Mario Lemieux denies reported rift with Sidney Crosby
Analyst says Penguins co-owner, star player 'not on good speaking terms'
Pittsburgh Penguins legend and current co-owner Mario Lemieux said through the team's Twitter account on Wednesday that rumours of a reported rift with Sidney Crosby are "absolutely not true" and "silly."
Mario Lemieux on rumored 'rift' with Sidney Crosby: "It's absolutely not true. It's silly."
—@penguinsLemieux was responding to a claim made by Matthew Barnaby on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio that there has been a "falling out" between him and Crosby.
Barnaby, who played 14 seasons in the NHL, including a stint with the Penguins, later restated his claim on Toronto radio station Sportsnet 590 The Fan.
Barnaby said he was initially looking into the relationship between Crosby and teammate Evgeni Malkin, but was told that the star players get along fine and he should instead focus on the relationship between Crosby and Lemieux.
He went on to say that sources "closer to the situation" told him that Crosby and Lemieux "are not on good speaking terms" and that they "weren't on the same page, that there was a falling out after the [2014] playoffs," when the Penguins were eliminated in the second round.
Coaching and team personnel were other reasons provided by Barnaby for the supposed rift between Crosby and Lemieux.
"Whether that pushes [the Penguins] to move [Crosby] at some point, whether he wants to move, that I don't know," Barnaby said.