Dec 1, 2015 By John Mehno for The 4 min read

PITTSBURGH — For the sake of discussion (and in the interest in coloring a certain portion of white newsprint), let’s say there is a super-secret rift between Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby.

How exactly would this explain Crosby’s sub-standard start?

Is he so emotionally spent that he can’t muster the energy for the games? Looks like he’s skating and playing at his usual pace.

Is he so resentful that he doesn’t want to help the Penguins succeed? There’s no reason to think a fiercely competitive player would sabotage his own career.

Is he angling to be traded? Performing well below career levels wouldn’t exactly make him a hot commodity on the trade market when he’s carrying a $12 million contract that runs through 2024-25. With a full no-trade clause, by the way.

None of it makes any sense.

Lemieux, who speaks in public as often as the average mime, immediately issued a brief statement through the team, calling the report “silly.”

Crosby said he felt “stupid” even talking about it.

“Silly” and “stupid” sum it all up pretty well.

The faux scoop came from Matthew Barnaby, a former NHL player who appears on a satellite radio show. Apparently the same sense of ethics that guided him as a player are in force in his new career as a commentator.

Barnaby cited no sources beyond “people,” and hasn’t been seen around the Penguins since he played for the team in 2001.

The whole Crosby-Lemieux dynamic has been unconventional since the moment that Lemieux offered space in his massive home for Crosby to live. If you’ve seen photos of Lemieux’s mansion, you can understand this wasn’t an attic apartment. The place is so big, you might need a tour guide to find your way from one wing to another. It’s possible Crosby and Lemieux rarely saw each other when they were technically living under the same roof.

The relationship was unusual because most players don’t have that kind of personal connection with the franchise owner. Howard Baldwin tried to forge those bonds, one of the many horrendous mistakes he made during the time he was leading the Penguins to bankruptcy.

The Crosby-Lemieux combination was further complicated by the frequent presence of Crosby’s father in the locker room. Most of the other dads don’t have that kind of access.

But somehow the Penguins seemed to function. They’ve only won one championship in Crosby’s time here, but nobody is blaming that on whether he and Lemieux get along.

So what to make of the report? The haste with which it was shot down should be an indication of how much credibility it had.

But the story was a huge success in one regard: Before this, when was the last time anyone thought about Matthew Barnaby?

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Some rivalries, like Penguins-Philadelphia Flyers, are forever. It doesn’t take much to get it re-ignited every year.

Others come and go. The Penguins had a fierce rivalry with the St. Louis Blues in the early days of both franchises. That’s ancient history now.

A new rivalry seems to be quickly developing between the Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets. It ramped up more last week when Brandon Dubinsky cross-checked Crosby across the neck, then broke his stick across Crosby’s back with a more conventional cross-check.

That episode earned Dubinsky a one-game suspension from the NHL.

After that was issued, Columbus coach John Tortorella was there to throw some gasoline on the fire by revisiting a theme he’d advanced before at his other coaching stops.

“We’re not going to whine here,” he said. “Pittsburgh can whine. Pittsburgh whines enough for the whole league, so there’s no room for any other team to whine. We’ll just go about our business.”

Next game in the season series is on Dec. 21 at Consol Energy Center.

John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com.