As Expected, Ovechkin Wins Calder Trophy

2006 NHL Award Winners

Lester Pearson (MVP as voted on by the players) -- Jaromir Jagr, New York Rangers
Lady Byng (sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct) -- Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Jack Adams Award (coach of the year) -- Lindy Ruff (Buffalo Sabres)
Vezina Trophy (outstanding goaltender) -- Miikka Kiprusoff (Calgary Flames)
Masteron Trophy (perseverance and dedication to hockey) -- Teemu Selanne, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy (goal-scoring leader) -- Jonathan Cheechoo, San Jose Sharks
King Clancy Memorial Trophy (leadership and humanitarian contributions) -- Olaf Kolzig, Washington Capitals
Frank J. Selke Trophy (defensive forward) -- Rod Brind'amour, Carolina Hurricanes
Norris Trophy (top defenseman) -- Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
Calder Trophy (rookie of the year) -- Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Hart Trophy (MVP) -- Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks

By Karen Price
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, June 23, 2006

VANCOUVER -- Penguins center Sidney Crosby and Washington Capitals winger Alexander Ovechkin finished four points apart in scoring in 2005-06, Crosby with 102 points and Ovechkin with 106.

The voting for the Calder Trophy for the rookie of the year award wasn't nearly as close.

As expected, Ovechkin took home the honor Thursday and was a near-unanimous selection, receiving 124 of 129 first-place votes and five second-place votes for a total of 1,275 points. Crosby finished second with four first-place votes and 95 second-place votes for 831 points. Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf had no first-place votes and finished in third with 580 points.

"To win the Calder Trophy means a lot," the 20-year-old Moscow native said. "It means a lot. I don't have words. I could tell you in Russian."

Before the ceremony, Crosby, all decked out in a tuxedo, walked the red carpet at the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts with Ovechkin, and the two gave interviews in front of the television cameras seated next to one another.

Earlier in the day, Crosby, 18, said he wouldn't be disappointed if he didn't win the trophy.

"Not at all," Crosby said. "By no means am I going to measure my season based on this. It's a bonus if I get it, but if not, it's not something I'm going to be too disappointed about or put a lot of emphasis on. It'd be nice, but I'm not measuring my season on it."

Crosby, who led all rookies in assists with 63 and became the youngest player in the history of the NHL to reach 100 points, was named to the All-Rookie Team and finished third in voting for the All-Star Team at the center position.

He said before the event that he was just enjoying being part of what he's watched on television so many times before. And he also was enjoying getting to know his main competition for the award, too.

"It's nice to get to hang out with (Ovechkin) and talk a little bit," Crosby said. "Obviously, when we play each other, we don't get that chance. I think in the media it's always built up as such a rivalry, and we don't really know each other, so it was nice just to meet him. It's fun to see there's another guy going through a lot of similar things, and we can relate to a lot of the same things, so it's pretty unique."

Ovechkin, who became the second rookie in history to tally 50 goals and 100 points in a season, had similar good things to say about Crosby.

"We speak a little bit," Ovechkin said before the ceremony. "He's a great player, and he's a good person. I wish him good luck."

Crosby said he feels like he met the goals he set for himself coming into the season.

"I just wanted to come in and adjust as soon as I could and just play the same type of game at the same type of level that I did in other leagues," he said. "I felt I adjusted pretty fast and felt comfortable, so I'm pretty happy."

The Professional Hockey Writers Association votes on the Hart, Norris Selke, Lady Byng, Calder and Masterton Trophies. The general managers vote on the Vezina Trophy, while the NHL Broadcasters' Association votes on the Jack Adams Award. The King Clancy Award is voted on by a panel of representatives from the PHWA and NHLBA. All voting is done at the conclusion of the regular season.

Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar received one third-place vote for the NHL All-Star Team and one fifth-place vote for the Norris Trophy for the top defenseman. Crosby received one second-place vote for the Lady Byng.

Karen Price can be reached at kprice@tribweb.com.

Mike Prisuta: Crosby a Worldwide Leader

Mike Prisuta
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, June 2, 2006

In the end, Sidney Crosby's experience at hockey's World Championship in Latvia was both invaluable and bittersweet.

Although he punctuated his resume with an exclamation point, Sid The Kid was unable to deliver the gold for his native Canada (or the silver or bronze for that matter). Crosby also had injury added to insult when Swede Mika Hannula delivered a cross-check to Crosby's jaw in a quarterfinal matchup.

Hannula earned a game misconduct for trying to rearrange Crosby's face.

Crosby was provided with a prime example of how competitive it can get when the participants are playing for something other than a paycheck.

"That's part of it sometimes," Crosby said Thursday morning, when the Penguins made him available for an informal get-together with local media. "I was able to come out of it fine.
"The guy might have thought that I was whacking the goalie, because the puck was there. I guess that's a possibility."

Another possibility is that the Swedes had identified Crosby as a player they were not going to allow to beat them.

Crosby, 18, was well on his way to earning Most Outstanding Forward honors by then. While doing so, Crosby became the youngest player to lead the World Championship in scoring (with eight goals and eight assists in nine games), a distinction that had belonged to Canada's Gordon "Red" Berenson since 1959.

But beyond the statistical brilliance he was able to maintain, Crosby was exposed to an environment and atmosphere that will accelerate his development as a leader and a winner in the NHL.

The World Championship isn't the Stanley Cup final, but nor is it the World Junior Championship. The tournament is held in high regard around the globe, and the Europeans who take part are serious about winning, regardless of whether they're NHL regulars.

No wonder no North American "phenom" had dominated the proceedings as Crosby did since Wayne Gretzky.

"It was a high level," of competition, Crosby said. "The European game is a little different with the big ice.

"And when you're playing with guys that want to be over there, that want to play for Team Canada and are finished the (NHL) season but still are there competing, you benefit in that way because you're still playing at a high level and pushing yourself as you would in a playoff situation."

Crosby didn't sniff the playoffs as an NHL rookie.

But in his first World Championship he got an education, not unlike the one Mario Lemieux received playing in the 1987 Canada Cup.

"Playing with a guy like Brendan Shanahan, he's a great leader and he's won Stanley Cups, and getting to know him, seeing how he leads a team is unique," Crosby said. "You go there and you want to play well. If you're not going there with the frame of mind of playing well and winning the gold medal you shouldn't be going. I think we all realized it's important to play for your country and I think we all had a great time doing it.

"I'll definitely benefit from the experience."

So will the Penguins.

Mike Prisuta is a columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Shero's Orders: Restore Pens to Premier Status

Friday, May 26, 2006
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


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Ray Shero didn't just get a five-year contract when the Penguins hired him as general manager yesterday.

He received -- on the 15th anniversary of their first Stanley Cup championship -- a mandate to restore the Penguins to their place among the NHL's premier franchises.

And all the power he should need to make that happen.

Shero will be the ultimate authority on every aspect of the team's hockey operations. If he's not happy with a player, he can get rid of him. If he doesn't like a coach's work, he can fire him. If he doesn't care for how injuries are treated, he can replace the medical staff.

But Shero, coming off an eight-year apprenticeship as assistant general manager of the Nashville Predators, probably hadn't accepted the offer to succeed Craig Patrick when he settled on the first thing he should do upon taking over: Nothing.

Not right away, at least.

Not until he has had a chance to talk to and observe the people under him. To learn about their work habits, attitudes and ideas. To assess how their philosophies and priorities mesh with his.
"I don't want to come in here with any knee-jerk reactions, any preconceived notions," Shero said. "I just want to evaluate things and take a little time to do that."

Some of those assessments must be completed more quickly than others. The Penguins, for example, must decide by Thursday which junior players drafted in 2004 and which European prospects selected in 2002 or earlier they want to sign. They will surrender the rights to those who do not receive contracts by June 1.

Shero, 43, said he will discuss that issue with assistant general manager Ed Johnston today and will rely heavily on what Johnston and the Penguins' scouts tell him.
"I have to trust their instincts," he said.

Although Penguins CEO Ken Sawyer gave Shero clearance to structure the hockey operation to his own specifications, Shero said he has not decided who merits consideration for the assistant general manager's job or whether he will hire a director of player personnel.

Indications are that ownership will set the Penguins' payroll for 2006-07 in roughly the same range as last season, when it crested around $34 million.

That could change if the club is sold -- something a person with knowledge of the situation said might well happen this summer -- but it's hard to imagine the Penguins flirting with the upper reaches of the league's salary cap.

Shero acknowledged that the Penguins are unlikely to pursue big-ticket free agents this summer, but noted that rosters can be reshaped by various means, including trades and waiver claims.

"There are all different ways to build this team," he said. "We have to look at all of them, not just [unrestricted] free agents."

