Staal and Crosby Praise Roberts

Lightning Strikes, a TB Lightning blog, recently posted an entry featuring comments from Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal on their former veteran teammate, Gary Roberts. It sounds like Roberts left a big impression on the young players and it appears that the players have great respect for him.

STAAL

"He's such a leader and been through so much," Staal said. "I feel like, 'What would Gary Roberts do?' He's been through so much and is so smart. Just a great guy. He loves being with the guys. That's one of the reasons he is still playing. He just enjoys being with the guys and playing hockey and being competitive. Hopefully, that's something that rubbed off on me a little bit."

CROSBY

Said Crosby about Roberts' work ethic: "It's pretty easy to expect a lot of yourself when you see someone do what he's doing; the way he battles on every shift. I think that's something that everyone sees, and you don't have a choice but to follow him. ... He was a leader. He was a warrior. He was a guy we can all learn from, for sure."