Mario Lemieux 66 The Road of a Legend : The Story

Legends of Hockey : Mario Lemieux

35 years later, Penguins’ drafting Mario Lemieux No. 1 was both easy, complicated

By Mark Madden
https://triblive.com/sports/mark-madden-35-years-later-penguins-drafting-mario-lemieux-no-1-was-both-easy-complicated/
June 10, 2019

Sunday was the 35th anniversary of the Penguins drafting Mario Lemieux.

That might sound like an easy decision to make. Ultimately, it was.

But there were a few complications.

General manager Eddie Johnston had to quietly maneuver the Penguins into finishing last overall in 1983-84.

OK, so maybe he didn’t do it so quietly.

For example, goalie Roberto Romano won a few starts, and got sent to the minors. Replacing him was Vincent Tremblay, who went 0-4. His goals-against average was 6.02.

“We wanted to see what he can do,” Johnston said then.

Tremblay did exactly as expected. Nay, hoped for.

The Penguins finished with 38 points. New Jersey had 41. Mission accomplished.

Quebec, Minnesota and Montreal made huge bids for the Penguins’ pick.

The Nordiques offered all three Stastny brothers and their first-round pick (15th overall). Peter Stastny, the best of the trio, was 27 and had just compiled a 119-point season. He finished his career with 1,239 points in 977 games and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The North Stars dangled all 12 of their draft choices that year. Their top selection was 13th overall.

The Canadiens offered an impressive package of players and draft choices reportedly topped by center Guy Carbonneau, who would go on to win the Selke Trophy three times as the NHL’s top defensive forward.

But Johnston preferred the notion of a center who could score goals, not prevent them — and who could sell tickets, too.

Montreal’s bid also included the fifth pick overall. Canadiens management asked Johnston for a chance to better any offer made by another team.

But, Johnston said, “I went to watch him play (in the Quebec Major Junior league) a few times, and it was a very easy decision. Every time you went to watch him, if he didn’t get seven or eight points, it was an off night for Mario.”

The idea of the Penguins trading the first pick overall seems ludicrous, but it happened fairly often in that era. Good teams fleeced bad teams by offering them the chance for immediate upgrade via veterans.

Montreal won the Stanley Cup in 1971 and ‘79, yet had the first overall choice in those years. (The ’71 pick yielded Guy Lafleur courtesy of the Oakland Seals.) Philadelphia won the Stanley Cup in ’75, but selected first that year. They took Mel Bridgman (who?) and haven’t won a Cup since.

The Canadiens had known about Lemieux for several years. He demolished youth competition in his native Montreal almost from the moment he donned skates.

So, in 1981, they made a deal to get Hartford’s first-round pick in 1984. Hartford finished fourth-to-last the season before (1980-81). The Canadiens hoped the Whalers’ troubles would worsen and deliver Lemieux to Montreal. Hartford got Penguins great and future Lemieux confidant Pierre Larouche as the key component in that swap.

But the Whalers came in fifth worst in 1983-84. Their 66 points (there’s that number) dwarfed the Penguins’ 38.

So, Quebec, Minnesota and Montreal couldn’t make Johnston budge.

Neither could Ken Schinkel, the Penguins’ scouting director.

Schinkel, a former Penguins player and coach, reportedly preferred Kirk Muller, a forward projected to go second in the draft behind Lemieux. All the usual clichés applied: Tougher, grittier, a better two-way player, not French, etc.

Johnston ignored Schinkel. Muller went second to New Jersey and had a decent career: 959 points in 1,349 games. But his resume says minus-147 while Lemieux’s says plus-114. So perhaps Muller wasn’t a defensive wizard.

Johnston also ignored several in owner Edward J. DeBartolo’s organization who wanted to try a quick fix by dealing the pick. But, as Johnston said, “Mr. DeBartolo was at Mario’s first practice and he said, ‘Thank God you didn’t listen to any of those people.’ ”

Johnston selected Lemieux. But contract negotiations with the Penguins were at an impasse. At the draft, held at Montreal’s Forum, Lemieux refused to shake Johnston’s hand or don the Penguins sweater.