There are, however, potential complications. At the moment, Shero said, the Penguins have the league maximum of 50 players under contract.

"If someone offers us Daniel Alfredsson for a seventh-round pick, we can't even pick him up," he said. "That doesn't make any sense. I'd like to get that down, clean it up a bit if we can."

Two of those 50, forwards Jani Rita and Niklas Nordgren, have signed to play in Europe next season and the departure of veterans such as defenseman Lyle Odelein should open up a few more spots. It also is likely the Penguins will not try to retain all their restricted free agents.

Those judgments must be made by mid-June. Free agency is scheduled to begin July 1, and Shero said that under the labor agreement negotiated last summer, players cannot be signed from June 15-30.

In an early conversation with Sawyer, Sawyer raised the issue of being "saddled" with a coach he did not pick because the Penguins already had committed to keeping Michel Therrien.

But even though he is a staunch backer of Nashville associate coach Brent Peterson -- a candidate for several coaching vacancies with the Penguins over the past decade -- Shero was adamant yesterday about the merits of retaining Therrien.

"There's been so much change here," he said. "I think we need some stability."

Therrien said recently that he has settled on "three or four" possibilities to join Mike Yeo on his staff, and Shero said that, while the decision will not be unilateral, his coach's preference will carry a lot of weight.

"I will certainly have a hand in that," Shero said. "But at the same time, I want to give the latitude for people to hire people they can work with."

The Penguins have the second choice in the June 24 entry draft, and Shero said it is "ultimately, my decision" about who they will select. Defenseman Erik Johnson is widely regarded as the top prospect, but St. Louis, which has the No. 1 choice, has given no indication about whether it will take him.

Likewise, Shero wouldn't commit on who he'd like to get in the second spot -- "Even if I had a guy, I wouldn't [publicly identify] him" -- or whether he likes one prospect enough to make a serious effort to acquire the Blues' pick.

Building through the draft takes time and, while Shero stressed that the Penguins will use "every available measure" to construct a competitive team, he was adamant that he's not interested in short-term fixes. Instead, he spoke of the importance of vision and patience, and said, "I think I have that."

Shero accepted the Penguins' offer after being heavily courted by Boston. Despite the prestige of working for an Original Six team such as the Bruins -- and the possibility that the Penguins will relocate after the coming season -- he said the job here was simply too attractive to turn down.
"For the openings around the league, this is like a gem, really," Shero said. "I really feel this is the best place for us."

(Dave Molinari can be reached at 412-263-1144. )

Crosby's Star Shines at Worlds

Tuesday, May 23, 2006
By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Penguins rookie center Sidney Crosby didn't get to participate in the NHL playoffs. He wasn't chosen to play for Team Canada in the Turin Olympics earlier this year.

He no doubt made hockey fans wish he had been involved in both after his performance in the hockey world championships in Riga, Latvia.

At 18, Crosby was one of the most dominant players in the tournament. He became the youngest player to lead the world championships in scoring with 16 points in nine games and led all players with eight goals for Canada, which finished fourth.

Crosby yesterday was named the top forward and made the tournament all-star team along with forwards Alex Ovechkin of Russia and Dave Vyborny of the Czech Republic, defensemen Niklas Kronwell of Sweden and Petteri Nummelin of Finland, and goaltender Andrei Mezin of Belarus.

After being taken first overall in the 2005 NHL draft, Crosby became the youngest NHL player to record 100 points and finished with 102, breaking Mario Lemieux's team rookie record for assists and points.

Penguins prospect Evgeni Malkin, 19, the second overall NHL draft pick in 2004, tied for fifth in scoring at the world championships with three goals, nine points in seven games for Russia.

The Penguins and Malkin are hopeful he will join the NHL team for the 2006-07 season, something that is primarily dependent on the NHL and Russia coming to terms on a transfer agreement.

(Shelly Anderson can be reached at shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721.)

Joe Starkey: Crosby's Feats Obscured

Joe Starkey
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, April 22, 2006

Sidney Crosby, underrated?

Obscured might be a better word for Crosby's phenomenal rookie season, in which he became the youngest player in the NHL's 89-year history to score 100 points.

I'm not sure people comprehend the magnitude of Crosby's achievement.

In fact, I know they don't.

That's a shame, because all he did was produce the most remarkable rookie year in this city's history (yeah, including Big Ben's) and one of the great rookie years in sports history.

We'll defend those points in a moment.

First, the reasons why Crosby often was eclipsed, locally and nationally:

1. The Steelers won the Super Bowl, a fact that would have bumped World War III to the inside pages.

2. Another rookie - the spectacular Alexander Ovechkin - outscored Crosby and likely will win the Calder Trophy.

3. Expectations were so inflated that people might look at Crosby's 102 points and say, "That's all?"

4. The Penguins generated all kinds of other news. If it wasn't Mario Lemieux's health, it was the team's tentative future. Finally, it was Craig Patrick getting canned before Sid's season could be fully digested.

5. The NHL isn't ESPN's baby anymore.

Crosby turned 18 a month before training camp. His tender age is what sets his rookie year apart.

Joe Thornton, this year's NHL scoring champion, had seven points in 55 games as an 18-year-old. Vincent Lecavalier had 28 points in 82 games.

Kobe Bryant averaged 7.6 points when he was 18.

Robin Yount batted .250.

LeBron James put up 20.9 points per game his rookie season, but he turned 19 two months into it.

Locally, the three relevant rookie years are those of Lemieux, Ben Roethlisberger and Franco Harris.

Roethlisberger actually was better than people thought in recording 14 consecutive wins. Many experts claimed he was a function of the "system." They failed to realize that his threatening presence helped to facilitate a devastating running game.

Still, Roethlisberger was 22 - four years older than Crosby -- and his numbers weren't eye-popping (17 touchdowns, 11 interceptions). He also wasn't expected to do anything but carry a clipboard that year.

Crosby was expected to save the sport of ice hockey.

Lemieux scored 100 points as a 19-year-old rookie, two fewer than Crosby in eight fewer games. But, he played in a far more wide-open league. Twelve of the NHL's 21 teams scored more than 300 goals in 1984-85; two of 30 this season.

Harris also had an incredible debut season with 1,055 yards rushing, sixth in the NFL. He averaged a career-best 5.6 per carry, scored 11 touchdowns, caught 21 passes and famously snatched a deflected ball in the playoffs to beat Oakland (isn't there a name for that play?).

Of course, he also had an outstanding supporting cast, unlike Crosby.

As for Ovechkin, he's two years older than Crosby and played in a relatively pressure-free environment. Crosby had to deal with the retirement of two linemates, a coaching change, a system change, a position change (Eddie Olczyk had him playing left wing), a terrible team, the immense weight of being named an alternate captain and the ridiculous pressure of being hailed the savior of his sport and his franchise.

Seriously, has any professional athlete debuted under more scrutiny? How ironic that as Crosby busily exceeded the hype, the scrutiny lessened.

Sid was hid, in plain sight.

Joe Starkey is a sports writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He can be reached at jstarkey@tribweb.com

Crosby could make NHL history

"I'm going to finish off as strong as I can. If it happens, it happens."
Monday, April 10, 2006

By Dave Molinari
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

TAMPA -- The Penguins had a long-scheduled day off yesterday, so Sidney Crosby didn't have to skip a game. Or even a practice, for that matter.

He didn't have to do much, really, other than relax, soak up a little Gulf Coast sunshine and get treatments on the unspecified "lower-body injury" he received in the opening period of the Penguins' 1-0 loss to Tampa Saturday night.

Crosby left that game late in the first period and did not return until the third -- who the St. Pete Times Forum statisticians were watching when they decided he skated two shifts during the second is a mystery -- and his status for the Penguins' game in Philadelphia at 7:08 p.m. tomorrow remains uncertain.

Crosby, who said he is treating his condition with ice and anti-inflammatory medication, was warned that his injury would be more painful yesterday than it was Saturday, but he was not available yesterday to elaborate on how he was feeling.

The first indication of how, or whether, he's progressing might come when the Penguins practice in suburban Tampa this morning. It's conceivable, though, that he could be held out of the workout simply as a precaution.

If Crosby's injury forces him to sit out any of the Penguins' final five games -- or even impedes his effectiveness in them -- it could cost him a chance to become the youngest player in NHL history to record 100 points.

He has 91, which means he must average 1.8 points per game to hit triple figures, something only Dale Hawerchuk (103 points in 1981-82) and Mario Lemieux (100 points in 1984-85) have done when entering the league the same year in which they were drafted.

Crosby will be 18 years and 254 days old when the Penguins' season ends April 18 in Toronto; Hawerchuk was about three months older in his rookie season with the Winnipeg Jets.

