Sunday, December 27, 2009
Penguins fans know where they were nine years ago on this day.
All of the Penguins remember where they were, too.
Mario Lemieux stunned the hockey world by coming out of retirement Dec. 27, 2000, in a game at Mellon Arena against the Toronto Maple Leafs. As fate would have it, the Maple Leafs are in town tonight on the nine-year anniversary of the comeback for a game against the Penguins, many of whom were teenagers when Lemieux made his return.They remember that night like it was yesterday.
"It was awesome," said Sidney Crosby, who was a 13-year-old watching the game at his home in Nova Scotia.
"I was so young when he retired (in 1997) that it was incredible to get to watch him play again. I still remember him scoring a goal that night and getting an assist right away."
Indeed, Lemieux set up a Jaromir Jagr goal 33 seconds into the game, his flair for the dramatic still unparalleled despite a 3 1/2-year absence. He scored the first goal of his comeback in the second period, and he set up Jan Hrdina for yet another assist.
While players such as Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal weren't even old enough for high school at the time of Lemieux's return, some of their teammates were already in the NHL.
Matt Cooke, Bill Guerin, Sergei Gonchar, Craig Adams, Brent Johnson, Ruslan Fedotenko, Jay McKee, Mark Eaton and Martin Skoula were all in the league during the 2000-01 season.
Cooke was playing for the Vancouver Canucks at the time and participated in a game three hours after the Penguins' 5-0 victory was underway.
"We were watching it on TV when we were getting ready for our game," Cooke said. "I remember him scoring the goal that night. Coming back when he did was obviously a big deal for the league at that time. Everyone was watching that night."
Lemieux did not disappoint in his return, producing a remarkable 35 goals and 41 assists in 43 regular-season games. He produced a gaudy 16 points in the first six games of the comeback.
In his fifth game out of retirement, Lemieux scored two goals in Boston against the Bruins and their newly-acquired forward, Guerin.
"I wouldn't even say that Mario dominated when he came back," Guerin said. "Dominate isn't the right word. He toyed with the whole league, basically. It was pretty amazing to see it up close."
Guerin recalled watching the footage of Lemieux before the game that night, saying goodbye to his family before departing for the arena.
The NHL was somewhat deprived of superstars at the time and needed a boost. Lemieux's return gave the NHL a jolt of much-needed excitement.
"The whole hockey world was watching that night," Guerin said. "It was a very big thing."
Playing against Lemieux, of course, wasn't so fun.
McKee played in Buffalo that season and would later see his Sabres fall to Lemieux's Penguins in Game 7 of a second-round series when Darius Kasparaitis scored the game-winning goal in overtime. Two nights earlier, Lemieux's goal in the final minutes had evened Game 6.
"Playing against him was never very good for my plus-minus," McKee said. "But honestly, I loved that he came back. I really felt like it was an honor to play against a player like him. I remember the night he came back. That was a big night for our sport."
It was also a big night for Lemieux's native province, Quebec.
A 16-year-old junior hockey player at the time, future Stanley Cup hero Max Talbot remembers that night. He played a game of his own that evening in Quebec but made sure to catch the highlights later that night.
"It was a big deal in Quebec," Talbot said. "I'm sure it was a big deal in Pittsburgh. It was big everywhere. It was amazing."
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