But Lemieux signed 10 days later. Once he put that Penguins jersey on, he never took it off. Good thing, too, or this column would appear in the Kansas City Star.

Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9).

Categories: Sports | Penguins | Mark Madden Columns

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Crosby has created own legacy with Penguins

by Nicholas J. Cotsonika @cotsonika / NHL.com Columnisthttps://www.nhl.com/news/sidney-crosby-built-own-legacy-for-pittsburgh-penguins/c-304637822February 10, 2019

The first time I saw Sidney Crosby play for the Pittsburgh Penguins, it was Jan. 25, 2006. I wasn't covering the NHL then. I was just a hockey fan, and I happened to be in Pittsburgh, and man, I had to go to the game.

It was the second matchup of Crosby and Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin, then the NHL's hotshot rookies. It also was the day after Mario Lemieux had announced he was retiring for good.

It wasn't what I expected, and when I think about the meaning of Crosby (916) passing Lemieux (915) for most games played in team history, which he did on Saturday, I go back to that night. 

The game was not sold out. The crowd was announced at 14,415, more than 2,500 short of capacity at the old Igloo, then known as Mellon Arena. I bought a ticket on the street for, I think, $10. It might have been $5.

There was no elaborate ceremony. The Penguins hadn't had time to plan, and Lemieux had asked for them not to go overboard. So there was a video tribute during the first TV timeout and a standing ovation, and Lemieux waved from a private box.

Crosby had four points (one goal, three assists) in an 8-1 win, his highest total 50 games into his NHL career, and the goal was vintage Sid. He buzzed around the net, splayed his skates at 10 and 2 o'clock, kicked the puck from his right skate to his left-handed stick. and made a poor defenseman look silly.

But when Crosby was introduced as First Star, he waved a Terrible Towel. The Pittsburgh Steelers were headed to victory in Super Bowl XL in 11 days. The Penguins were headed to the second-worst record in the NHL.

"The Great Lemieux ended his career officially and, this time, finally," columnist Gene Collier wrote in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "It was the day the Penguins effectively became Crosby's team."

Think of the way Crosby was heralded when he entered the NHL. He was known as the "Next One," as if he were the second coming of the "Great One," Wayne Gretzky.

Think of the situation he inherited.

"The Penguins are for sale," Collier wrote in that column. "The building is an albatross. The savior who wore 66 just boarded up the miracle business. And still Crosby is the brilliant light behind every obstacle."

"Sid the Kid" -- and back then he really was a kid, only 18 years of age, living in Lemieux's house -- was supposed to follow in the footsteps of not one but two of the greatest players in history and resurrect a franchise.

No pressure, eh?

"Hockey's lost a great player and a great person," Crosby said of Lemieux in that column. "I don't think it will change anything for me, but this happening makes a lot of the younger guys realize what he meant to the team and the city. It makes you want to do things for the team and the city that he did."

Crosby has done just that.

You can compare and contrast their styles and statistics and individual awards. But Lemieux and Crosby are different players who performed in different eras, and each had health problems that skewed everything.

Who knows how many games Lemieux could have played if healthy? How much more he could have accomplished? Same for Crosby. At least Crosby is playing at a high level at 31. We can only hope he has many years of good hockey ahead of him. Lemieux got only 170 games after that age. 

What this milestone does is remind us of how, despite all the expectations, all the pressure, all the adversity, Crosby has built upon Lemieux's legacy. Like Lemieux did, he played with superstar teammates but made hockey matter in Pittsburgh more than anyone else in his time.

The season before the Penguins selected Lemieux No. 1 in the 1984 NHL Draft, they finished last in the NHL in points (38) and average attendance (6,839). They won the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992, and averaged more than 16,000 from 1992-93 to 1996-97.