Crosby doesn't focus much on statistical achievements and, a few hours before the Tampa Bay game, downplayed his motivation to reach 100 points, even as he acknowledged "it would be pretty special" to do so.

"It's something I've never really thought about a whole lot," he said. "I don't want to start thinking about it too much now, but it definitely would be a nice accomplishment. If it comes, it would be great. But I don't think I'm going to base [the assessment of] my season on that."

Based on his comments after Saturday's game, being injured didn't alter his perspective.

"I'm going to finish off as strong as I can," he said. "If it happens, it happens."

The reality is that while Crosby doesn't appear to be overly impressed by the idea of getting 100 points as an 18-year-old, the people who watch -- and work with -- him are. He entered the NHL as perhaps the most-hyped player in league history, and still has managed to exceed all reasonable expectations.

"What this kid has accomplished this year is pretty phenomenal," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said. "For a rookie like that, to be close [to 100 points] like he is right now is ... looking down the history of the league, there aren't too many guys who have done it. It leaves me speechless to see him that close."

Crosby has scored or assisted on 40.8 percent of the Penguins' goals and leads the team in goals (36) and assists (55). He has more assists than the team's No. 2 scorer, defenseman Sergei Gonchar, has points (52).

Crosby lost a bit of the edge on his game after the Olympic break, but has come on strong in the closing weeks of the season. He has had two or more points in six of the Penguins' past eight games.

"You can pretty much count on him for two points a night, most of the time," said Colby Armstrong, who has settled in on Crosby's right wing.

"That would be great for him if he could get to 100. And I think he's more than capable of doing it, with the way he's playing. When he's playing his game, he's making things happen all the time."

Although Crosby has almost no chance of being the top rookie scorer this season -- he trails Washington's Alexander Ovechkin by seven points -- there is little precedent for a player his age to be so productive.

Ovechkin, for example, was born nearly 23 months before Crosby. Teemu Selanne, who holds the rookie records for goals (76) and points (132), was 22 when he broke in with Winnipeg in 1992. Peter Stastny was 24 when he set the rookie mark of 70 assists with Quebec in 1980-81.
Crosby, conversely, won't turn 19 until Aug. 7, by which time he'll be gearing up for his second pro training camp.

"When I was 18, I was watching this league back in juniors and wishing and hoping," Armstrong said.

"It's pretty amazing to see the talent he has, and what he's done so far."

(Dave Molinari can be reached at 412-263-1144. )

Dave Molinari: Fleury has been hot on the ice

Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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OTTAWA -- Those reflexes -- the ones that make it seem as if Marc-Andre Fleury's shadow operates on a seven-second delay -- are as sharp as ever.

The left hand still moves so fast that if it were any quicker some of his glove saves might be accompanied by a sonic boom.

And the 500-megawatt smile that has been a part of him forever hasn't dimmed.

But Fleury is not the same goalie he was when the Penguins claimed him with the No. 1 choice in the 2003 entry draft. Or when he spent his first full season in pro hockey the winter of 2004-05. Or when the NHL shut down for the Olympics last month, for that matter.

He has, in the past five games, raised his game to heights he hadn't previously reached in the NHL, stopping 145 of 155 shots and making it possible for the Penguins to win three of those games, all against teams likely to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

"He's been playing spectacular," forward Ryan Malone said yesterday.

Even Fleury, who doesn't seem terribly comfortable praising his own work, allows that, "to be able to have five straight good games is probably the best sequence I've had."

Coach Michel Therrien said yesterday he hadn't decided whether to start Fleury or Sebastien Caron when the Penguins face Ottawa at 7:38 p.m. today at Scotiabank Place, and a case could be made for giving Fleury the night off.

After all, Caron can't be expected to keep an edge on his game if he doesn't get an occasional start. And there's always the possibility that the Senators, who have scored a league-high 266 goal, will make the night miserable for whoever is in goal against them.

But if Therrien decides to go with Caron, it shouldn't be because he's concerned about protecting Fleury's ego. Or his stats. Fleury made it clear yesterday that he enjoys the challenge of facing a high-octane offense such as Ottawa's.

"Maybe it's better for the [goals-against] average if you play a worse team," he said, "but it's always a good challenge when you play a team like that."

That Fleury has taken his game to a rarefied level should surprise no one. The issue never has been whether he would consistently perform at an elite level, but when it would happen.

At age 21, he's doing it a bit earlier than probably should have been anticipated, although it's reasonable to expect him to stumble a few more times along the way.

There never was a question about his talent or potential, however. Defenseman Alain Nasreddine realized that while playing with Fleury in Wilkes-Barre last season, but even he is struck by the way Fleury's game has evolved over a relatively short period of time.

"It's unbelievable, the maturity he's gained over just one year," Nasreddine said. "It makes you think, 'How good is this guy going to be, down the road?'

"Last year, you could tell he had the talent. You could tell he was quick. He still had to learn about positioning. He was relying on his talent a little too much. Now, he's really got it figured out."

Not all of it, actually. Not yet. Fleury is only 21 years old and plays one of the most demanding positions in team sports; he'll be traveling on the learning curve for years to come.

Indeed, that's the thing that should really concern other teams. If Fleury can play this well when he's this young, how tough will he be to beat when he's accumulated another three or four years of knowledge?

"He's already a top-notch goalie," Nasreddine said. "You can only think he's going to get better with experience and maturity."

Therrien watched Fleury go through an up-and-down season with the Baby Penguins a year ago, and still was in Wilkes-Barre when American Hockey League shooters found Fleury to be all but unbeatable last fall.

"Early in the season, he was playing this way in Wilkes-Barre," Therrien said. "He was really sharp."

Sharp enough that, coupled with the subpar goaltending the Penguins were getting at the time, management abandoned its attempt to save the roughly $3 million in bonus money Fleury stood to earn if he got regular work in the NHL and summoned him from the minors.

As it turns out, Fleury isn't going to cash in on the bulk of his potential bonus earnings, but he has made it clear that the only goaltending competition on the Penguins next fall will be for the right to be his backup.

"Every year, you expect a young player to improve," Therrien said. "His development isn't finished."

(Dave Molinari can be reached at 412-263-1144.)

Mike Prisuta: Lessons Learned

Mike Prisuta
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, March 14, 2006

It's been an unprecedented rookie season, one in which Sidney Crosby has made a profound statement and received quite an education.

Now, with the optimism of October shattered and the Penguins hopelessly buried in the standings, Sid The Kid is merely trying to finish what he started.

"From what I've learned this year, the game's not played on paper," Crosby observed.

On paper, the Penguins were a promising bunch prior to the first drop of the puck back on Oct. 5 in New Jersey. Maybe not, in retrospect, imposing enough to proclaim themselves the potential "team of the decade," as CEO Ken Sawyer boasted in the preseason, but intriguing.

They already had Mario Lemieux, Mark Recchi and Dick Tarnstrom. And they had acquired Ziggy Palffy, John LeClair, Jocelyn Thibault and Sergei Gonchar, among others.

And they had drafted Sid The Kid.

Six months later only LeClair, Gonchar and Crosby remain from the Penguins' initial collection of headliners, and only Crosby has delivered as advertised.

"He certainly hasn't disappointed anybody," said Bob Errey, a two-time Stanley Cup-winning winger with the Pens and currently a television analyst on FSN Pittsburgh.

"Oh, my goodness yes," added Pierre McGuire, formerly an assistant coach on the Penguins' 1991-92 Cup champion and currently a national television analyst. "He's been even better than people thought he would be."

Through his first 64 NHL games (as of Monday morning), Crosby ranked 10th in the NHL in scoring with 31 goals, 43 assists and 74 points, including a combined two goals and three assists in back-to-back wins over the Devils and Flyers on Saturday and Sunday nights.

At 18 years of age and as a veteran of 74- and 86-game seasons with Rimouski of the QMJHL, it's not the length of the NHL season that's threatened to get to him at times.

The losing is another matter entirely.

"It's probably a little bit tougher than it ever has been just with us not being able to win as much as we were supposed to," Crosby said. "I'd say that's been the hardest part, just mentally going through that.

"I don't think it's that bad where you don't sleep at night, but it's tough being on this side of it. I don't think I've ever experienced being on this side of it. Every year I've played, I've won."
Every year except this one.

Despite the surprises over the Devils and Flyers, Crosby's Penguins continue to maintain the NHL's worst record at 16-37-12.

The onslaught of losses long ago cost head coach Eddie Olczyk his job and of late has inspired a reshuffling of the roster.

Through it all Crosby has been consistently spectacular, failing to register at least 10 points in just two of six 10-game segments - the manner in which "Badger" Bob Johnson used to like to analyze campaigns - through the Pens' first 60 games. During the first of those, Crosby endured a three-game scoreless streak (another first, as far as Crosby can remember). During the second, he missed his only game of the season (on Feb. 2 against Ottawa).

