Crosby met and skated with Lemieux last summer in Los Angeles.
"He's a very nice guy and a great role model and to be able to play with him would be something very special," Crosby said from his home in Cole Harbour, N.S.
The lottery was the NHL's first order of business following the ratification of the new collective bargaining agreement by the league's board of governors earlier in the afternoon.
The 2005 NHL entry draft will be held July 30 in Ottawa, but the suspense over the No. 1 pick has ended as the Penguins have no intention of trading their pick.
Even though Crosby's favourite team is the Montreal Canadiens, he intends to play for Pittsburgh.
The Penguins were one of four teams with the best chance of landing Crosby, who is the most anticipated NHL prospect since Eric Lindros in 1991. And for the second time in three years, Pittsburgh will have the first pick in the draft.
The Mighty Ducks will pick second and the Carolina Hurricanes third.
Crosby will enter the league at the same time as another highly talented rookie in Alexander Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals' first overall pick in 2004. Capitals owner Ted Leonsis thinks having two superstars developing at the same time will help the league in the long run.
"My dream scenario is would be that they're Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. The NBA had some hard times and came back and they were two great players and they helped drive interest in the league and they had a great rivalry. These are two very, very gifted players," Leonsis said.
"I thought this year's draft had a lot of drama around it. I'm happy that Pittsburgh won. He'll help us sell a lot of tickets in our building. I just hope we don't play them in the playoffs all the time again."
The economic landscape under the new CBA is designed to be friendlier to small-market teams like Pittsburgh, which operated with the lowest payroll of the 30 clubs in 2003-04.
Lemieux, a former first overall pick himself, is selling his majority interest in the team, but intends to keep a minority stake in the club and continue to play one or two more seasons.
The Penguins star bought the team in bankruptcy court in 1999 and has been keeping the franchise afloat on a shoestring the last few years.
The franchise had its problems since winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 1991 and 1992, including the death of coach Bob Johnson, Lemieux's battle with cancer and the jettisoning of stars such as Jaromir Jagr, Alexei Kovalev and Martin Straka in recent years.
Lemieux said the arrival of Crosby will buoy the franchise and help the team get a new arena.
The Penguins' lease at Mellon Arena, the oldest rink in the league, expires in 2007.
"This is huge for all of us here in Pittsburgh, for the organization, for the fans here in Pittsburgh," Lemieux said. "We've been trying to rebuild the team for the last three years."
Lemieux said the addition of Crosby will revitalize the team, which added veteran Mark Recchi as a free agent last summer.
"I'm looking forward to training camp now," Lemieux said.
The Penguins have already slashed season tickets prices to create 8,700 seats available for under $30. Crosby should make selling them a lot easier.
Crosby feels better times are ahead for the franchise and not because he's going there.
"They had a great finish to the year the last year the NHL played and it's a team that I think is really coming up," he said.
Pittsburgh has other highly rated prospects in the fold in goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, the first overall pick in 2003. The Pens have yet to sign Russian forward Evgeni Malkin, the second overall pick last year, to a contract.
"We certainly wouldn't put any pressure on Sidney to carry our team," Penguins general manager Craig Patrick said in New York. "He's going to be one of your young people on our team down the road that will help carry the flag, but not right away."
Still, one would expect Crosby to be on the ice with Lemieux when the NHL season opens Oct. 5, the same day Lemieux turns 40.
Crosby, who turns 18 on Aug. 7, can play any forward position. He has spent time on both the left and right wings this past season with the Rimouski Oceanic and the Canadian junior team.
Wayne Gretzky once said that Crosby is the best player he'd seen since Lemieux and the pairing Crosby and Lemieux on a line together will be much anticipated.
The five-foot-10, 193-pound Crosby is ready for the NHL after dominating major junior hockey the past two seasons. He has exceptional vision, anticipation and skills that translate into jaw-dropping passes and puckhandling.
He has developed core and leg strength to make him difficult to knock off the puck. His passion for the game, plus his considerable skills with the media at such a young age have made him a coveted package by the NHL.
The NHL's intention to crack down on obstruction and change rules to increase offence by taking out the red line and increasing the size of the offensive zones plays into Crosby's talented hands.
"That's hopefully going to open it up a lot and should make it more entertaining," Crosby said.
Crosby has not yet pulled an NHL jersey over his head but he has already signed big-league endorsement deals with Reebok and Gatorade. He did his TV interviews Friday in front of a Reebok backdrop.
Sports marketing experts have said Crosby could make 10 times more money in local sponsorships if he played in the Toronto, Boston, Chicago or New York markets.
The Penguins now have to get Crosby under contract. Under the new labour deal, Crosby can sign a three-year deal worth $850,000 US per year, plus signing and performance bonuses.
