Original author: Mike Brophy: May. 24, 2005

When Trina Crosby arrived home in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, following Game 2 of the Quebec League championship series, she was delighted to find a dozen roses waiting for her, sent by her loving son, Sidney.

Happy Mothers Day.

With his team involved in its most serious challenge of the year, Sidney still found time to think about somebody other than himself.

“Sidney likes to make people happy,” Trina says. “A year ago Troy and I took our mothers to Rimouski for a team function where fans got to skate with the players. After the players went to the dressing room to remove their skates, Sidney came out with four bouquets of roses; one for me, one for his sister, Taylor, and one for each of his grandmothers. It was Valentine’s Day and I think Sidney was really proud of himself.”

Crosby’s thoughtfulness was again on display early one brisk Rimouski morning when he arrived to the rink to find fans who had lined up overnight to try to get tickets for the QMJHL final. He jumped back in his car and returned shortly afterwards with doughnuts and drinks for everyone.

Or there was the time he was driving in his car and he spied kids on a frozen pond trying the move he made in a game where he picked the puck up with his stick and scored lacrosse-style. Crosby pulled over, joined the kids and showed them how to make the move properly.

Prior to joining the Rimouski Oceanic in 2003-04, Crosby played at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, a private school in Faribault, Minn., where he rubbed shoulders with former NHLer J.P. Parise, who worked with one of the high school’s junior teams.

“When Sidney was there, he was judged as a person and not just a hockey player,” Parise says. “It is obvious that he comes from a good family. He never thought he was better than anybody else; he was just one of the kids. He was courteous and polite, the type of kid you’d like for your own son.”

Ask an NHL scout to describe Sidney Crosby the hockey player, and you’ll hear about his great speed, terrific imagination, good hands, and unbelievable determination. Wayne Gretzky says Crosby could challenge many of his NHL scoring records. Ask those who know him best to describe Sidney Crosby the person, and they’ll tell you he is funny, charming, engaging, focused, and motivated.

He’s a kid who, on an off-day will join the neighborhood kids for a game of road hockey. And he’s equally at home pulling up to the table for a lunch or dinner with an NHL superstar.

A few years ago while in Los Angeles to train during the summer, Crosby was introduced to Mario Lemieux by agent Pat Brisson. After a workout at the gym, they went to lunch where the two players clicked.

“I think Mario was impressed with Sidney’s enthusiasm and the fact he didn’t just sit there like a wide-eyed kid,” Brisson said. “Sidney loves to tell stories and I think he impressed Mario with how intelligent and engaging he is. In fact, Mario invited Sidney to dinner that night and I think the two of them have got together six or seven times since.”

The day before Crosby left L.A. for Team Canada’s summer evaluation camp last year, he phoned his agent, who was on the road at the time.

“Guess who’s driving me to the airport?” he asks.

“I don’t know, my wife? One of your friends?” Brisson says.

“Nope, Mario Lemieux,” Crosby responds.

Turns out Super Mario had an early flight to catch and was only too happy to stop for his young pal.

Crosby likes to turn just about everything he does into a competition. Brisson first saw signs of the youngster’s competitive spirit during what was supposed to be a friendly little game of 3-on-3 ball hockey in the backyard of Los Angeles Kings’ star left winger Luc Robitaille.

“Sidney was all over the place, throwing himself against the boards and doing anything to win,” Brisson says. “I was like, ‘What’s going on here?’”

Highly-regarded American defenseman Jack Johnson, who attended Shattuck-St. Mary’s with Crosby, has seen that side of Sidney.

“At Shattuck, we’d go out to play a little pickup game of tennis and it turned into a playoff series – a best-of-seven,” Johnson says. “It was intense. We’d both go as hard as we could. He was like that on the ice when we’d play pick-up hockey. He refuses to lose.”

And yet, Crosby also managed to keep things in perspective.

When Team Canada suffered a loss in the Gold Medal game of the 2004 World Junior Championship, a disappointed Crosby was asked by Brisson about his immediate plans.

“I’m flying back to Halifax and then I’m taking the train to Rimouski,” Crosby tells him.

“The train?” Brisson says. “We can arrange for you to fly.”

“No, no,” Crosby says. “The train ride will take nine hours which will give me time to catch up on my studies. I’m quite a bit behind.”

Brisson says Crosby feels education is very important.

“Let’s face it,” Brisson says, “A kid like Sidney could have put school on the backburner the past few years and caught up later, but he made it a priority to graduate this year.”

When it comes to being an in-demand superstar, Crosbv has demonstrated maturity well beyond his 17 years. His obvious strength is his ability to prepare, focus and prioritize.

Rarely will you find him still up past 10 p.m. on nights he is not playing.

“And when he is at his billet’s home, he likes to have his downtime alone in his room in the basement,” Brisson says. “Sidney uses his alone time to recharge his batteries. He’s the type of person who looks at what lies ahead over the next two months and then maps out his plan on how he will get everything done.”

Trina Crosby says her son has always been a keen student.

“He’s actually quite a history buff who especially loves to read about World War II,” she says. “He took a trip to France with his hockey team two years ago, and he had the opportunity to go to Normandy, which was really quite an experience."

“Honestly, I think inside of him he is a warrior. He’s like a soldier. This hockey season has been like a war for him. There’s definitely some similarities. Obviously one – the war – is more serious than the other, but you know what I mean. I don’t know if he would say the same thing, but he loves to hear the stories of the battles.”

Sidney Crosby is such a great prospect, he has all 30 teams licking their chops in hopes of landing him in the next NHL draft, whenever that may be. Because there was no NHL hockey this season, it’s looking like all 30 teams will have a chance in a lottery to secure his rights. Funny thing is, though, when Sid the Kid first started playing organized hockey, he wanted to prevent goals rather than score them.

His dad, Troy, was a stopper who played two seasons in the Quebec League with Verdun and was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens. Sidney wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps, but Troy would have no part of it.

“Sidney took to skating very well and seemed to do things so naturally so Troy felt it would be better if he played out,” Trina says. “But each year, when his team would hold its annual father and son game, Sidney would always play in net. And still to this day, when he plays road hockey he can be found between the pipes. And he does pretty good, too.”

Good decision, Troy.

• Sidney loves country music. In fact, the first concert he ever attended – other than Sharon, Lois and Bram, when he was a kid – was country superstar Tim McGraw. He saw him when he was playing hockey in Minnesota.

• He’s not a big fan of board games, though he used to play Pogs when he was younger.

• As a child he loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. “He could probably still recite all the names to you,” Trina insists.

• His first job was delivering flyers door-to-door.

• He calls his dad prior to and following each game that Troy does not attend.

• Crosby loves to play practical jokes. “He’d hide around corners and scare the daylights out of whoever came around that corner,” Trina says.

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