Crosby has three goals and six assists halfway through the Penguins' seventh 10-game segment of 2005-06.

"And it gets tougher as you go along," McGuire pointed out. "Everybody gets a book on you, and when you don't have a lot of help around you it's really tough, especially for a targeted guy.
"Obviously, it's a real difficult situation there. He's done exceptionally well."

With the spotlight on him throughout, Crosby has neither shied from it nor proved undeserving of the unrelenting attention.

He's sold out the United Center in Chicago, jawed with a fan in Columbus and been chased by taxi cabs full of overzealous autograph seekers in Toronto.

Crosby has been taunted by Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk, carved up by the Flyers' Derian Hatcher and mocked in print by Philadelphia's Ken Hitchcock.

Crosby has endured it all with a veteran's poise and perspective, taking over as the spokesman for the Penguins before Lemieux called it a career and handling off-ice issues that arose with Recchi, a linemate of Crosby's prior to being dealt to Carolina last Thursday with whom Crosby worked wonderfully on the ice.

No wonder The Hockey News designated Crosby No. 13 on its list of 100 People of Power and Influence in its Jan. 3 edition.

Crosby has demonstrated both qualities so far.

Now, he wants to finish the job.

"I just want to keep going," Crosby maintained. "With the way things have gone, with us not being in the playoffs, it might be easier not to have that same energy, not to have that same motivation as maybe the first half (of the season). I want to make sure that's what I don't lack.
"For our team, we have to challenge ourselves to win every night. If that means having to motivate yourself to be a spoiler or something like that, if that's the way you have to do it, then fine. For me, I just want to finish with the most momentum possible going into next season."
The possibility exists - it's a likelihood in Errey's estimation - that Crosby's current season won't end until after he represents Canada at this spring's IIHF World Championship tournament in Latvia.

Crosby's already looking ahead to next season.

And this time, his eyes are wide open.

"You can't speculate, especially as a player," Crosby said. "You can't look at the guy next to you. You have to push, everyone, and not just show up for a season or for a game and expect to win. You have to play the game on the ice.

"You have to work hard for what you want and what you get and you have to expect to do that. And you don't take anything for granted."

Crosby's learned that much this season the hard way.

Mike Prisuta can be reached at ptrsports@tribweb.com.

Crosby Keeps Improving

Crosby keeps improving, has plenty to play for in final 23 games
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Canada couldn't find a roster spot for Penguins rookie Sidney Crosby for the Olympics, which ended two days ago.

That decision perplexed a lot of people and angered others, but Crosby never uttered a harsh syllable about the selection process, or the men behind it. And he obviously doesn't hold a grudge about being overlooked.

He makes it quite clear that if officials of Hockey Canada decide they want him for the world championships this spring in Latvia -- and it's almost unthinkable that they wouldn't, since the available talent pool is far more shallow for that event -- they probably won't need to issue the invitation more than once.

Asked if he would be willing to play in that tournament, Crosby didn't hesitate.

"Oh yeah," he said. "Definitely. It's going to be tough if [the Penguins] are not there in the playoffs, obviously, so I'd like to keep playing, and I'd love to represent my country. We'll see what happens, but it would definitely be something I'd be excited about doing."

First, of course, Crosby must complete what has been an extraordinary debut season in the NHL.

The Penguins have 23 games remaining, beginning with a visit by Ottawa to Mellon Arena at 7:38 p.m. tomorrow, and there is much the team, and its most celebrated player, can try to accomplish.

Crosby is hard-wired to focus on team objectives, not individual ones, but there are a few personal achievements with his grasp.

He trails Washington's Alexander Ovechkin, 69-65, in the rookie scoring race and is widely regarded as being behind him in the competition for the Calder Trophy, which goes to the NHL's top rookie. With more than a quarter of the season left, Crosby has a chance to hurdle Ovechkin on both counts.
He's well aware of the situation but hardly consumed by it. He figures, probably with good reason, that getting up in such things would be counterproductive.

"I'd love to have the opportunity to win [the rookie scoring title], but I don't think that's something that's going to be in my mind," Crosby said. "I've played hockey enough to know that when you start thinking about those things, you're not worrying about doing your job and playing.

"I'm going to try to have the strongest 23 games possible. Everyone knows [the Calder] is based on your season. If I can focus on just finishing off the year as strong as possible, having the best however many games I play, we'll see what happens."

This season will go down as one of the most disappointing in Penguins history, and the list of players who did not perform to expectations is practically as long as the roster. Crosby will be nowhere near it, because he has exceeded all but the most outrageous expectations anyone could have had for an 18-year-old.

"He's really dependable," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said, "and he takes a lot of pride in the way he plays."

More important, Crosby is astute enough to realize that, as good as he is, he can upgrade every facet of his game.

"I'm always trying to work on everything," he said. "I don't think you can ever stop learning. I'm trying to stay open-minded, learn new things. Find any way I can to get an edge."

That mind-set has allowed him to improve dramatically in his own zone -- "That's something I really tried to work on as the year went along," he said. "I'm still learning a lot, but I think I've learned to be responsible defensively" -- and on faceoffs.

It's no coincidence that Crosby, who was 30-62 on draws in his first five games in the league, was 61-65 in the five games leading up to the Olympic break.

"When he started as a centerman when I got here, he was struggling with his faceoffs," Therrien said. "Now, he's worked at it -- worked at it after practice -- and he's really, really decent. There are lots of games when he's probably one of the best centermen on faceoffs."

And there will be a lot more, for a lot of years. The Penguins believed they were getting a player around whom they could build when they drafted Crosby in July; now, there can be no doubt that they did.

"He's a leader of that team," Therrien said. "He's a great example for young players, with his work ethic. He makes a huge commitment to fitness. He makes a huge commitment to what it takes to become a great player."

(Dave Molinari can be reached at 412-263-1144.)

Bob Smizik: When topic is incompetence Penguins have all the answers

Saturday, February 25, 2006
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

With the Steelers' season memorably behind us and with the baseball season in the early days of spring training, it's about the right time to discuss Pittsburgh's least successful pro sports franchise.

We're talking about a team that has taken losing to new heights, a team that has displayed inadequacy in every phase of the game, a team that rightfully calls last place home.
We're talking about, of course, the ... Penguins.

That's right, the Penguins.

Pretty much while no one was noticing the Penguins have eclipsed the Pirates as the city's worst franchise. No, the Penguins can't match the Pirates' long string of futility, which includes 13 consecutive losing seasons. But it's what the Penguins have done lately that is so, uh, impressive.
Truth be known, for sheer incompetence the Pirates can't match the Penguins.

The Pirates have finished last in divisional play once in the past seven years. The Penguins are headed for a fourth consecutive last-place finish. What's more, every year they get worse.

In 2001-02, coach Ivan Hlinka was fired after four games and the Penguins won 28 times on their way to a fifth-place finish in the five-team Atlantic Division. They fell to 27 wins in 2003 and 23 in 2004, with both totals leaving them in last place. This season, with 23 games remaining, the Penguins have 14 wins and might not reach 20. Not only are they in last place in the Atlantic Division, they have fewer points than any team in the NHL.

The mark of a truly bad team is one that continually gets worse. The Penguins are that.

What is so special about these woeful records is that often there has been legitimate high expectations for the team, something only a small band of cockeyed optimists have had for the Pirates.

In 2001-02, the Penguins were coming off an appearance in the conference finals and, with Mario Lemieux back with the team, there were expectations of something similar. Then, Hlinka was fired. He was replaced by Rick Kehoe, a loyal soldier of the Penguins' organization but with no qualifications for the job other than a close proximity to general manager Craig Patrick, who doesn't like to get bogged down in messy job searches.

This season, expectations were over the top. Not only had the Penguins drafted Sidney Crosby -- the rare player who has lived up to his hype -- they had acquired a handful of high-priced veterans who figured to take the team deep in the playoffs, if not all the way. That was particularly true because the team, we were told, had such an outstanding crop of young talent.

After going 11-46-5 in 2003-04, these young Penguins had rallied to go 12-5-3 in their final 20 games. It was a remarkable turnaround and, we were led to believe, this was a team that would only get better in the future.

The leading scorers from that team were Dick Tarnstrom, Aleksey Morozov, Ryan Malone, Milan Kraft, Rico Fata, Ric Jackman and Konstantin Koltsov.

Not exactly a group to build around, though. The remaining players from that group are Malone, experiencing an immensely disappointing season, Jackman, who can barely get on the ice, and Koltsov, the once-heralded No. 1 draft choice who has no goals and two assists in 37 games.

Like the Pirates, the Penguins have become superb in building up the hopes of fans with bogus prospects.