The season before the Penguins selected Crosby No. 1 in the 2005 NHL Draft, they finished last in the NHL in points (58) and average attendance (11,877). They won the Stanley Cup in 2009, 2016 and 2017, while opening a new arena in 2010 and averaging more than 18,200 -- more than 100-percent capacity -- every season afterward.

There were six rinks in the region when Lemieux arrived and 33 when he retired. Crosby started the Little Penguins youth program in 2008, and the Penguins opened the state-of-art UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in 2015.

It says it all when kids are skating in Crosby jerseys in the practice rink named for Lemieux, when the new arena rocks and the miracle business is back and the light shines so bright you can't see the obstacles anymore.

Mario Lemieux - The Best. Ever. - Documentary (2005)

Sidney Crosby passes Mario Lemieux atop Penguins' all-time playoff scoring list

By Jonathan Bombulie

http://triblive.com/sports/penguins/13552560-74/sidney-crosby-passes-mario-lemieux-atop-penguins-all-time-playoff-scoring-list

April 18, 2018

Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates his goal with teammates on the bench in the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Wells Fargo Center on April 18, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

PHILADELPHIA — When Sidney Crosby broke Mario Lemieux's franchise record for most playoff points in a career Wednesday night, there was no announcement made over the public address system to commemorate the occasion.

That was probably a good idea.

A partisan crowd at Wells Fargo Center wasn't in much of a mood to help Crosby celebrate.

Crosby broke the record as he ruined yet another night for the Philadelphia faithful, recording a goal and an assist in a 5-0 Penguins victory in Game 4 of a first-round playoff series.

Crosby has 173 career playoff points on 62 goals and 111 assists in 152 games. Lemieux had 76 goals and 96 assists for 172 points in 107 playoff games.

"A lot of his records aren't going to be touched,' Crosby said. "The fact that I can be close to him and around that one, I've been fortunate enough to play in a number of playoff games, which helps a lot, but yeah, it's nice to be a part of that."

Crosby tied the record with a first-period assist. He made a cross-crease pass to set up Evgeni Malkin for a power-play goal that gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at the 4:33 mark.

"You want to have a good start here, especially on the road. Build off the game before," Crosby said. "We knew special teams are important and we got a big power-play goal there to start and give us some momentum. I thought the first in general, even without the power play, we were on our toes there for the first 10 minutes and generated a lot of chances."

Crosby broke the record with a second-period goal that made it 4-0.

He collected a puck from defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere on the forecheck in the right-wing corner and shuffled it to Jake Guentzel behind the net. Guentzel passed back to Crosby, who tucked a puck inside the right post before goalie Michal Neuvirth could react.

"I was lucky that the puck just kind of laid there on the other side of the net," Crosby said. "Most of the guys thought it had gone the other way. It was a fortunate bounce, but we'll take it. It was good to get that one."

The Flyers have used three goalies in the first four games of the series. Crosby has scored on all three.

He has five goals and four assists in the series, which has moved him into a tie with Boston's David Pastrnak for the league playoff scoring lead as well as breaking Lemieux's team record.

"I think he's in elite company," coach Mike Sullivan said. "Mario is one of the greatest players of all time. I think the fact that Sid has accomplished that at this point puts him in very elite company with Mario.

"I think that's a testament to Sid's talent level, but also his work ethic. He's played in a lot of playoff games. He's led this team to a lot of playoff success. That's the player and the person that I've really grown to respect. The fact that he's been able to accomplish that and be in the same company with Mario just speaks volumes of how good a player he is and how competitive a player he is."

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Gretzky would get a surprise in today's NHL

By John Steigerwald

https://www.indianagazette.com/

June 18, 2017

Former NHL players Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux react during the NHL 100 - Media Availability as part of the 2017 NHL All-Star Weekend at the JW Marriott on January 27, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images)

I would bet Sidney Crosby wants to throw up when he’s asked about his legacy.

