Sidney Crosby’s will to win is in his genes

It can, Sidney Crosby says, be traced directly to his father.tmpplchld Well, not entirely.tmpplchld Seems he can’t really absolve his mother, either.tmpplchld Fact is, while Crosby can’t know for sure whether it’s genetic or a by-product of the environment in which he grew up, he’s convinced that his ultra-competitive nature is a gift from the people who raised him.tmpplchld “My dad is really competitive,” he said, smiling. “It was pretty clear whenever I would play games with them as a kid, and things like that. He always wanted to win, but my mom was quietly competitive, too.tmpplchld “Whatever we did, she wanted to win. Playing basketball or volleyball, whatever she did, she quietly ... I could tell that she wanted to win, too.tmpplchld “Whether it was my dad or my mom, competing against each other in different things ... it was funny to see that.”tmpplchld It’s understandable, then, if opponents Crosby torments with his sled dog tenacity are tempted to mutter an unpleasant thing or two about Troy Crosby. Or his wife, Trina.tmpplchld Or, more likely, both.tmpplchld It could be any team flight, going anywhere.tmpplchld If the Penguins’ charter is in the air, chances are good that Crosby and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury are passing the time playing video games.tmpplchld And that one of them really, really wants to come out on top.tmpplchld “We always sit with each other, and he has to win,” Fleury said. “At anything. Throwing a ball of tape at the garbage (can). He wants to win that. And if he doesn’t, he wants to play another game.”tmpplchld Fleury joked that “sometimes, it gets annoying,” and added that “in training camp, I didn’t want to be on his team, so I could rob him and make him lose.”tmpplchld Fleury was kidding _ probably _ and learned long ago that he shouldn’t take Crosby’s fierce desire to win personally.tmpplchld After all, it’s not only about video games or training camp scrimmages or who can fling a wadded-up piece of tape most accurately.tmpplchld Put Crosby in any setting in which a score is kept or a winner can be determined by any means, and he’ll respond the same way.tmpplchld “He doesn’t like to lose ... at anything, really,” winger Beau Bennett said. “All the best players really have that in common, that competitive edge. Not just in hockey, but whatever they do, they want to win.tmpplchld “He gets competitive with golf, which is fun when you play it the right way. He loves that.tmpplchld “Even when we have a three-on-three game and say his team is down or something, we’ll take it from a best-of-three to a best-of-five.”tmpplchld Crosby’s competitive ferocity can’t be quantified, but probably contributes as much to his on-ice accomplishments as his exceptional hand skills, instincts and conditioning.tmpplchld What’s more, teammates say, his attitude can go viral.tmpplchld “In practice, it makes me compete for every puck,” Fleury said. “It pushes everybody else in the room to play hard, in practice or in games.”tmpplchld Crosby said he isn’t sure precisely when he realized the passion to compete had consumed him, but vows that it’s not a trait he plans to shed.tmpplchld “As you get older, you realize that some people shake stuff off a little easier than others,” he said. “I just didn’t like to lose at all. I didn’t really accept that.tmpplchld “I’m not saying that it’s not going to happen, but I’m definitely going to do everything I can to avoid it.”tmpplchld Crosby devotes a lot of time to community and charity work, publicized and otherwise, and sometimes that pits him against children in any variety of athletic events.tmpplchld When he’s delivering season tickets, it could lead to, say, a game of ball hockey in the family’s driveway.tmpplchld Crosby understands that it’s good form to let the kids do well _ maybe even (gasp) win _ and he complies, but he’s not entirely a soft touch in those settings.tmpplchld “Even with kids, I like to challenge them a bit,” he said.tmpplchld “As a kid, I liked to be challenged, too. Maybe that’s why I feel that way.tmpplchld “Everybody’s different, but I think I definitely ... it’s not the easiest thing to let that go, or to let somebody beat you.”tmpplchld Crosby, who has had count�less epic battles since entering the NHL in 2005, singles out Hall of Fame center Peter Forsberg and Detroit’s Henrik Zetterberg as the two most competitive guys he has faced as a pro.tmpplchld “It’s pretty feisty (playing against them),” he said. “At times, pretty intense. Those guys are guys you really go head-to-head against (as a center), taking faceoffs.tmpplchld “You see them all game, all over the ice. It’s not like a defenseman you might have a couple of rushes against, or maybe you’re in the corner with him the odd time. You play the same position, and you’re going up against him every shift.”tmpplchld Predictably, Crosby appreciates the way guys like Zetterberg go all-in every time they hop over the boards.tmpplchld He also says the satisfaction that comes with success is enhanced when he’s battled an opponent who’s fully committed to besting him.tmpplchld “I respect them, but I want to beat them,” he said. “At the end of the night, when you’re able to win a game like that, it’s definitely more rewarding when the guy across from you is competing the way those guys do.tmpplchld “It’s always nice to win, but especially when you’re going up against guys who you know take pride in trying to beat you and really want to shut you down, that’s when it’s rewarding.tmpplchld “Guys who really, every night, you know you’re going to have to be at your best to beat them, as a player or as a team, that’s always a great feeling when you’re beating an individual or a team that has that mentality.”tmpplchld Sounds as if Crosby should have a pretty good idea of what it’s like for the rest of the NHL to go against him.tmpplchld Which just might be what Mom and Dad had in mind all along.tmpplchld ___tmpplchld (c)2015 Pittsburgh Post-Gazettetmpplchld Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.comtmpplchld Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.tmpplchld