By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby led the NHL with 51 goals this season.
Next chapter in Sidney Crosby's busy year, and in his life: the 2010 NHL playoffs.
That means a new round of mental preparation for the 22-year-old captain of the Penguins, and preparing to meet his and others' expectations has been a specialty since he was a youngster.
There's the familiar -- starting Wednesday, he and the Penguins will be playing Ottawa in the first round for the third time in four years, and after successive trips to the Stanley Cup final and a championship in June, there's plenty from which to draw.
Then there's the unknown -- he has to try to be ready for whatever might happen in games and unforeseen demands on his time.
Being prepared doesn't mean everything always goes smoothly.
"It's really hard," Crosby said as the regular season was winding down. "I think it's a challenge every day. You just try to learn. I guess that's life. You just kind of have to deal with it."
In the past year, Crosby became the youngest captain to hoist the Stanley Cup, had a huge parade and celebration with the trophy at home in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, participated in the Olympic torch relay, scored the overtime winner to earn Canada the Olympic gold medal, tied for the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal-scorer with 51, and no doubt thrust himself into strong consideration for the Hart Trophy as league MVP.
At a point in that great ride, though, a few days took him out of his comfort zone.
"Right after the Olympics," Crosby said. "By no means am I complaining, but it was overwhelming."
He had one travel day between the gold-medal game in Vancouver and his first subsequent Penguins game. Everyone wanted to hear from him and share the experience with him.
"You've got family. You've got friends. Everyone's really happy for you. You want to talk to everyone," Crosby said. And that was on top of myriad media requests.
How far was he stretched?
"My grandmothers, I care about them a lot," he said. "I wanted to talk to them, but I think I talked to them two days after.
"They understand. It was just one of those things where you want to share it with so many people, but at the same time you're back here and playing."
For one of the few times in his career, he wasn't prepared.
"If I were to think about situations I've been in, I always feel like I'm prepared, like I've been through things that have prepared me," Crosby said. "You think about the Olympics. Well, you've been through the Stanley Cup finals and you've been through world juniors, things like that. I thought that I had been through enough that I was ready for things that would happen [after the Olympics], but it was just so overwhelming."
His teammates had no idea Crosby was under stress. Then again, he didn't gloat over the gold, either.
"You didn't even hardly hear of it from him, which is pretty amazing," winger Bill Guerin said.
"I think he handles everything really well. It's one thing to be the face of the game and the face of hockey in Canada and have the success that he's had at such a young age, but to remain so grounded -- his parents had something to do with it."
Crosby learned as a young boy to behave and do what was expected. Asked if that was because he understood early on the relationship between actions and consequences, he said, "I think I did, yeah."
Troy Crosby didn't need time to think when asked if he and Trina Crosby ever grounded their son or got word that he was in trouble at school.
"I can't tell any dark stories," he said, then laughed. "No, he never did. Nothing. He was a pretty good kid. We were pretty lucky to have a kid like that, and our daughter [Taylor] is the same."
It was pretty simple, Crosby said.
"I learned pretty quickly at a young age that rules are rules," he said. "I didn't miss curfew or anything, and I always was kind of scared of that time when a teacher would have to call home. I tried to be as disciplined as I could.
"My parents were strict to a certain point. They were just clear on what the rules were. At the time, when you're growing up, you think that's terrible -- why are things like that? But I'm real happy I was aware of those things at such a young age."
That has helped him think things through, to be as prepared as possible to face what comes, to meet expectations as they are heaped on him -- all without drawing attention for the wrong reasons.
Well, there was one hockey season when he was a teenager and the Cole Harbour Red Wings bantam players decided to dye their hair red. Crosby said that was probably the most rebellious thing he did -- and it was in the name of team unity.
There was a glitch, though.
"Mine turned out maroon, something like that, because my hair's darker," Crosby said. "It didn't turn out ever the color it was supposed to turn out.
"My parents knew I was doing it for a team thing. They understood that. It was important to me at the time. It was only for that reason. Once that season was over, the clippers came out and it was buzzed."
Crosby has grown up since then. Now instead of dying his hair odd hues as part of team bonding, he grows a playoff beard.
For more on the Penguins, read the Pens Plus blog with Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson at www.post-gazette.com/plus. Shelly Anderson: shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721.
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.
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