I could be wrong, but I get the feeling most players and coaches — especially the great ones — never use the word and hear it only from the media.

It’s been only fairly recently that the media seem to have developed an obsession for discussions about the effects of a season, a series or a game on a player’s legacy.

I don’t know who’s in charge of North American Sports Legacies, but I’m pretty sure they’re pretty impressed with Crosby’s back-to-back Stanley Cups and Conn Smythe trophies.

The Tom Brady rule that defines the greatest player in a sport by the number of championship teams he plays on isn’t followed here, so I’m still going with Mario Lemieux as the greatest Penguins player of all time, but Crosby is a solid second.

It wasn’t too long ago that Jaromir Jagr was being given that spot.

But what about Crosby’s place on the all-time list?

Is he stuck at no better than fourth for the rest of his life, no matter how many more times his name is carved on a trophy?

The consensus seems to be that Wayne Gretzky, Lemieux and Bobby Orr are the top three, with some discussion allowed for the order.

If Crosby is only the second-best Penguin of all time, he can never go higher than three, right?

Maybe not.

Maybe he’s better than Gretzky.

If it’s only about goals, assists and trophies, nobody will ever move Gretzky out of No. 1, much less down to three.

Sidney Crosby is handed the Conn Smythe trophy by Gary Bettman after the Penguins won the 2017 Stanley Cup on June 11th. (NHL.com)

The possibility that Crosby is better than Gretzky was raised in this space last week, and I apparently haven’t had the space taken away from me, so let’s dive in a little deeper.

Maybe you noticed that Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said this week that he’s going to be looking for muscle between now and October.

He said that, after watching the abuse that Crosby took this season, it’s become obvious to him that the league isn’t going to protect him, so he’ll find players who will.

Anyone who knows anything about hockey knows that Crosby and Lemieux took more abuse in a week’s worth of regular-season games than Gretzky took in his career.

You would have a hard time finding any video of Gretzky being involved in a routine check. And that sets him apart in hockey history every bit as much as his goals and assists.

That’s why I believe Lemieux is the greatest player of all time.

He put up comparable numbers in several categories despite the NHL’s stupidity that allowed him to be hacked, clutched and grabbed all over the ice.

Crosby has dealt with just as much abuse and has been the best player in the world for 10 of the last 12 years. He’d be 12-for-12 if not for injuries. And he does things on the boards and in the corners as a grinder that Gretzky never dreamed of doing.

I don’t think Gretzky would get the kid-glove treatment in 2017 that he got 30 years ago when he put up a ridiculous 215 points and led the Edmonton Oilers to their third Cup, and the instigator rule would keep his goons unemployed.

I do know something that he would get today that he didn’t get in the 1986-87 season.

A much smaller target.

The nets are the same size but the goalies and their pads are a lot bigger.

The Penguins’ No. 1 goalie in 1987 was Roberto Romano. He was 5-foot-6, 170 pounds. His goals-against average was 3.61 and his save percentage was .884.

Mike Vernon, 5-9, 180, was one of the better goalies in the league and played for the Calgary Flames, who finished in second place in the Smythe Division behind the Edmonton Oilers.

The Winnipeg Jets finished third in the Smythe with Pokey Reddick, 5-8, 170, and Daniel Berthiaume 5-9, 155.

Gretzky and the Oilers swept the Jets in the second round of the playoffs that year.

If Pokey got on Daniel’s shoulders they might not be a bigger barricade than Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators, who’s 6-5, 217 and wears pads big enough for Reddick and his family to live in.

Most of the goalies Gretzky played against were his size or smaller. Most were under 6 feet. Lemieux was bigger than every goalie he played against.

Crosby didn’t see a goalie under 6-2 in the playoffs this year.

