Crosby ready to rest, relax

By Karen Price
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, June 2, 2006

Ninety games and nearly eight months after Sidney Crosby's rookie
season in the NHL began, the 18-year-old Penguins center is ready for
a break.

"I'm going to go back home," Crosby said on Thursday morning in the
empty Penguins locker room at Mellon Arena. "It's been a while since
I've been back there, so it's going to be nice to go back and relax
for a bit and then get training going. But that's where I'll spend
most of my time."

Crosby stopped in Pittsburgh to gather some things from Mario
Lemieux's house -- where he plans to live again next year -- in
between returning from the World Championship in Latvia, vacationing
in Prague and heading home to Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, this weekend.

The brief visit back to his in-season hometown gave Crosby a chance to
say hello to his team's new general manager, Ray Shero.

"I met him yesterday for the first time," Crosby said of Shero, who
was introduced as Craig Patrick's replacement May 25. "He seems like a
great guy, and he's really passionate. I think it should be great for
everyone, and we're all looking forward to getting started."

Crosby's agent, Pat Brisson, was believed to be among those with an
interest in the position and may have been among the "quite a few"
candidates with whom Penguins president and CEO Ken Sawyer spoke. But
Crosby said because he was overseas since shortly after the Penguins'
season ended, he didn't follow the search.

He said his first meeting with Shero, 43, served as an introduction.

"He just kind of asked me how the World Championship went and things
like that," said Crosby, who also expected to sit down with coach
Michel Therrien before heading home. "But, hopefully, I get a chance
to get to know him, and I'm sure he, like everyone else, is looking
forward to getting things started."

Shero said the team's crop of talented young players, headed by
Crosby, was one of the main reasons he chose Pittsburgh, and the new
general manager has a reputation for taking input from the people
around him. Crosby said if Shero turns to him for his two cents, he'd
offer it.

"I think if it's asked, I'll be up front and honest. I don't think
I'll hide anything," he said. "But at the same time, I don't think
I'll be someone who's going to go there and try to direct things by
any means. My job is to play, and I'm going to go out there and try to
do that.

"If my opinion's asked, I'm going to give my up-front answer, but I'm
not going to be looking to change anything. That's up to the GM and
the organization to do those things. As players, we have to play, so
that's what I'm going to worry about."