Adam Oates didn’t hesitate when the question was put to him on the Cam & Strick Podcast. Asked whether Sidney Crosby is the smartest player of the past 20 years, the Hall of Famer gave the obvious answer twice over.
“You can’t say no. You can’t say no,” Oates said.
Then he added something that had nothing to do with Crosby’s own ability.
“And you know what, he’s also a very lucky man,” Oates said. “He’s a very lucky man that Mario Lemieux is up there and has never allowed any coach to change his game.”
What did Mario Lemieux do for Sidney Crosby?
The relationship started before Crosby had played an NHL game. Lemieux opened his home to the 18-year-old when he arrived in Pittsburgh in 2005, played alongside him for part of that season, and served as his mentor through a rookie year that produced 102 points and made him the youngest player in league history to reach 100.
Lemieux was also the Penguins owner, and had been since 1999. That’s the part Oates is pointing at. Whatever a coach might have wanted to change about how Crosby played, there was someone above the coach who had no interest in it happening.
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Mark Recchi, who was in that dressing room, described the dynamic in similar terms. “Sid was the perfect student for Mario to be able to mentor,” Recchi said, per NHL.com. “It’s like a Jedi, you need the right master.”
Oates knows something about the subject he’s discussing. He finished his career with 1,420 points, 16th in NHL history, and 1,079 assists, sixth all time, before moving into coaching and then skills development with players including Alex Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos. Brett Hull, his old linemate, once called him the smartest player who ever played the game outside of Wayne Gretzky.
His summary of what Lemieux’s protection actually bought was four words long.
“Sid’s been allowed to be Sid,” Oates said.
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