During the season he faced Carey Price, Tuukka Rask, Roberto Luongo and John Gibson, all 6-3; Steve Mason, Martin Jones, Robin Lehner and Frederick Anderson, all 6-4; Scott Darling, 6-6; and Ben Bishop, 6-7. I counted two goalies under 6-2.

And these guys are more athletic and better coached than most of the guys Gretzky and Lemieux saw 30 years ago.

In the 1986-87 season, goalies gave up an average of about 3.5 goals per game and not one had a save percentage higher than .889.

In the season just completed, three goalies gave up three goals per game and one had a save percentage under .900.

If Gretzky in his prime showed up in the NHL in 2017, he’d be in for a big surprise.

And he’d be the third-best player in the league.

With Sidney Crosby working on his local legacy, Mario Lemieux still looms large in Pittsburgh

Tal Pinchevsky

http://www.espn.com/nhl/

June 11, 2017

Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby after the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals.

It has been more than a decade since Mario Lemieux played his last NHL game for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and yet no athlete -- perhaps no human being -- is a more prominent presence in the city of champions.

A simple stroll through Pittsburgh is the easiest way to discover how fully the man who arrived in town from Quebec as a lanky 18-year-old in 1984 has been embraced by Pittsburgh. Not to mention the degree to which he has embraced the city right back.

In a region that has revered its sports legends for decades, the former Penguins star and current team co-owner and chairman is seemingly everywhere. For starters, there is the statue honoring him outside the Penguins' PPG Paints Arena. The towering tribute lies mere steps from 66 Mario Lemieux Place, the address bearing the Penguins legend's name and number where the team's former home, Mellon Arena, was once located.

With current Penguins captain Sidney Crosby facing the opportunity to capture his second straight (and third overall) Stanley Cup title Sunday night (8 ET) at Bridgestone Arena, Lemieux has established an incredibly high bar as the Penguins' reigning star establishes his own legacy around town.

The scope of Lemieux's presence all around Pittsburgh only starts with the Penguins. There's UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in nearby Cranberry Township, the state-of-the-art Penguins practice facility that has become a hub for local youth hockey. Since 1993, the Mario Lemieux Foundation has proven a crucial philanthropic organization with a hand in much of the city's medical community. Throw in the countless murals and portraits bearing Lemieux's likeness all around town along with the Hall of Famer's role in twice saving the franchise -- once as a player, once as an owner -- and there might not be another athlete with a more considerable influence over a city than Lemieux has in Pittsburgh.

"I think one of the amazing things about him is he is not from here, but he raised his family here, created this interesting connection with the city because he's not a real public person. He doesn't enjoy the limelight, he doesn't enjoy formal public interactions. But he's built this great relationship with the city," said Anne Madarasz, the director of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at the Heinz History Center. "I think it's because people see him as genuine and authentic, and they recognize the kind of challenges he's faced in his own life with his health, with his family and with hockey. He has remained true to Pittsburgh."

A popular attraction for locals and tourists alike, the sports museum is a testament to Lemieux's on-ice legacy. He figures prominently in many of its exhibits, which include a number of Lemieux artifacts, including his jersey from the Penguins' first Stanley Cup win in 1991. Last Thanksgiving, the museum unveiled a to-scale replica of Lemieux's hoisting the Cup, a likeness so detailed that players' names are actually engraved on the mock Cup.

It's the most thorough tribute to Lemieux's playing days but certainly not the only one. All around town, there are paintings of Lemieux courtesy of the city's dynamic artistic community. Whether it's on the wall inside a number of local institutions, including several locations of the legendary Primanti Brothers sandwich shops, or on the exterior wall of a building, Lemieux's portrait is everywhere.

Penguins owner Mario Lemieux speaks at the unveiling of Le Magnifique, a statue honouring Lemieux's career and achievements at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh.  (DAVID DENOMA / REUTERS)  

For years, Lemieux's legend was captured on an 11-story mural that took four weeks to paint on a building exterior. The building hosting the mural, on which Lemieux appears alongside fellow local sports legends Roberto Clemente, Jack Lambert and Bill Mazeroski, was torn down in 1997. But Lemieux's prominent place among Pittsburgh's artists and local establishments remains.

