Le Magnifique
Part Deuxieme
By Mark Madden

The Penguins finished 29th overall.

Yet I was sad to see the season end.

Fact is, I would have been perfectly content to see Sidney Crosby's rookie season last forever. The losing bothered Crosby a lot more than it did anyone else. The rest of us were too busy being mesmerized by Crosby's skill, exuberance and charisma to notice how bad the Penguins were, although I noticed just enough to know that the team was right in deciding not to retain Craig Patrick as general manager.

The Penguins played to 93 percent of capacity at Mellon Arena.

They had 12 standing room-only sellouts.

They led the NHL in increased attendance.

That's all because of Crosby. No other reason.

Pittsburgh has always been a good hockey town, but for a while it morphed into a Mario Lemieux town. Second verse, same as the first. Pittsburgh is now a Crosby town.

Crosby knows all this, because nothing gets by him. Yet he keeps spewing team-first diatribe about wins being more vital than points, and how he hopes his career is ultimately remembered for championships, not stats. You'd want to choke the kid, except none of it rings false coming out of his mouth. (Though Sid seemed to allow himself a fillip of satisfaction out of becoming the NHL's youngest-ever 100-point scorer.)

Crosby also thanked Pittsburgh's hockey fans profusely for their support. And meant it.

Crosby needs to stop living with Lemieux. He needs to move in with Barry Bonds so he can learn how a typical professional athlete acts. Just stay away from the medicine cabinet, junior.

You just wouldn't change anything about Crosby. He's exactly how you'd want your son to be, even if he didn't have such marvelous athletic skills and earning ability.

He's just a lot of fun to be around. Not much makes me laugh out loud, but Sid and Colby Armstrong-two mismatched bookends-crack me up.

Crosby is a pretty good hockey player, too.

When Crosby got three assists against the New York Islanders April 17 to reach 100 points, each of his set-ups was more spectacular than his teammate's finish. Well, maybe Ryan Malone's blast past Islanders goalie Garth Snow is worthy of more effusive praise. But Andy Hilbert and Tomas Surovy both got doorstep gimmes.

Somewhere, Warren Young smiled.

I saw Mario's rookie season. Forty-three goals and 57 assists in 1984-85. Crosby had 39 goals and 63 assists this season.

Crosby now is better than Lemieux then. Marginally so, but definitely so. That's not to say Crosby will match what Lemieux did in the long run. Size, wingspan and touch made Mario a goal-scorer without peer. The canonization of Wayne Gretzky's playmaking duly noted and barfed upon, red lights are what it's all about. Sid will never score like Mario.

We all remember the miracle of Scorin' Warren.

But Crosby elevated more teammates on a more frequent basis. Crosby was a factor on more nights in '05-06 than Lemieux was in '84-85.

Will Crosby wind up being better than Lemieux? It's hard to imagine. But it sure is going to be fun to watch.

Philadelphia's Peter Forsberg allegedly brushed off Crosby during an on-ice argument earlier this season by saying Crosby could talk to him when he'd put up comparable numbers. Let the record show that Crosby's 39 goals are nine more than Forsberg has ever scored in a single season.

Paging Mr. Forsberg. Telephone call from Mr. Crosby. Please pick up, Mr. Forsberg.

And don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.

Mark Madden hosts a sports talk show 3-7 p.m. weekdays on ESPN Radio 1250.