There are two reasons Mario Lemieux wants to come back now.

First, he believes the crackdown on the rules will make the game more fun than it was when he left. He's hoping the crackdown will bring the game back closer to what it was when he started playing. Lemieux has been fooled by rule changes before, and he will definitely be guarded.

In years past, they've promised that the rules would be enforced, but they never were. But he must be somewhat convinced the league will be making a genuine effort to adhere to the rules, otherwise he wouldn't be coming back. Lemieux's not stupid; he doesn't want to battle 250-pound players who are trying to maul him.

Second, Lemieux sees $10 million-man Jaromir Jagr on the right side with no one at center ice who can make big plays for him. He recognizes that one of the reasons Jagr is unhappy and somewhat unproductive may be because he has no one to play with.

Lemieux has taken a good look around the league and realized that big-time playmakers at center are hard to find. He knows he's the best one out there.

Lemieux's impact will be immediate. It will be like when Michael Jordan returned to the Chicago Bulls.

We did a feature for the NHL Rules! show, and I was on the ice with Lemieux and Jagr. Lemieux's hands, his mind, all of it are still there; but his body will take a little time. It takes a few weeks to get used to what your hamstrings and quads feel like after skating at game speed, and to acclimate yourself once again to the burning sensation in your lungs after skating a 1½-minute shift.

All great players don't have to be in the greatest shape, because of their minds. What they lack in physical conditioning they more than make up for in mental capacity.

When I skated with him a month ago, it was clear that his skills were still in peak condition. All you had to do was watch him cradle the puck. Plus, there is still a real youthful exuberance about Lemieux. He looked comfortable and so happy to be back on the ice.

Darren Pang is an NHL analyst for ESPN.