The NHL / Chris Baker : Lemieux Hopes He’ll Earn a Paycheck That Matches His Talent

Center Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins was the first player picked in the 1984 National Hockey League draft.

He had a dream season as a rookie. For openers, he scored on his first shot in the season opener against Boston, then went on to become only the third rookie in NHL history to score 100 points in a season.

Lemieux was the MVP of the 1985 All-Star game at Calgary and was awarded a new sports car, which he gave to his brother, who works at a supermarket in Montreal. He was also named the NHL Rookie of the Year and was named to the all-rookie team.

Lemieux, who turned 20 just before the start of this season, is off to another good start. He and Mats Naslund of Montreal are tied for second in the NHL scoring race, trailing only Wayne Gretzky. Lemieux has 14 goals and 26 assists in 23 games. He missed a game last week because of a back injury.

The Penguins, who almost moved to Hamilton, Canada, at the end of last season, are playing well. The team has won three straight games and four of its last five.

Now the Penguins are talking about giving Lemieux a new contract that would make him one of the highest-paid players in hockey.

“I would like to be among the top five (highest-paid) players,” Lemieux told a Pittsburgh newspaper. “I think I deserve it.”

Lemieux has one year, plus an option year, left on his original contract. There is a proposal, however, to extend Lemieux’s contract to four years plus an option year. The Penguins have reportedly sent the new contract to Lemieux’s agent in Canada and are waiting for a reply.

Lemieux could probably make a lot more money if he waited until after the NHL Players Assn. (NHLPA) works out a new collective bargaining agreement with the league next September. The NHLPA is attempting to force the owners to loosen the rules on free agency and has threatened to strike.

If the NHLPA succeeds in getting free agency, players like Lemieux could, theoretically at least, command a lot of money in the free market. Wouldn’t the Montreal Canadiens make a big offer to Lemieux, who was born in Montreal?

Lemieux has said that he’s happy in Pittsburgh, though. He does a lot of promotional work for local businesses, and he recently bought a new condominium just outside town. “I’m happy here,” he said. “I’m all settled here.”

King captain Dave Taylor said he got just two letters from fans after he had knocked Wayne Gretzky to the ice with one punch in a game last month.

“One was from a teen-age girl in Philadelphia, who said she would shoot me if I ever hit him again,” Taylor said. “She was just some crazy fan. I didn’t take it seriously. I showed it to my wife and threw it away.”

The other letter supported him.

The Kings threw a surprise party for Taylor, who is celebrating his 30th birthday today.

When Taylor returned home after practice Sunday afternoon, his teammates and friends were waiting for him. The party was arranged by Taylor’s wife.

Dave (Tiger) Williams, who was elected an alternate captain by the Kings earlier this week, edged defenseman Mark Hardy in a close vote.

“I gave them all a copy of my book,” Williams said.

Williams was joking, of course. He doesn’t give anything away. When a Times sportswriter was doing a story on him last season and asked for a copy of the book, Williams offered to sell him one.

Williams’ book, “Tiger, a Hockey Story,” was No. 1 on the Canadian best-seller list last year. Williams said the hard-cover version sold about 50,000 copies.