[Just reading the headline of this piece made me sick to my stomach...Mr. Lemieux is one of my two favorite athletes of all time...the other being Roberto Clemente. I'm of the opinion that no one gets to tell legends when they should retire...they decide that for themselves. Lemieux's legacy is intact...he can never do that harm...He remains the single most breathtakingly gifted and skillful hockey player that I have ever seen. I do not believe that any other hockey player had the gifts that he possessed...great size (6-5, 230lbs), great hands, speed, vision, touch, hockey intellect, passion...the consumate and unstoppable total package. I also believe that few athletes have overcome more in their careers than Lemieux...cancer, herniated discs, back surgery. Returning to play in the game in Philadelphia on the day of his last radiation treatment in 1993 to score a goal and an assist is still one of the most inspiring sporting achievements of my lifetime. I hope we haven't seen the last of him on ice but if so, I'm eternally grateful for having had the privilege of watching. - jtf]Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Related Coverage:
No ice work for Lemieux
Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
That it's time for the great Mario Lemieux to call it a career?
How can you not be thinking that? After Lemieux's second heart scare this month? After watching him play even before his heart problem was diagnosed when he looked like a fading legend, 40, with little left in the tank? After seeing the Penguins struggle all season, their high expectations shattered, replaced by the harsh reality of an 8-18-7 record? And with so much at stake for the franchise in this city off the ice?
By far, Lemieux's health is the primary concern. It was troubling he had to miss the game Saturday at Buffalo after a recurrence of an irregular heartbeat during the game the night before. Doctors thought they had the situation under control with medication.
Chances are Lemieux will be fine. It's nice to think the doctors will solve his problem by tweaking his meds. But even if he's cleared to play again, he has to be wondering if even the tiniest of risks is worth it at this stage of his career. Certainly, his wife and kids have to be wondering.
Beyond Lemieux's health issue, it's fair to wonder if he has the same motivation to keep playing. The main reason he came out of his first retirement during the 2000-01 season after taking the Penguins out of bankruptcy was to protect his investment by selling tickets with him as the No. 1 draw. That's no longer necessary. Despite the team's woeful record, Sidney Crosby is worth the price of admission at Mellon Arena. So is Marc-Andre Fleury. So will Evgeni Malkin be, once he gets here.
Better days clearly are ahead for the Penguins.
Better days also are ahead for Lemieux's financial interest in the team. There still is a chance he and his ownership group will be awarded a slots license. If he is, he will be printing money long after he fulfills his promise to build a new arena. Even if Lemieux doesn't get the license, a new arena still could be built, if you believe Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato. That would put the Penguins on solid financial ground. The third possibility -- that the Penguins would be sold and moved out of town after next season -- is one that no one wants to think about. That would break our hearts and -- forgive the poor choice of words -- Lemieux's. But it surely wouldn't hurt Lemieux's bank account. He would recoup his investment and a whole lot more.
Lemieux needs to devote all of his time to securing the Penguins' future, one way or the other. That's much more important than worrying about playing. It might be different if the Penguins were a Stanley Cup contender. That seemingly real possibility energized Lemieux during the summer when the Penguins landed Crosby and acquired such respected veterans as Ziggy Palffy, Sergei Gonchar, John LeClair and Jocelyn Thibault.
How could it not energize him? When you're 40 and you think you have a chance to win, you feel 30. Unfortunately, the Penguins haven't won and aren't going to make the playoffs. They've lost so much that Lemieux must feel 50. How much fun can he be having? And does he really want to stick around for another season, going through another summer of grueling conditioning work, to have another chance at the Cup?
There's one other compelling reason for Lemieux to think hard about retiring. The Penguins made Michel Therrien their coach last week. Therrien, a man with a tough edge, was a terrific hire and is just what the soft, underachieving Penguins need. But for him to have his best chance of being successful, he needs Lemieux out of the locker room.
It always has been a bit awkward having Lemieux -- the team owner -- on the roster. That would be hard on any coach. Eddie Olczyk, Rick Kehoe and Ivan Hlinka never said it, but it had to have been hard on them. No matter how demanding they wanted to be with their players, how demanding could they be of Lemieux, their boss? And if Lemieux received special treatment, what message did that send to the other players?
The situation was workable when Lemieux was still one of the game's elite players. He led the Penguins to the Eastern Conference final in 2001. You bet Hlinka was glad to have him on the team.
But Lemieux no longer is among the best players, especially in the new NHL, which puts such a premium on skating. He's not a bad player. He wouldn't be a bad player at 60. But it's not exactly breaking news to suggest he isn't what he was. He was the greatest athlete this city has ever known, but he's also human. And no human can outlast time.
No matter how inevitable we know Lemieux's retirement is, it will be sad to say goodbye to him as a player. We thought we did it when he retired for the first time in 1997. But we got lucky. He came back and gave us a few more seasons, a little more precious time to enjoy his extraordinary talents.
Sadly, though, I'm thinking that time is up.
(Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1525.)
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