Not only did Sidney Crosby and Mario Lemieux play together for a short period in Pittsburgh, during Crosby’s rookie year. The two Penguins cult heroes also lived together.
Sidney Crosby was the first overall pick in the 2005 draft, and he joined the organization with high expectations. It’s not easy being a rookie with those kinds of expectations, and Mario Lemieux wanted to help in any way he could.
He took the young phenom under his wing and wasn’t just a mentor and a role model, teaching him about the city and how to be a superstar in the NHL. He also let Sid the Kid live with him for the first five seasons of his career.
It’s not a wild guess that Crosby got some advice spending that much time around Mario Lemieux, considered by many as the second-greatest player in hockey history.
Crosby was a superstar from the moment he played his first game and quickly became the face of the Penguins’ franchise.
When Sidney Crosby was a guest on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast a few years ago, he revealed that, for some reason, the Lemieux family thought it would be great for Crosby to buy a puppy.
After some encouragement from Mario, Crosby, who was skeptical at first, bought a dog named Sam.
Sid and Sam became best friends, but not everything went according to plan. One time, Crosby came home to the Lemieuxs’ residence and was greeted with a terrible smell.
“I come back after a game and I could smell something. I’m like, ‘What is that? The puppy definitely soiled somewhere in the house. I gotta find out where this is.’ So I’m looking everywhere, all over the house, and finally I come around the corner, and Mario is cleaning up all this mess, like everywhere in the kitchen.”
For Sidney Crosby, who grew up idolizing Mario Lemieux, it was special, of course. But also embarrassing.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ I was so embarrassed. Mario Lemieux was cleaning up my dog’s mess.”
