One-on-one: Crosby recalls 'honor' of getting 'A' in rookie year
When the Penguins fired Eddie Olczyk and named Michel Therrien head coach exactly 20 years ago Monday, Therrien didn't waste time making his first big decision as the Penguins' new bench boss.
On Dec. 16, Therrien announced after a morning skate that the 18-year-old rookie Sidney Crosby would be getting an 'A" as the team's alternate captain, a move Therrien did in hopes of ushering in a new era.
"Eventually it is going to be his team," Therrien explained of the decision at the time "He is the future of this franchise and I want him to start feeling the responsibility now."
I sat down with Crosby last week at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex after practice, and he recalled how "nervous" he was over getting the 'A' at the time.
"As a young player, especially then, it wasn't that common for guys to get letters at a young age," he said. "It's a lot of responsibility, and it's an honor. I think it's just something that, hopefully, makes you better at the end of the day. But it was definitely something that I was honored to get."
Between getting a new coach and a new letter in a span of 24 hours, Crosby said that he was given a "jolt of confidence" midway through that rookie season.
"A new coach comes in, and you feel like you have to prove yourself, and everyone has a clean slate," he explained. "For him to give me that responsibility right away, I think it's something that I felt like he believed in me enough to give me that responsibility. Right away, I think that gives you confidence, and it's up to you what you do with it after that."
The Penguins didn't need to lean on Crosby too heavily for leadership that year -- he was still surrounded by veterans like Mario Lemieux, Mark Recchi, John LeClair and Lyle Odelein. But he still felt the pressure and weight on his shoulders to lead "in different ways" when he could.
Crosby was also well aware of the outside noise over the decision, with various broadcasters and other members of the media calling into question the decision to give a kid three months into his first NHL season. I read to him a take from Don Cherry after the decision was announced, in which Cherry said, "An 18-year-old kid says he's going to give us ideas. What, from the Quebec League, he's going to give them ideas? Come on. That's ridiculous.”
Crosby smiled at the memory of hearing things like that said about him.
"Yeah, I'd be asked about it," he remembered of takes like Cherry's. "Or, you know, I watched on Cherry every Saturday. I loved it. He had some nice things to say, but then he also had some criticism, too. I think there was some of that. As a young player, that was not common, so a lot of people, I think, probably forget that, because it is much more common now, but it wasn't then. It was new territory."
I remember first seeing the video of Crosby's first media availability as an alternate captain years ago, in which he talks about the honor and responsibility he felt. And a question I always had, of course, was why he put this goofy, fuzzy trapper hat on to step in front of reporters and answer questions on something so important:
I showed him a still of the interview on my phone, and he laughed at the sight of it, saying he had "no idea" why he had that on. But after zooming in and analyzing the hat a little closer, the story came to him.
"That's from GONGSHOW Hockey," he said. "Yeah, yeah. They sent a bunch of stuff to (Max Talbot) and it was like, a big box of apparel, and that was in there. So he gave it to me and I threw that on."
THE ASYLUM
One-on-one: Crosby recalls 'honor' of getting 'A' in rookie year
When the Penguins fired Eddie Olczyk and named Michel Therrien head coach exactly 20 years ago Monday, Therrien didn't waste time making his first big decision as the Penguins' new bench boss.
On Dec. 16, Therrien announced after a morning skate that the 18-year-old rookie Sidney Crosby would be getting an 'A" as the team's alternate captain, a move Therrien did in hopes of ushering in a new era.
"Eventually it is going to be his team," Therrien explained of the decision at the time "He is the future of this franchise and I want him to start feeling the responsibility now."
I sat down with Crosby last week at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex after practice, and he recalled how "nervous" he was over getting the 'A' at the time.
"As a young player, especially then, it wasn't that common for guys to get letters at a young age," he said. "It's a lot of responsibility, and it's an honor. I think it's just something that, hopefully, makes you better at the end of the day. But it was definitely something that I was honored to get."
Between getting a new coach and a new letter in a span of 24 hours, Crosby said that he was given a "jolt of confidence" midway through that rookie season.
"A new coach comes in, and you feel like you have to prove yourself, and everyone has a clean slate," he explained. "For him to give me that responsibility right away, I think it's something that I felt like he believed in me enough to give me that responsibility. Right away, I think that gives you confidence, and it's up to you what you do with it after that."
The Penguins didn't need to lean on Crosby too heavily for leadership that year -- he was still surrounded by veterans like Mario Lemieux, Mark Recchi, John LeClair and Lyle Odelein. But he still felt the pressure and weight on his shoulders to lead "in different ways" when he could.
Crosby was also well aware of the outside noise over the decision, with various broadcasters and other members of the media calling into question the decision to give a kid three months into his first NHL season. I read to him a take from Don Cherry after the decision was announced, in which Cherry said, "An 18-year-old kid says he's going to give us ideas. What, from the Quebec League, he's going to give them ideas? Come on. That's ridiculous.”
Crosby smiled at the memory of hearing things like that said about him.
"Yeah, I'd be asked about it," he remembered of takes like Cherry's. "Or, you know, I watched on Cherry every Saturday. I loved it. He had some nice things to say, but then he also had some criticism, too. I think there was some of that. As a young player, that was not common, so a lot of people, I think, probably forget that, because it is much more common now, but it wasn't then. It was new territory."
I remember first seeing the video of Crosby's first media availability as an alternate captain years ago, in which he talks about the honor and responsibility he felt. And a question I always had, of course, was why he put this goofy, fuzzy trapper hat on to step in front of reporters and answer questions on something so important:
I showed him a still of the interview on my phone, and he laughed at the sight of it, saying he had "no idea" why he had that on. But after zooming in and analyzing the hat a little closer, the story came to him.
"That's from GONGSHOW Hockey," he said. "Yeah, yeah. They sent a bunch of stuff to (Max Talbot) and it was like, a big box of apparel, and that was in there. So he gave it to me and I threw that on."
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