"Really anywhere around the city you stumble across some sort of large-scale tribute to Mario. He definitely made an impact on the city during his playing days and then helping the team from bankruptcy and bringing it back to life," said Erik Greenawalt, an area chalk artist who has drawn Lemieux's portrait a number of times. "I think the artistic community in Pittsburgh definitely latches on to sports heroes. He definitely ranks up there among our list of the elites."

Nowhere is Lemieux's influence felt greater in Pittsburgh than in the philanthropic and medical community. His foundation was launched after Lemieux's bout with Hodgkin's disease in 1993. Since then, the organization has raised and contributed more than $23 million to cancer research and patient care around Pittsburgh. The fruits of its labor are everywhere.

At Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, you'll find the Mario Lemieux Lymphoma Center for Children. Stop by Hillman Cancer Center and there's the Mario Lemieux Center for Blood Cancers. Visit the Children's Home of Pittsburgh and you'll see the Lemieux Family Center, which provides a pleasant space for families of children recovering from cancer.

The scope of that influence expanded with the Austin's Playroom initiative, a network of child-friendly havens around Pittsburgh for kids encountering serious medical problems. Undertaken by Lemieux's wife, Nathalie, the idea came after their child, Austin, was born premature and spent 71 days in neonatal intensive care.

"Way beyond his athletic talent, there's also his role in the philanthropic community and the medical community," Madarasz said. "People have incredible respect for him and the time he's dedicated to larger issues here in Pittsburgh."

The incredible local legacy Lemieux has established away from hockey is inescapable in Pittsburgh. But with Crosby -- who lived with the Lemieuxs during the early part of his career and lives in Nova Scotia in the offseason -- close to winning his third Stanley Cup with the Penguins, which would surpass Lemieux's total of two titles won as a player, it does raise the obvious question: How will Crosby's legacy in the city compare once he walks away from the game?

Every indication is that he has already formed the foundation of his own formidable presence around Pittsburgh. The sports museum is set to undertake a major expansion that will feature plenty more Crosby artifacts upon its completion. In recent years, he has also spearheaded the local Little Penguins youth hockey program.

Naturally, his portraits have begun to appear around town alongside Lemieux's. But in perhaps the greatest testament to his increasing influence around Pittsburgh, he has being considered for the greatest honor that can be bestowed upon any Pittsburgh resident: a spot on the wall at the original Primanti Brothers restaurant.

"Hopefully next we're going to put it up," said Toni Haggerty, who has managed the restaurant's original location on 18th Street for 43 years. "Those hockey players are all nice, but Mario is a bit different. He's such a nice person.

"Like Crosby is now."

Sidney Crosby poised to become Pittsburgh's greatest athlete

(I don't necessarily agree with the main point of the article but I thought it was worth posting. - jtf)

By Rob Rossi

http://triblive.com/sports/

June 9, 2017

Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins handles the puck against Roman Josi #59 of the Nashville Predators and Ryan Ellis #4 of the Nashville Predators in Game Five of the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Final at PPG Paints Arena on June 8, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/NHLI via Getty Images)

In our City of Champions, which can claim one of football's most famous dynasties and one of baseball's most iconic players, the largest shadow cast is by a hockey player who has been a better Pittsburgher than he was a Penguin. And that distinction says all anybody ever needs to know about the magnificent Mario Lemieux.

But everybody needs to know something else about Lemieux.

He recognized almost right away the kid who would supplant him as Pittsburgh's greatest professional athlete.

Sidney Patrick Crosby's legacy was secure before he won an MVP, scoring title and the Stanley Cup. On perhaps the greatest day for hockey in Pittsburgh, Crosby watched from the bench at Mellon Arena as Lemieux said the only words a Penguins fan had needed to hear.

