Crosby Adjusting Well to Life At Lemieux's Home

PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Sidney Crosby is adjusting well to his new surrogate family with a very famous father, and Mario Lemieux is pretty happy as well.

"He's playing with the kids a lot, which is good," Lemieux said of Crosby, who is now living with the Lemieux family in their Sewickley home. "He's easy to get along with, he's chatty, talks all the time and gets along with the kids. The kids love him and have a good time with him, so it's been an easy adjustment thus far."

The two will practice together in an official Penguins capacity for the first time today beginning at 9:45 a.m. Training camp runs from 8 a.m.-2:45 p.m. at Mellon Arena and is free and open to the public.

Crosby, 18, admitted to being a little in awe when he first moved in, but said it's fine now. And he's looking forward to soaking up every bit of knowledge he can during his much-anticipated rookie year from a man who knows exactly what he's going though.

"I think just being around him is going to help me," Crosby said. "I can ask him little questions, even about things in town, where things are, and he's just going to make me feel comfortable right away and familiarize me with what's here. That's the main thing, is being around him and seeing how he goes about things every day."

Lemieux said that he and Crosby have spent a lot of time together the past few days.
"We drive everywhere and have dinner together every night," he said. "It's just a normal day for both of us -- get up early, skate and train and do our thing during the day until the kids come home and start bothering him. It's been great for all of us. It's a nice change, and it's great for all the family as well."

In fact, on Crosby's first night in the Lemieux household, he was out in the driveway playing hockey with two of Lemieux's four children, son Austin and daughter Stephanie. Lemieux and wife Nathalie's oldest is 12 years old, just six years younger than Crosby.

It's not a typical living arrangement for an 18-year-old hockey player at his first training camp, and the media attention isn't typical either.

Roughly 12 television cameras and at least two dozen reporters from the United States and Canada were at Mellon Arena yesterday, and many plan to stay through the week.
But Crosby wouldn't want to be a typical 18-year-old hockey player, either.

"I want to be the best so whatever comes with that I have to accept that," Crosby said. "I don't think there's ever a time where I step back and say I wish I was something different. I'm doing what I love to do, and I want to continue to try to get better. And if this is what comes with it, then I'm ready to accept that."

Karen Price can be reached at kprice@tribweb.com.