Pittsburgh, we're told incessantly, is a blue-collar town that cherishes defense. The Penguins are 30th and last in the NHL in goals allowed, as they were in 2003-04. In the two seasons before that, they were 29th and 26th. Even the Pirates' harshest critics would have to admit they haven't been close to that level of incompetence in some time.

We hear a lot of cheerleading about how the Penguins are set for the future with Crosby, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and prospect Evgeni Malkin, said to be the equal of Crosby. No question, that has the look of a formidable threesome. But it takes more than three players.

That's what is so troubling. When it comes to building a team, the Penguins are clueless. In the front office, Patrick's moves continue to defy belief. For administrative incompetence, the Penguins have it all over the Pirates.

If the team's future is at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, its top minor-league club, why is this young talent being groomed by Joe Mullen? Mullen was a Hall of Fame player, but he has no credentials as a head coach and his only experience as a Penguins assistant were under Kehoe and Eddie Olczyk, two failed regimes.

The only hope is the somewhat level playing field put in place after a work stoppage eliminated the 2004-05 season. Such circumstances should allow a team to become competitive. But with one as mired deeply in defeat as the Penguins, that's a hard concept to grasp.

Sidney Crosby will need better players around him if the Penguins want to get better.

(Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com.)

Joe Starkey: Canada got what it deserved

Joe Starkey
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, February 24, 2006

When he played, Wayne Gretzky saw everything.

Now, apparently, he sees nothing.

His top assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes was allegedly involved in a gambling ring?

Had no idea.

His wife allegedly placed $100,000 worth of bets in said gambling ring?

Um, you'll have to ask her.

Team Canada was bounced from the Olympics in humiliating fashion?

We're assuming even Gretzky knows about that, seeing as he's the one who formed Canada's roster.

He couldn't have mangled the job any worse.

Somebody must have forgotten to hand Mr. Oblivious a copy of the NHL scoring leaders when it came time to choose his Olympic team. He would have seen that Carolina's swift-skating, 6-foot-4 center, Eric Staal, was among the top few on the list (and is currently third with 75 points). Staal is a legitimate MVP candidate in the league, but he wasn't good enough for Team Canada.

Neither was Sidney Crosby, who is 12th in the NHL in scoring (sixth among Canadian players) and undoubtedly would have used his blazing speed to torture opponents on the large Olympic ice surface.
Crosby, 18, and Staal, 21, evidently were too young to play for Team Can't-ada (and you didn't know there was an age limit).
It's incredible that so many Canadian observers aren't convinced that Staal and Crosby would have made a major difference. Did they not see what Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin did for Team Russia?

Canada's brass outsmarted itself, opting for the likes of Kris Draper, Todd Bertuzzi and Shane Doan (Doan being one of Gretzky's players in Phoenix). They weren't going to choose the best players, or the players having the best years. They were going to fill out their team with "role players."

The truth is that great players can play just about any role. In fact, they ought to be able to play a given role better than a role player. Mario Lemieux, when he felt so inclined, was the best penalty killer in NHL history.

Bertuzzi was an idiotic choice from day one, a bad penalty waiting to happen and a potential public-relations nightmare because of his well-known assault on a defenseless opponent during a game two years ago.

Gretzky instead could have picked a PR sensation in Crosby but obviously had his team chosen before the season. He and his cabinet - including Kevin Lowe, Steve Tambellini, Pat Quinn, Ken Hitchcock, Jacques Martin and Wayne Fleming - favored experience above all else. As if nothing had changed since Canada won a gold medal four years ago in Salt Lake City.

Did this team really need Kris Draper?

Simon Gagne wasn't exactly an inspired pick, either. His unusually high goal total this season is largely the result of playing next to Peter Forsberg.

How fitting it was that Ovechkin beat the Canadians with Bertuzzi sitting in the penalty box on account of a foolish offensive-zone interference penalty.

Canada did not score in 15 of its final 16 periods. Long after the last one of those, Gretzky still didn't get it, lamenting to NBC's Bob Costas the fact that Canada was without Lemieux and fellow fossil Steve Yzerman.

Lemieux, on the other hand, spoke the truth at his retirement news conference when he said today's game is for the younger players. Somebody should deliver the message to Mr. Oblivious, and, while they're at it, to the boys running Team USA.

Joe Starkey is a sports writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He can be reached at jstarkey@tribweb.com

Barry Melrose: Sad to see another great leave NHL

Special to ESPN.comArchive

I really hate seeing great players retire. We all do, no matter the sport. But the NHL has lost some of the all-time best this season. Mark Messier, Ron Francis, Al MacInnis, Scott Stevens, to name a few. Now, Mario Lemieux.

There was so much optimism for the Pittsburgh Penguins before the start of the season. The team drafted Sidney Crosby and signed veteran free agents such as Sergei Gonchar and John LeClair. The new rules, something Lemieux fought long and hard for, would benefit his game. The fact that Mario was even coming back was the icing on the cake. Everyone thought the Pens would be a playoff team.

Unfortunately, outside of Crosby's performance, nothing has worked out right in Pittsburgh. But don't read too much into that regarding Lemieux's second stint in the NHL. Overall, his return was definitely a success. I was in Pittsburgh the night he came back in December 2000, and when you watched him then, he was as good as ever.

So many of us thought his first retirement at age 34 was too soon. He was in the prime of his life. If he wasn't healthy back then, he would not have come back. Now that he's 40, and the game is much faster under the new rules, it was the right time for Mario to retire, but I certainly wish it weren't. I love watching him play. But given his health issues and the state of the franchise, would his playing at this point help the team? No.

Now, the argument will resurface: Is Super Mario the best ever? It's a great argument, but overall, I still believe Wayne Gretzky was the best player to ever play in the NHL. You can't argue against Wayne's numbers and his longevity. Longevity is part of what makes a player great, and it's an unfair argument to say "what if Lemieux was healthy?"

But I will say this: Mario Lemieux was the most physically gifted person to play in the league. His size (6-foot-5, 230 pounds), his speed, his hands, the way he saw the ice -- that physical combination will be very difficult to match. No big man has been able to do the things Mario could do.

As for the future, Lemieux will still be a part of the franchise, doing everything he can to keep the team in Pittsburgh. Bottom line: He's the only reason there is still a team in Pittsburgh. No one has given more to Pittsburgh. They owe him.

So, when you think of Lemieux, think of him as that big physical, presence, think of him as Pittsburgh's savior. Think of the Canadian, skating up the ice with Wayne Gretzky in the 1987 Canada Cup, Lemieux driving up the middle, taking a perfect pass from Gretzky on a two-on-one and scoring the winner against Russia.

Think of Mario as one of the greatest. I'll miss watching him.

Barry Melrose, a former NHL defenseman and coach, is a hockey analyst for ESPN.

Scott Burnside: Lemieux's Second Stint Completed Career

Updated: Jan. 24, 2006, 7:26 PM ET

Lemieux's second stint made career more complete

By Scott Burnside
ESPN.com

We were there when Mario Lemieux was rushed into the Hockey Hall of Fame back in November 1997, his successes seeming to hang on his shoulders like an ill-fitting coat, as though he knew somehow he had unfinished business.

And we were there, skeptical, when Lemieux announced on Dec. 11, 2000, that he was not done after all, that he believed there was still some magic in the old No. 66.

And we were there again, all skepticism quickly erased, that Dec. 27 when Lemieux's gold and black jersey descended specterlike from the rafters of rickety old Mellon Arena and gently folded into a box moments before Lemieux stepped back onto the ice and notched his first of three points 33 seconds into the game.

So maybe it wasn't just about the money but about something deeper and much less tangible.
The Penguins, behind their captain, rolled to the Eastern Conference finals that spring. The following winter, he captained the Canadian team to the country's first Olympic gold in 50 years and reprised the role two years later as Canada rolled undefeated to a World Cup of Hockey championship.

On Tuesday afternoon, Lemieux closed the circle and finished the picture, walking away from the game once more, this time for good, he said. And what is clear is that there is a natural symmetry to this Lemieux retirement.

There will be a temptation to simply add Lemieux's name to a list of elite players who might be considered victims of the lockout and the new, up-tempo NHL.

Mark Messier, Scott Stevens, Al MacInnis and Vincent Damphousse all retired before the season started. Brett Hull retired early in the season. Dave Andreychuk recently was waived by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

And to be sure, Lemieux was rarely a factor this season. Long before heart problems surfaced (he said Tuesday that he is contemplating having surgery in the next month or so), Lemieux seemed at times out of place, out of sync. He scored 22 points in 26 games and was a whopping minus-16.

"If I could play this game at a decent level, I would come back and play, but I've not been able to do that thus far this year. I don't see it getting any better as time goes on," Lemieux said. "And this is really the new NHL, and it's built on speed and young guys; you can see how many young guys are dominating, and it's great to see. It hasn't happened in a lot of years. If I could still play this game, I'd be back on the ice."