March 13, 2007: Then and there, Crosby already had given Pittsburgh everything. He got built the hockey home that he brought to life Wednesday night with a tone-setting, momentum-grabbing, and quite possibly series-changing opening shift in Game 5 of what was an all-even Stanley Cup Final.

Nothing is even.

Soon, nothing will be the same.

And the difference between Pittsburgh's fifth summer with Stanley and the previous four is that it will signal a seismic shift in our sporting-crazed city. Whereas the Steelers' long awaited “One for the Thumb” reminded an NFL generation that Pittsburghers were from the town with the great football team, the Penguins' fifth championship will reorder the great ones as Pittsburghers see them.

It's Sidney Crosby, and everybody else — a group that includes Lemieux, Joe Greene, Roberto Clemente, Tony Dorsett, Kurt Angle and Suzie McConnell-Serio — are The Outsiders.

You can call that the New World Order of Pittsburgh professional sports, brother.

A year ago, Crosby reclaimed the unofficial standing he once held as the NHL's top player.

Only he would find so little satisfaction in again merely being the best. Only he would feel compelled to go after more.

At the World Cup of Hockey, against the planet's finest competition, he captained Canada to another world title. His return to the NHL was delayed by a concussion, and those games missed probably prevented him from winning another scoring title and MVP. But even as he ceded those trophies to his presumed heir, Edmonton's Connor McDavid, Crosby supplanted generational rival Alex Ovechkin as the NHL's leading goal scorer and — because why leave anything to doubt? — inserted himself into any conversation about challengers to Patrice Bergeron's defense among forwards.

Any one of those tasks was an awful lot to take on, even for Crosby.

Again, though, he was driven to do more. And, so, Crosby has spent the past couple of months of these grueling, grinding Stanley Cup playoffs gutting the legacy that is truly at stake in this Final.

Or will anybody really argue that Chicago's Jonathan Toews is his era's best leader after Crosby's Penguins takes out the same Nashville Predators against which Toews' Blackhawks couldn't win even one playoff game?

If all politics are local, all sports are provincial. As one of the few earthly arguments that can be taken as fact, a case must be made that Crosby's dash into hockey's hallowed territory is a distant second to the story of his scoring a spot on a Mt. Washington of Pittsburgh Sports.

Might happen Sunday night in Nashville. Could take until Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.

Whatever.

It's happening soon; that's the reality. Crosby will take Lord Stanley's cherished silver chalice from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman for a third time, and the exchange may as well coincide with a flash similar to a Hollywood depiction of warp-speed dash into deep space by a flying vessel.

From Bettman to Crosby and then — whoosh. That is how this is going to go, right? Next thing we'll see is Crosby surrounded by Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Lemieux and the ghost of Gordie Howe, and the Four Horsemen of Hockey Immortality will gleefully welcome him into as an official fifth member.

Which, you know, will be a real neat story for Crosby to share with his friends while fishing a lake in his Halifax.

But, again, won't have been enough.

Only for Crosby could becoming a hockey god not have been enough.

When he does lift that Cup for the second time in as many years and a third time in a dozen years, know that he will have done precisely what Lemieux predicted the morning of Oct. 8, 2005, a few hours before Crosby scored his first goal in his first game for the Penguins in Pittsburgh.

Then, as Crosby's captain (and landlord), Lemieux entertained the possibility that he one day might not be known as the greatest Pittsburgh Penguin. With a smile and without missing a beat, No. 66 offered an unfathomable assessment about a then teenage No. 87.

“He just might,” Lemieux said. “The kid is special.”

Might just be that Crosby is so special we cannot comprehend in real time what he's been doing for a dozen years, especially the past couple of years and specifically these most recent 10 months.

The greatest Pittsburgh Penguin? Truth is, Crosby can already consider himself that (though, he would never dare).

