Ron Cook: Lemieux Won't Pass Torch This Season

Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The eyes of the hockey world will be on Continental Airlines Arena tonight, not so much to see the Penguins play the New Jersey Devils as the NHL makes its long-awaited return, but to witness the passing of greatness from Mario Lemieux to Sidney Crosby.

There's only one problem with that story line.

Lemieux isn't willing to give it up just yet.

"This is still his team," teammate Mark Recchi was saying yesterday.

And Recchi didn't mean that in an ownership kind of way.

It will be a much different Lemieux who skates onto the ice tonight in The Meadowlands. For one thing, he's no longer thirty-something, having hit the big 4-0 today. Do you believe that? Mario? 40? But it's just a number, right? You're only as old as you feel. Isn't that what they always say?

That's where the big change comes with Lemieux. He has never gone into a season feeling any better. Not so much physically; he still gives thanks every morning when his back allows him to get out of bed. But mentally -- he's 40 going on, well, Sidney Crosby.

"I get excited when I see him so excited," Recchi said of Lemieux.

It wasn't like that for Lemieux the last time the Penguins played. He was a baby sitter on a team of young, inexpensive players who had no chance of being successful. What fun was that? If Lemieux didn't own the team and need to sell tickets and put the franchise in the best position to get a new arena, he surely would have retired. As it was, he played in only 10 games in the 2003-04 season before his hip gave out and he called it a year. There was no sense in trying to rush back. The team was on its way to finishing with the NHL's worst record.

But it all changed for Lemieux and the Penguins July 22, the day the NHL announced its new Collective Bargaining Agreement with its players and the day the Penguins won the Crosby draft lottery.

"Overnight, it changed," Lemieux said, still shaking his head at his good fortune.
"I knew right then we were going to be able to put together a team here that would have a chance to do something special."

Lemieux and Recchi worked out frequently together in late summer. Each day seemed better than the one before for them. The Penguins signed Sergei Gonchar. They signed Ziggy Palffy.
They traded for Jocelyn Thibault. They signed John LeClair.

They built a championship-caliber club.

"I'm thinking, 'This is going to add a couple of years to Mario's career,' " Recchi said.

Lemieux won't allow himself to be so presumptuous. He can't, not with his back and hip, not with his horrible medical history. Sure, he's in fabulous shape, but he was in great shape two years ago when his hip blew up. And he has been in great shape when his back has left him crippled. It could happen tomorrow, next week, next month.

"That's just the way it is with me," Lemieux said, somewhat sadly.

But the mind is a powerful tool. Lemieux has added incentive -- the chance to win another Stanley Cup -- to stay healthy. And when his back or hip does act up, maybe he'll only miss a game or two instead of a month or two. There is a reason for him to fight through the pain or put it aside. It's those other great players on the ice. For the first time in a long time, he'll be with linemates -- Palffy and Ryan Malone, to start the season -- who can keep up with him and capitalize on his creativity. He'll be on a power-play unit that should take him back to the days of Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Paul Coffey and Larry Murphy.

As great as it will be for us to watch, imagine what a thrill it will be for Lemieux at this stage of his career.

It's going to take more than a little back or hip pain to stop him this season.

"It would mean a lot to me to win again," Lemieux said. "That's why I'm still playing. Winning is still fun. I know I have that chance again."

Lemieux said he hopes to play "70-some" games, which would be more than he has played in nearly a decade. Another Cup is what drives him, but he also has his sights on a couple of personal milestones. He needs 17 goals for 700, 99 points for 1,800.

Are you willing to doubt Lemieux?

Recchi isn't.

"I expect him to put up big numbers, and the rest of us following right behind him."

That includes Crosby.

This is one torch passing that's going to have to wait.

(Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1525.)