#ryan malone

Mario lauded by teammates, who won't soon wear the 'C'

Dave Molinari | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | January 25, 2005

Sidney Crosby shouldn't expect to find a "C" stitched onto his sweater when he reports to Mellon Arena for the Penguins' game against Washington tonight.

The Penguins' captaincy opened up when Mario Lemieux retired yesterday, but indications are that team officials will stick with three alternate captains for the balance of this season, then select Lemieux's successor in the fall.

And while Crosby is the undisputed front-runner to inherit that position—just as he is the obvious choice to succeed Lemieux as cornerstone of the franchise—he said he didn't view Lemieux's departure as a major step toward having the Penguins become his team.

"I don't think so," Crosby said. "We have a lot of young guys. Obviously, we're building for something here. I want to be a part of it."

Oh, he'll be part of it. Almost certainly, the most important part. But it's far from certain that Crosby will mean as much to this franchise as Lemieux has since arriving in 1984.

Mostly because few players in NHL history have been as important to their team as Lemieux. He revived a moribund franchise and, ultimately, helped it to become a champion. Years later, he saved it again when he got control of the team as it was coming out of bankruptcy in 1999.

"He got hockey pretty much started in Pittsburgh, and it's still growing," forward Ryan Malone said. "He's done so much for this city."

Growing up in Upper St. Clair gave Malone a perspective on Lemieux's contribution that few of his teammates can share. The same is true of forward Mark Recchi, who played his first game as Lemieux's teammate in 1988—the year after Crosby was born.

And Recchi doesn't hesitate when asked where Lemieux fits in on the list of hockey's finest performers.

"He's top three in the sport for what he's accomplished, on and off the ice," he said. "There was nobody who could touch his skill level for the size of man he was."

Recchi said Lemieux tipped him off last week that he planned to retire; Crosby, conversely, didn't get a heads-up until Lemieux mentioned it while Crosby was eating breakfast yesterday.

That didn't detract from Crosby's appreciation for what Lemieux accomplished as a player.

"He's one of the best ever to play, definitely," Crosby said. "You don't always like to look at numbers, but if you look at them, it's pretty obvious."

Lemieux was having significant back trouble around the time Crosby was born. He subsequently survived a variety of major injuries and ailments, including Hodgkin's disease.

"It takes a special person to go through that and succeed," Crosby said. "And he's definitely that guy. An amazing player, an amazing person."

Lemieux had a role unique in major-league sports, playing for a team he also owned. That could have generated tension in the locker room, but Lemieux always carried himself like a player there, treating teammates as equals instead of employees.

“My jock’s everywhere”