Still, Sidney Patrick Crosby is about to supplant Lemieux as Pittsburgh's greatest professional athlete. And when he does, expect to hear a lot about Crosby not being done winning, scoring, all of it.

Or, think about this: Crosby won't turn 30 until August.

upgruv is a trending-news web site for 535Media.

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Austin Lemieux trying to forge a path to NHL

By Brian Metzer

http://www.timesonline.com/sports/

July 3, 2016

Austin Lemieux at Penguins Development Camp (Kevin Lorenzi/The Times)

A name can be a heavy load to bear.

Living up to one can be even tougher, especially when it’s Lemieux, but that is what 20-year-old Austin Lemieux has been doing since he decided to slap on a pair of skates.

That burden comes from the fact that his father is a legend around these parts.

Not only does Mario Lemieux own the Penguins, but he’s their most storied icon after having led them to two Stanley Cups as a player and two more as an owner. He also ranks first in just about every statistical category on the franchise’s all-time list.

It's a heavy burden to carry that name while being on the ice, and that fact isn't lost on the son of "Le Magnifique."

Oh, and did we mention he’s considered to be one of the best players to ever play the game? That fact isn’t lost on his son.

"You have to be respectful when you have the Lemieux name and make sure you carry yourself well," Austin said earlier this week after completing his first day of on-ice activities during the Penguins prospect development camp. "Just approach every day like a new day."

The younger Lemieux, who stands 6-foot-3, 170 pounds, spent last season skating as a member of the Omaha Lancers in a United States Hockey League and is working towards earning a college scholarship. He hasn’t found one just yet, but that should come over the next year or so. That is typically how it works for skaters in the USHL, the top developmental league in the United States.

They hope to place kids in the NHL draft, but the USHL works just as hard to place their players in favorable positions to play in college. His coach at Omaha, Brian Kaufman, has seen a ton of development this season and feels like Lemieux is getting better each day.

“The way he thinks the game shows that Austin has a great mind that’s already at an elite level,” Kaufman said. “He puts himself in good spots both on offense and defense.

“He’s come a long way. His work level and commitment to getting better has been very good. Puts in extra time in the weight room, he’s eating right and his game has continued to get better all year long.”

In almost all of the conversations that Kaufman has had regarding Austin over the past days, weeks and months, he’s always quick to point out how much Lemieux has grown, matured and how hard he works on his game to get better.

“He’s a great kid,” Kaufman said. “Off the ice he’s a pleasure to be around, to work with, to coach. Austin is the type of kid you want on your team.”

That improvement earned him a trip to this camp, lest anyone thought he got here on the value of the name on the back of his jersey.

He picked up six goals and 14 points in 57 games with Omaha this season. It was a solid showing for a guy who was playing against tougher competition than he faced over his final two seasons with the Penguins Elite U-18 team.

"[Playing in Omaha] was a good learning experience," he said. "It's a process. It's a marathon, not a sprint. I'm just trying to get better every day."

He has work to do in terms of bulking up if he wants to thrive at the next level. Lemieux was one of the lightest skaters in camp; with only three players ranking behind him. He said he's tried to build muscle while trying not to sacrifice speed.

"The goal is just to get better," he said. "And see what I have to do to reach the NHL."

He wasn’t certain if his father was watching from somewhere in their namesake facility on Wednesday in Cranberry, but said he’s been very supportive of his career thus far. He doesn’t often get to Omaha for games, but watches them all online and provides feedback. Something he’s done snice Austin started playing, since he served as his coach earlier on in his development.

It won’t get any easier for Austin as he makes the move toward playing in college and possibly the NHL. His name will continue to keep a bigger magnifying glass on him than some of his peers, but he is comfortable with the situation and was just thrilled to get a chance to pull on the jersey that has been a part of his family since 1984.

“It’s an absolute honor. I didn’t think I would get here this year. I was hoping a little bit down the line maybe a few years of college if I had an opportunity, but it’s great for me to be here today.”