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Crosby Does It! Ties Mario For Franchise Mark
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- Crosby Does It! Ties Mario For Franchise Mark
Sidney Crosby (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
It was preseason 2005, and all eyes followed Mario Lemieux as the charismatic face of the Pittsburgh Penguins strode to the media conference room podium in the old Civic Arena. Lemieux, then the team's Hall of Fame center as well as team owner, expressed optimism for the upcoming season after the club brought in several bigger name veterans.
And the Kid.
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Everyone wanted to know what Lemieux thought of 18-year-old, first overall draft pick Sidney Crosby . Well, of course Lemieux praised the skill of the projected generational talent. But there were some muffled giggles as Lemieux acknowledged that Crosby would be living at Chez Lemieux, and the word "uncle" was kiddingly tossed out.
A couple media members whispered further that Lemieux, then 39, was old enough to be Crosby's father, too. Even Lemieux smiled.
In the ensuing years, Lemieux has meant many things to Crosby – landlord, briefly teammate, boss, and mentor on many things hockey and otherwise. In the early years, Crosby even babysat the Lemieux children.
And now the two are linked in a new, historic and eye-catching way.
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Crosby, now 38, scored in the first period Sunday night a game against the Montreal Canadiens at PPG Paints Arena to tie Lemieux for the most career points in Penguins history with 1,723 — by any measure, an amazing accomplishment in a season where it seems Crosby is reaching some sort of milestone or record nearly every week.
For a goal that tied the score 1-1, Crosby tapped the puck in on a feed from Erik Karlsson .
Against the Canadiens, Crosby was playing in his 35th game this season. The point gave him a team-leading 36 points. For his career, he has 645 goals, 1,078 assists.
Crosby isn't Sid the Kid anymore, and he's more than made his mark on the NHL, now in his 21stseason. He is not only a generational talent but broadly recognized as an all-time great. In pulling even with Lemieux in the franchise record book, he also tied him for eighth overall in points in NHL history.
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With his next point, Crosby will take sole possession the Penguins record and eighth place in the NHL, with one of the idols of his youth, Steve Yzerman, one slot ahead in league history, seventh with 1,755 points. That should be within reach this season.
Crosby served as the face of the NHL for the first several seasons of his career, and if any player besides Lemieux will also have a statue erected outside PPG Paints Arena, it will be him. Lemieux is credited with saving the franchise in Pittsburgh more than once — when he was drafted in 1984 and helped the team become a winner when it might otherwise have been moved to another city; when he took over the team out of bankruptcy as owner; and when he helped get the new arena built with the Civic Arena well past its prime.
"Growing up idolizing him, and then having the opportunity to live with him and have a friendship with him, I think that's something that's pretty special. I have so much respect for what he's accomplished and what he means to this team and to the game of hockey," Crosby said Saturday morning when asked about catching Lemieux.
Lemieux, a spectacular talent and magician with the puck, won two Stanley Cups but also dealt with health issues – even a temporary retirement – and needed just 915 games played to reach 1,723 points. He retired for good in January of Crosby's 2005-06 rookie season because of a heart condition, initially passing the torch to the superstar-in-the-making. That torch was fully transferred to Crosby on Saturday.
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Crosby, who has captained the Penguins to three Stanley Cups, was playing in his 1,386th game when he tied Lemieux.
The post Crosby Does It! Ties Mario For Franchise Mark appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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