PITTSBURGH -- When Mario Lemieux was asked if he would ever
play hockey again, the answer always came quickly and without
deliberation.
Why?
After all, he won two Stanley Cups, three MVP awards, six
scoring championships, made stirring comebacks from cancer and back
surgery and bought the team he once played for -- all by the age of
33.
However, several weeks ago, apparently at his own prompting and
without intervention by anyone inside the Pittsburgh Penguins
organization, including Jaromir Jagr, Lemieux asked himself a
different question.
Why not?
On the ice, he saw a talented but mostly leaderless team, one
with plenty of goal scorers but not enough drive and discipline. It
was a team, he surmised, that possibly was a player away from
winning the Stanley Cup.
That player was Mario Lemieux.
Lemieux's comeback, which will become official on Friday but
became known to the players on Thursday, should provide a jolt of
excitement, confidence and energy to the Penguins. One that already
has reached their ticket office.
The Penguins' phone lines were jammed Thursday by fans wanting
to buy tickets for Lemieux's comeback, one that could occur in late
December when they play four home games in a span of nine days.
There also was an audible buzz at practice, where the players
first heard the news as they listened to a classic rock radio
station while dressing for practice.
"I heard a lot of screaming," Jagr said.
"Our jaws just dropped in shock," defenseman Bob Boughner
said. "It's going to be fun. It's going to give us a huge
emotional lift, the last couple of weeks we've been playing .500
hockey, win one, lose one.
"Now that we know Mario's coming back, we can't sit back and
wait until then, we've got to start right now."
Only six weeks ago, while taping a segment with Jagr for an ESPN
telecast, Lemieux pulled on his skates again but said he had no
plans to play again.
"Lose 20 pounds and come back? No," he said. "I do miss the
game, obviously, but I've got four kids to raise."
The player most affected by Lemieux's return, of course, is
Jagr, who has won three consecutive NHL scoring titles since
Lemieux finished his career by winning two straight in 1995-96 and
1996-97.
Suddenly, Lemieux is Jagr's teammate again, not his boss, and
Jagr might have to give back that "C" on his chest to the man who
signs his paychecks.
"It's not a big problem who's going to be the captain," Jagr
said. "He's been the man for so long, and will always be the man.
Whatever he wants me to do, I'll do, I respect him so much."
There is no indication yet how much Lemieux will play, but it is
almost certain he will displace Jan Hrdina as the center on Jagr's
line. Jagr has slumped for much of the season -- he isn't even in
the top 10 in scoring -- and Lemieux's return could be exactly what
Jagr needs to get back on his game.
Jagr learned of Lemieux's comeback plans 10 days ago, but
apparently didn't tell any of his teammates. However, some became
suspicious when they saw skates and sticks bearing Lemieux's No. 66
being delivered to the practice rink.
"I always believed he was going to come back because I couldn't
believe he had retired," defenseman Darius Kasparaitis said. "He
was in his prime when he retired. I always figured he would come
back one day."
Lemieux will share a locker room with the goaltender he beat for
what was his final NHL goal, Garth Snow, during the Penguins-Flyers
playoff series in 1997.
"I was always kind of proud of that," Snow said. "He was the
best player in the game for so many years, and he's going to be a
huge help. Everybody is excited."
Except the NHL's other goalies, that is.
"All I know, if I was on another team, I'd be glad right now if
we were done with Pittsburgh for the season," Snow said.
Lemieux's return also raises the possibility he could play in
the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.
He has always played internationally for Canada, but it seems
more likely he would play in 2002 for the United States, especially
since Penguins general manager Craig Patrick and former Penguins
coach Herb Brooks will lead that team.
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