For those who like their departures with a dose of irony, Lemieux's retirement Part II has a healthy portion. After years of Lemieux complaining that the game's skill players were being dragged down by the muckers and plodders, the NHL has become what he wanted, just a little late for Lemieux to fully enjoy.

But Lemieux has earned the right to walk out of the NHL on his own terms. Indeed, he always has set his own clock.

In 1997, tired of fighting a chronic back problem and Hodgkin's disease and dissatisfied with the state of the game, Lemieux took his leave.

At the time, he said he thought he was gone for good, and the hockey powers believed it to be so, rushing him into the Hall of Fame that November, bypassing the normal three-year waiting period.

When Lemieux returned in December 2000, a year after leading an ownership group that bought the team out of bankruptcy, many believed it was merely a dollars-and-cents move, an effort to make sure he got his money out of the team.

It turned out to be about more bedrock issues, like family and pride and a burning desire to compete, issues people believed did not motivate the sometimes dispassionate Lemieux.

Watching Lemieux collect an incredible 76 points in 43 games during the last half of the 2000-2001 season was a perpetual exercise in suspension of disbelief, as though his very presence on the ice defied the laws of time, space and nature.

It didn't last, but even when injuries once again began to take their toll, Lemieux surprised many with the breadth of his passion for the game.

After accepting the captaincy of Canada's Olympic team, a hobbled Lemieux essentially sacrificed his entire NHL season to take part in the Salt Lake City Games. Penguins fans were understandably upset that Lemieux played only a handful of games after the Olympics, but his presence on Team Canada was instrumental to the gold-medal win and redefined his profile in Canada, where he always had existed in Wayne Gretzky's shadow. He was no longer the uncomfortable French Canadian teen who went off to save the Steeltown team but rather a player who could wrap himself in the flag even if it meant tremendous personal sacrifice.

Off the ice in recent months, Lemieux once again has been a surprise, tirelessly and eloquently campaigning for the funds to build a new arena that is crucial to the team's continued existence in Pittsburgh. The team is now for sale, and Lemieux said he will help shepherd the franchise through to a new ownership group. Beyond that? Who knows?

The team, in spite of its woeful state, has a handful of bright young stars led by Lemieux's houseguest Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury.

The Penguins face a long climb back to respectability. But so, too, did the Pens back in 1984, when the shy Francophone named Mario Lemieux arrived in the city.

On Tuesday, Lemieux closed the door to the dressing room one last time, again revealing a depth of emotion that was both surprising and gratifying.

"That's always the toughest part. Being around the dressing room with the guys, being able to play this game. So that's going to be a challenge, but I think I'm ready for it," he said, pausing to keep his emotions in check.

"All I can say for the young players is enjoy every moment of it," Lemieux went on, once again pausing for a long moment. "Just enjoy every moment of it. Your career goes by very quickly. And it's a great game and you guys are all very special to be in the NHL, very privileged, so enjoy every minute of it."

Scott Burnside is an NHL writer for ESPN.com.

Michael Farber: Lemieux's Second Act Closes

Mario the player eventually became Mario the human

Posted: Tuesday January 24, 2006 2:06PM;
Updated: Tuesday January 24, 2006 8:12P
Sports Illustrated

More health problems finally forced Mario to call it quits again.

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To hell with F. Scott Fitzgerald. There are second acts in America (and Canada), acts even better than the first one, as in the case of Mario Lemieux.

There also are, sadly, second retirements.

On Tuesday, Lemieux said goodbye to hockey a second time, this time more of a proper farewell than he afforded the game -- or the game afforded him -- the first time. The Pittsburgh Penguins center orginally left after a 1997 playoff loss in Philadelphia, escaping faster than the Barrow Gang after a bank heist. He didn't walk away from the NHL, he sprinted.

After battling Hodgkin's Disease and chronic back problems, his hockey immune system rejected the "garage league" he thought he was leaving behind forever, the on-ice rodeo in which players with his glorious skill were not allowed to exhibit it. Almost since the day he entered the league as a pimply 18-year old, there were damning whispers Lemieux didn't have much passion for the game. What originated as a smear, based largely on his languid style on the ice and his diffidence off it, ultimately became an apt description.

If Lemieux didn't love the game by that point, it shouldn't have been startling that the game really didn't love him back. Outside of Pittsburgh, no one seemed to notice, or care, that he had retired. This was not a long goodbye, but a quick good riddance to a player who inarguably was among the 10 best in history. Gone in 60 seconds, forgotten in 60 minutes.

Maybe the gaps in his résumé, a product of his injury and illness, had given the hockey world enough of a glimpse of life post-Mario that when he did bolt almost nine years ago, it did not seem to be the major loss his retirement seems now.

The reason: In his way, Mario II was more impressive than Mario I.

This notion seems so counter-intuitive. Mario II was never a sure bet to be in the lineup, let alone on the scoresheet. Mario I was flat phenomenal. He had only one peer, Wayne Gretzky, during much of his first act, and you could have a splendid barstool argument over which was better in his prime.

Like Gretzky, Lemieux recorded Nintendo numbers. Like Gretzky, he became the foundation of a Stanley Cup-winning franchise, although it took him seven years to win his first Cup; Gretzky needed five. Lemieux once scored five goals in a game five different ways: even-strength, power play, short-handed, penalty shot and empty net, proof that the man who scored on his first shot on his first NHL shift really could do it all. With his reach and vision and underrated hockey IQ, he turned plumbers into 40-goal scorers (Warren Young) and made good Penguins teams into champions.

Of course the Lemieux who returned after a 3½-year hiatus was not the same player. More important, he was not the same person. His first game back, in late December 2000, at Mellon Arena, was an emotionally dappled triumph as his retired No. 66 came down from the rafters. But the spotlights that night felt more like soft backlights that cast a flattering glow on Lemieux, something that had escaped him even during his 199-point season of 1988-89 or the pair of Cup runs in 1991 and 1992.

He had shrunk some as a player, grown mightily as a man. He seemed more human somehow, at peace with his changing skills and himself.

There was an economic imperative for his returning to the ice -- the bankrupt franchise owed him millions and the Penguins were worth more with him as a leader than a creditor -- but his desire to impress his young son, Austin, who had no recollection of his father as a player, seemed as genuine as it was charming. Lemieux had more time now, time for the game he had missed and time for the people around it. He viscerally enjoyed hockey now, and fans began to enjoy him more than they did a decade earlier.

Lemieux had 35 goals and 76 points in 43 games during that wondrous half season, a 1.77 points-per-game average that exceeded scoring leader and teammate Jaromir Jagr by more than a quarter of a point. The question: Was Mario that good or was the rest of the league that ordinary?

In 2000-01, Lemieux had not returned for a victory lap. He had returned for some victories.
No longer the dazzling scorer who terrorized goalies, he was more of a conduit. Lemieux did not control the play, but it almost always came through him. Literally. In Salt Lake City, he opened his legs, like making a dummy in soccer, and let a puck slide through to a teammate in the offensive zone for an easy goal.

Lemieux would be captain of the first Canadian team in 50 years to win Olympic gold, even though he would play in just 24 games that season because of a hip injury sustained in early October. If Pittsburgh resented his scratching an Olympic jones at the expense of the Penguins, he has long since been forgiven.

With Lemieux, there was always something. Cancer. Back. Hip. Now heart. The atrial fibrillation flared during the summer, but his appetite for the game wouldn't allow him to shut it down until Dec. 16, when his condition deteriorated and he had no choice. The Penguins had won the lottery -- the rights to Sidney Crosby -- and he was not about to disappear again without at least trying out some of the winnings.

Other than perhaps Rocket Richard and Montreal, no player in hockey history is so intimately linked with one city, one franchise. Lemieux saved the Penguins in 1984 as a rookie, won them championships as a veteran, and saved them again as an owner. He has put them up for sale as the eternal new arena-watch continues, intent on selling to someone who plans to keep the team in Pittsburgh.

Of course, there are no guarantees. As Lemieux knows better than anyone, sometimes life gets in the way. Those slam-dunk free agents of the summer -- Sergei Gonchar, Ziggy Palffy, Jocelyn Thibault -- haven't worked out. New coach Michel Therien has savaged his players, and the Penguins have devolved into a dysfunctional mess.

Maybe Mario III can figure it out before the team implodes or moves, but he will have a tough act, Mario II, to follow.


Find this article at: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/michael_farber/01/24/mario/index.html

AP: Mario Lemieux is Retiring Again

Jan 24, 11:39 AM EST

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Penguins star and owner Mario Lemieux, one of hockey's greatest players, is retiring for the second time, a team official said Tuesday.

