal.''

British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, who was in Halifax for the festivities, said the torch relay has been a phenomenal success thus far.

"Every day there's a story out of the torch relay about how the torch has touched somebody's life and made them feel like they are making a huge contribution,'' Campbell said.

"That's really the gift of the Olympics to all of us. It's a cohesive force that can bring us together and remind us of what it's like to be a Canadian.''

Earlier in the day, two animal rights groups announced in Halifax they would protest the commercial seal hunt during the Olympic torch run over the next few months.

But organizers said they would not disrupt the run and instead be inflating a giant seal at locations away from spectators to voice their opposition to the hunt.

The torch relay began its trek in Victoria last month, and will make stops in every province and territory leading up to the Winter Games in Vancouver in February.