Q: I still can't get over the fact that Sidney Crosby has been living with Mario Lemieux since he was first drafted. Can you imagine any other sport where the No. 1 pick would go and live with his owner?
-- Darren Low, Toronto
SG: Couldn't agree more, and I have been thinking about it ever since that was mentioned during the finals and I said, "Wait a second, he's STILL living there?" I always thought hockey differentiated itself from other sports with the Canadian connection, playoff beards, fighting, the Cup, coming back into a game 10 minutes after taking 50 stitches in the face from a slapshot and everything else of that ilk. But you're right -- Crosby/Lemieux should be the first thing mentioned in any "Why are hockey players different than all other types of athletes?" conversation. If Matthew Stafford moved in with Detroit's owner, we'd think this was the weirdest thing that ever happened and make him a running joke every time he threw an interception: Look out, Matthew, you're gonna get grounded! Uh-oh, they're gonna take cable out of your room! That kind of stuff.
In hockey? You could tell me any story about an NHL player and I'd believe it. You could tell me Crosby and Geno Malkin share a condo, a bedroom and a bunk bed ... I'd believe it. You could tell me the Maple Leafs soak their hands in deer urine before games because it makes their knuckles stronger ... I'd believe it. You could tell me Chris Chelios is still playing at age 46 ... I'd believe it. (What? He is?) You could tell me all NHL teams travel by bus and not plane ... I'd believe it. Hockey players are a different breed. That's why we love them.
You know how I started the Tyson Zone for athletes who pass the point of craziness and eventually you'll believe any story about them? I'd argue that there's also an NHL Zone -- you could pick any NHL-related story, real or made up, and tell another sports fan that story and they'd have no choice but to believe it. Why? Because of moments like "Yeah, the captain of the Stanley Cup champs still lives at his owner's house even though he's 21."