Lemieux, a Hall of Famer who won Stanley Cups and scoring titles and then battled through cancer and heart problems in a comeback, will announce his decision at a news conference later Tuesday.

The team official requested anonymity because a formal announcement had not been made.
Lemieux's retirement was first reported on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Web site.

The 40-year-old Lemieux learned in early December he has atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that can cause his pulse to flutter wildly and must be controlled by medication.
Lemieux, the NHL's seventh-leading career scorer with 1,723 points, tried to return a week after being hospitalized with the problem, but it flared up again during a Dec. 16 game against Buffalo and he has not played since.

Lemieux has been practicing the last several weeks with the intent on returning this season but, with the Penguins stuck in a 10-game losing streak and with no hope of them making the playoffs, decided to quit playing for a second time.

He also retired after the 1996-97 season following years of back problems and a 1993 cancer scare in which he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, but he returned midway through the 2000-01 season and has played since.

However, he has again fought through injuries - including two major hip problems - that caused him to miss most of the 2001-02 and 2003-04 seasons. He had seven goals and 15 assists in 26 games this season.

Lemieux, a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee in 1997, led the Penguins - the NHL's worst team before he was drafted in 1984 - to successive Stanley Cup championships in 1991 and 1992. He won six NHL scoring titles, three MVP awards and two Conn Smythe awards as the Stanley Cup playoffs MVP.

Lemieux, who wore No. 66 throughout his career, scored 690 goals and had 1,033 assists in 915 career games. He also became the first major pro sports star to buy the team for which he played, assembling a group that bought the team in federal bankruptcy court in 1999.

Lemieux's group has owned the team since but announced last week it is selling - a possible prelude to the team leaving Pittsburgh in June 2007. The team has partnered with a casino company that is promising to build the Penguins a new $290 million arena if it obtains a slot machine parlor license for downtown Pittsburgh, but there appears to be little hope the team will stay if there is no new arena.

One reason Lemieux is selling is because he doesn't want to be the owner who relocates the team from Pittsburgh.

After his stunning return in December 2000, which surprised even his close friends, Lemieux helped the Penguins to the Eastern Conference final that season but the team has not made the playoffs since.

© 2006 The Associated Press.

Penguins put up for sale

Lemieux says sales process 'just starting'
Thursday, January 19, 2006

By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Penguins owner Mario Lemieux said yesterday that he and his partners have been approached by "a few groups" interested in purchasing the franchise and that he plans to begin negotiating with them.

Even if the team is sold, Mr. Lemieux said, the new owners will be bound by agreements he and his partners have struck. That includes a promise to remain in Pittsburgh if a coalition assembled by the Penguins is awarded the license to run a slots parlor Downtown.

Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. would operate the slots parlor and has pledged $290 million toward construction of an arena if it gets the license. The Penguins, in turn, have committed to stay here if the city gets an up-to-date facility to replace Mellon Arena.

"I think we've done pretty much everything we can do, as far as setting up the franchise for the future," Mr. Lemieux said. The Penguins have "a plan with Isle of Capri to make sure this franchise stays in Pittsburgh forever, which has always been my goal. I really feel that we've set it up to do that if the right things happen."

Mr. Lemieux did not identify any of the groups that have approached the Penguins about buying the team. He added that he has "nothing in mind" about a potential price for the franchise, believing that the offers he receives will set its market value.

"I'm sure there are going to be a few bids," he said. "That's how the process works."

Mr. Lemieux also plans to step down as the Penguins' CEO, a position that will be assumed by president Ken Sawyer, but remain as chairman of the board.

Mr. Lemieux said that Mr. Sawyer was the logical choice to take over as CEO because he "really has been running the franchise on a day-to-day basis, so it's not really a big change. He's been doing all the work the last few years."

The team's board of directors is expected to approve the change when it meets tomorrow.

Mr. Lemieux, inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997, resumed his playing career in 2000, little more than three years after he retired. He currently is on the injured-reserve list because of an irregular heartbeat, although he has resumed practicing with the team and plans to return to the lineup this season.

He said, however, that he has not decided whether to retire again this spring.

Mr. Lemieux was owed more than $20 million by the Penguins' previous owners and got control of the franchise when it came out of bankruptcy in 1999. He made it clear almost immediately that he didn't plan to own the team forever, but only recently has he decided to investigate proposals to purchase it.

"We've had a lot of inquiries lately, the last three or four months, a lot of interest in the team," Mr. Lemieux said. "I think this is the right timing for us to look at those and explore all the options that we have. That's what I'm going to start doing."

Although the Penguins have had a disappointing season -- their 11-26-9 record is the second-worst in the 30-team NHL -- their on-ice future is quite promising. They have an unrivaled stable of young talent, headlined by Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury and Evgeni Malkin, a Russian teenager scheduled to play here in 2006-07.

"This franchise is going to be good for many years, with all the young kids we have," Mr. Lemieux said. "That's probably why there's a lot of interest [from prospective buyers]. They see that this team, in a year or two, could be a force in this league."

It could, however, be a force in Kansas City, Houston or Las Vegas, if there isn't a new arena here. The Penguins' lease at Mellon Arena expires in 2007 and, unless plans for a new arena are in place before then, it's a given that the franchise will relocate, regardless of who owns it.

Team officials have contended for years that keeping the Penguins viable in this market required two things: a more owner-friendly collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and its players, and a facility that could generate the revenue needed to underwrite a competitive team.

"We had to fix the [collective bargaining agreement], which we did," Mr. Lemieux said. "Now, we need a new arena for the team to stay here."

Mr. Lemieux praised the 18 political and civic leaders who publicly declared support for the Penguins' arena-related plans last week, and said he hopes others will do likewise.

"I think that was great when they came out in favor of our plan," he said. "That's a good sign. We need more of that from our local politicians and leaders, to get behind us and make sure this franchise is here for a long time."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Dave Molinari can be reached at 412-263-1144.)

Crosby's First Canadian Tour a Hit

It's Sidney in Wonderland as first pro trip to Canada turns into smash hit on and off ice

Thursday, January 05, 2006
By Robert Dvorchak, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

MONTREAL -- He was on the front page of the French and English newspapers, and he was mobbed like a rock star by autograph seekers at almost every turn in his return to Canada. Still, Sidney Crosby relished quiet moments the most.

Take the routine optional practice skate yesterday in the Montreal suburb of Verdun. The barn-like auditorium with its quaint wooden seats, now Denis Savard Arena, was where his father, Troy, plied his trade as a goalie in the Canadiens' organization a generation ago.
Crosby was one of 19 Penguins to participate, and later the ascendant star talked about how he and his dad swapped stories about the old rink while providing a glimpse of the generational hold that the game has in this hockey-mad country.
"For me it was nice, but for him even more so," Crosby said the day after he scored two goals and was the No. 1 star in a game vs. the Montreal Canadiens, which he grew up worshipping in Nova Scotia.

"As soon I told him [about the practice], it seemed like he wanted to tell me as much as he could about the rink and what it was like to play there. I think it kind of gave him an opportunity to talk about it more than usual." he added.
Crosby beamed as he spoke of watching old game tapes of his father when hockey players wore long uniform pants.

Troy Crosby won a championship in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with Verdun, but he also had to face such sharpshooters as a young Mario Lemieux. One story from December 1983 documented how Lemieux beat Troy Crosby with a 50-foot slap shot.
Asked whether he had talked to his dad about the time Lemieux beat him for a goal, Crosby quipped: "Which one?"

The morning skate was part of the Crosby Magical Mystery Tour -- whenever he appears, items from jerseys to framed pictures appear along with pleas for him to sign autographs.
As Crosby made his way from the rink to the team bus through a mob of five dozen or so fans, Penguins vice president Tom McMillan was swept up in the crush and pinned for a moment against the team bus. It was a fitting end to Crosby's first trip back to Canada as an NHL player for regular-season games in his homeland.

Earlier this week in Toronto, Crosby and McMillan left their hotel in a Lincoln Town Car. As they headed to the morning skate, autograph seekers gave chase, hopping into five cabs to form a convoy. Crosby's black car eluded them by pulling into the rink via a delivery truck gate. The scene was reminiscent of Beatlemania in "A Hard Day's Night."
As expected, the Canadian media turned out in full force to chronicle Crosby's return. In Toronto, Crosby sat behind a table full of microphones while a dozen TV cameras filmed him and 12 reporters posed questions.

The media turnout in Montreal, the soul of hockey, was larger. Sporting his Reebok hat, Crosby answered questions in French and English in a room usually reserved for the Canadiens' hierarchy.
Asked about the media attention, Crosby said, "It doesn't get old. ... That's just the way it is. I've accepted that."
One other standard question concerned Don Cherry, the loudly opinionated voice of Coach's Corner on "Hockey Night in Canada." Cherry has never met Crosby, but he ridiculed Michel Therrien's coaching decision to anoint Crosby with the "A" of assistant captain as if it were a scarlet letter for an 18-year-old.

