Mario Lemieux ensconced at top of the NHL scoring list, and with a margin that is akin to a 10-meter lead early in the 1,500 meters of Olympic speedskating?

	Mario Lemieux last won the Art Ross Trophy with 122 points in 1997.

It's a throwback, something to which we grew comfortably familiar in the era of Lemieux contentment and relative health, and of a time when scoring 50 goals in a season wasn't an exclusive feat.

(ESPN.com has obtained a transcript of the meeting of NHL 50-goal scorers after last season. Because the meeting was held in a phone booth, it begins with: "Hi, Mom, this is Jarome.")

The pressing issue is whether Lemieux's tenancy at the top of the scoring list can continue. That involves more than individual implications, more than the question of whether Lemieux can win the Art Ross Trophy for a seventh time, and for the first time in six seasons.

For several reasons, the NHL is better off with the star power of Lemieux not just returning, but remaining bright.

And we can list (and do) many reasons why Lemeiux will or won't be the NHL's leading scorer at the end of the season.

Won't: He won't hold up -- either as the scoring leader, or physically. The back and hip are among the most capricious of body parts, and while Lemieux's seems to be holding up so far -- heck, he even has played on back-to-back nights and has suited up for every Pittsburgh game so far -- there are no guarantees.

Will: He'll win the Art Ross Trophy again. Lemieux has the hip problem whipped. Yes, the back is a pain, but up to a point, a banged-up, aching Lemieux still is better than anyone else in the game. And as an owner trying to get his franchise back in the playoffs, there is even more incentive than under conventional circumstances for him to play through the pain.

Won't: He is 37 years old, for heaven's sake. And he's had to (heroically) overcome illness and injuries. The last time he played more than 70 games was during the 1996-97 season.

Will: He is only 37 years old. Igor Larionov, Mark Messier, Chris Chelios and Mick Jagger all call Mario "Kid." And his absences from the game rekindled his passion for it. He has figured out practicing more is preventive , and he's in great shape.

Won't: All bets are off if the NHL's obstruction crackdown becomes history. Not only does opening up the game facilitate the primacy of elite talent and skill, but in this case, it contributes to keeping Lemieux's emotional batteries charged. And it also at least in theory lessens the potential physical toll.

However, is anyone really convinced the crackdown will remain in force through 82 games?

Despite that, the NHL is trying, and the early returns indicate the league has done a much better job this time around of defining what it wants done (and called), and setting realistic parameters.

If Lemieux is the skating bellwether for the level of enforcement of the standards -- and like it or not, he is -- then the recent signs aren't necessarily encouraging. We didn't even need Brett Hull to point that out.

If Lemieux is the skating bellwether for the level of enforcement of the standards -- and like it or not, he is -- then the recent signs aren't necessarily encouraging.

We didn't even need Brett Hull to point that out.

On Nov. 6, the Penguins and Panthers played an overtime game in which referees Paul Stewart and Dan O'Halloran called only two minors. Yes, it's risky and perhaps unfair to assume from afar that the scarcity of penalties is a prima facie case for a backing off from the standards, and that it was more than a one-night aberration.

But it raises eyebrows.

Lemieux had a goal and an assist in that 4-3 overtime loss to the Panthers, but if the standards aren't enforced and the ice again becomes rush-hour traffic, then the ripple effect will reach the Penguins' owner.

Will: The NHL hates it when this is brought up, and Pittsburgh fans act as if this is in poor taste and/or ridiculous, but Mario Lemieux is one of the two greatest players in the history of the game.

He also is the Penguins' chairman and chief executive officer, and even referees know that regardless of the legal niceties tied to Lemieux's return from a private box to the ice, those titles translate into "owner."

So despite that Pittsburgh-Florida game, chances are that the obstruction standards will last longer for the Penguins than for anyone else.

Won't: Even if the games involving the Penguins indeed are the final ones to revert to the tedium of recent seasons, that's a minor distinction because even the Penguins' games could be back to (yawn) normal before we're done with our Christmas shopping. (In other words, by Christmas Eve night.)

Will: Rick Kehoe (and Lemieux) have decided to tinker with Lemieux's linemates, putting him with Martin Straka and Alexandre Daigle. At least that was the plan heading into the Penguins' Thursday night game at Minnesota. A healthy Straka can be a further boon to Lemieux, who has said many times he wants speed around him. He's electric when he's on either end of a give-and-go. His size sometimes obscures his own speed, but at this point, the less he has to carry the puck through the neutral zone, the better.

Won't: But why give up on having Lemieux playing with Alexei Kovalev and Aleksey Morozov? The line was effective through the early stages of the season, which is one of the reasons why Lemieux has an eight-point lead in the scoring race.

Will: So? Can't lines be changed at the drop of a helmet? And isn't Mario Mario, regardless of his linemates?

Won't: Although the Penguins are in what would be in a playoff spot as of this typing, they're still far from a sure thing to qualify for the postseason. The Maple Leafs and Senators are likely to improve, and the Rangers might do so as well. And if the Penguins fall far enough to be out of the hunt altogether, the chances of Lemieux taking nights off greatly increase.

The final word?

Let's hope Lemieux still is on top at the end of the season. That would mean he has remained (relatively) healthy, the playoff race in the East has been tight, and the open-up-the-ice quest hasn't been abandoned.

Terry Frei is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. His book, "Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming," will be released by Simon and Schuster on Dec. 2.