"For me, I'm not going to get into a battle with Don Cherry," Crosby said in taking the high road. "... Everyone's not going to have a great opinion about you no matter what you do," he added. "... He has his viewpoints. ... The only opinions I care about are those from my teammates."
Therrien had been concerned enough about the media glare to meet with Crosby to make sure he stayed focused on the games. Crosby responded with an assist in Toronto and two goals against the Canadiens, the first one on his first shot in the arena where he watched his first NHL game as a fan six years ago. (Having reached 20 goals, Crosby now gets a $212,000 bonus as part of his incentive clauses.)

Therrien shrugged off questions about Crosby's status as a team leader even though he would have two years of eligibility for the Canadian junior team.
"Check his stats. You'll find the answer," Therrien said.
In the seven games since he received the "A" for his sweater and moved back to center, Crosby has 13 points and trails Washington's Alexander Ovechkin by a point in the rookie scoring race.
"Sid's a leader by the way he plays," Therrien said.
The media glare may soften a bit as the Penguins prepare to play the Thrashers in Atlanta. And Crosby is doing a cover shoot today for ESPN Magazine.

(Bob Dvorchak can be reached at bdvorchak@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1959.)

What a difference five years make for Penguins and Lemieux

Tuesday, December 27, 2005
By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

More Coverage:
Penguins Notebook: Travel, injury put Therrien in bind

Five years ago, much about the setting was similar.

The calendar read Dec. 27. The Penguins, owned by Mario Lemieux, were preparing to play the Toronto Maple Leafs at Mellon Arena. The day and month, the teams and the site will be the same tonight, but the game against Toronto will have a much different flavor.

On this date in 2000, Lemieux was the man of the hour. That was the night he ended his retirement and returned to the team, this time as player/owner.

After an emotional, invigorating pregame ceremony in front of a standing-room crowd of 17,148, Lemieux had a goal and two assists to lead a 5-0 rout of the Maple Leafs.

Don't expect any eerie repeats tonight.

Lemieux still owns and plays for the team, but he is out of the lineup while being evaluated for a heartbeat irregularity. As of last night, tickets were still available. The Penguins have not shut out an opponent this season and, for that matter, are struggling to beat anyone.

And there will be no carefully planned salutes before the game.

"It was electrifying," Penguins assistant general manager and interim assistant coach Eddie Johnston said yesterday of that night five years ago. "It was amazing just to be there."

The Penguins, who had retired Lemieux's No. 66, lowered the commemorative banner from the roof to signify that the man who had steered them to two Stanley Cup championships in the early 1990s was returning.

"Just to have [Lemieux] back ... I don't think people realized how hard he worked to be able to come back because he wouldn't come back unless he could play at a certain level," Johnston said. "Then, he stepped on the ice, and you knew he was back right away."

Just 33 seconds into the game, Lemieux, from behind the net, set up Jaromir Jagr for the game's first goal and the first of Lemieux's three points.

Although he had been off the ice more than three years, since April 26, 1997, Lemieux was running on more than adrenaline from the atmosphere that night.

He kept up the production and had 35 goals, 76 points in 43 games and helped the Penguins reach the Eastern Conference final.

"It didn't just help our club; the rest of the year, you couldn't get into anyplace we went. It was great," said Johnston, who, as the Penguins' general manager drafted Lemieux first overall in 1984 and has watched the Hall of Fame forward's career closely.

"I can't believe it's been five years [since the comeback]. It seems like yesterday."

For the franchise, it has been a long five years. With financial constraints, the team failed to make the playoffs the following three seasons, before the 2004-05 season was wiped out by a work stoppage. Now, it is faced with the possibility of being sold and moved if there are no imminent plans for a new local arena.

With hopes raised by a new collective bargaining agreement, the Penguins retooled their roster for this season, building it around Lemieux and another top overall pick, Sidney Crosby.
Yet they are last in the Eastern Conference, despite having changed coaches and a few faces in the lineup.

When the puck drops tonight, with Lemieux's absence, there will be no Penguins players or coaches who were there five years ago on the night of the comeback.
One person who was on the bench that night and will be tonight is longtime equipment manager Steve Latin.

"It was like he'd never been gone," Latin said. "He just slowed the whole game down to his pace and he just did what he wanted to do."

Latin said Lemieux is a creature of habit, not one who jumps at change, so the equipment that Lemieux used that night was, for the most part, the same that Latin had saved when Lemieux retired.

So for Latin, the impact of Lemeiux's return hit not during the pregame ceremony but moments earlier.

"It was just exciting seeing him in the dressing room getting dressed again," Latin said.

(Shelly Anderson can be reached at shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721.)

Bob Smizik: Therrien preaching new gospel to Penguins

New coach sees bright future for team
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Used to be when the Penguins practiced at the Island Sports Center they would leave their homes, drive their vehicles to the complex at Neville Island, dress for practice, practice, change back into their street clothes and drive home.

Not anymore.

This week when the Penguins practice at Neville Island, they drive their vehicles to Mellon Arena, where they dress, board a bus for the Island Sports Center, practice, get back on the bus for a ride back to Mellon Arena, then participate in off-ice conditioning, then change back into their street clothes, then drive home.

There's a new sheriff at Mellon Arena, and he doesn't buy into the country-club atmosphere that has prevailed for too long with this franchise.

Coach Michel Therrien is 0-2 since succeeding Eddie Olczyk last week, but his distinct style is inspiring hope in what is an otherwise awful season. Therrien preaches discipline and hard work, which are new-age ideas for the Penguins. He brings a calm presence that the franchise badly needs. His strong personality is reassuring to an organization that has jumped from coach to coach without ever believing in any of them.

Therrien brings a gospel that inspires belief.

A recently as a week ago the Penguins thought they had a system with structure along with discipline and conditioning. Once Therrien took over, they learned they had none of that.

Step by step, game by game, Therrien is attempting to remold a mind-set -- that starts at the top of the organization -- which believes that offensive talent is all that's needed to succeed in the NHL. As the current edition of the Penguins, a roster filled with impressive offensive resumes, has discovered, that doesn't work anymore and hasn't for some time.

General manager Craig Patrick insisted that the system being used by the Penguins was the same one employed by the team's top minor-league affiliate at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where Therrien was the coach until last week. Thirty minutes into Therrien's first practice it was pretty clear what he was teaching was not what Olczyk had been teaching.

There was little Therrien could do taking over one day before a home-and-home series with the streaking Buffalo Sabres. The Penguins lost both games, but it gave Therrien a chance to see what he had and a chance for all the players to see their new coach in game circumstances.

When the Sabres took a 2-0 lead only seven minutes into the second game between the teams, Therrien called a time out and delivered a profanity-laced tirade that got his team's attention. The Penguins outscored the Sabres, 3-2, the rest of the way but lost, 4-3.

Olczyk, a first-class guy who had no previous professional coaching experience, treated his players like men, and they responded by not responding to his motivation. Therrien won't accept that and will resort to whatever level of treatment is necessary to obtain results.

"Why did I call a timeout?" Therrien said in his office at Mellon Arena yesterday. "Because concentration was not there and our work ethic was not there. I'm never going to accept that."

There is no mystique about Therrien's system, and he makes no attempt to portray himself as some kind of innovative genius.

"A lot of team use this system," he said. "It's not new. I'm not the guy who invented the game."
Then he spoke of what sets him apart.

"I like to pay attention to details. I'm really strict about where we're supposed to play. I know when a team plays all together inside the structure, that's a tool a hockey team can use to win some games.

"That's all I can do. I can put a system in place, I can bring some structure to the hockey team. I can bring conditioning. But the players still have to play."

He asks a lot of his players, but not more than they can give.

"I don't demand a guy scores two goals or three goals," he said. "What I'm demanding is that if you have a dollar in your pocket, I'm expecting that you give me one dollar. If all you have is 50 cents, bring me your 50 cents, and you'll be fine."

Therrien didn't have to jump at the opportunity to coach the Penguins and probably didn't. He had to know another NHL team would come along shortly for someone with his resume, which includes coaching the Montreal Canadiens. But he took the job -- after leveraging enough power that he was able to bring assistant Mike Yeo and strength coach Stephane Dube, both highly regarded, to help with this massive turnaround -- with high hopes.

What attracted him was not just the chance to get back in the NHL but what he had been watching at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
"I know this team," he said. "I know the young players. We've got a bright future, and I want to be part of it."

(Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com.)

Ron Cook: It's now time for the great No. 66 to retire

[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.)