THE NHL : Lemieux Has Gretzky Within Range

It’s not a reach to predict that Mario Lemieux will shatter many of Wayne Gretzky’s single-season scoring records this season.

--Not when Lemieux possesses the longest reach in the NHL.

--Not when Lemieux’s back is healthy for the first time since the 1988-89 season, when he had 199 points.

--Not when the NHL’s new rules favor the skilled players.

--Not when the NHL is playing four more games this season and Lemieux will play seven games against expansion San Jose, Tampa Bay and Ottawa.

Not when Lemieux is out to prove wrong the skeptics who say he isn’t worth $42 million over seven years.

“The last couple of years my back bothered me so much I couldn’t go out and give 100%,” Lemieux says. “My back is fine now, and I can go out and give 100% and skate harder. I’m feeling strong, and I’m making the right plays so far.”

After 11 games, Lemieux had 16 goals and 20 assists. That’s a 122-goal, 153-assist pace. Gretzky’s records are 92 goals in 1981-82 and 163 assists and 215 points in ‘85-86.

Imagine Cecil Fielder hitting 80 home runs. Or Thurman Thomas rushing for 3,000 yards. Or Dan Marino passing for 8,000 yards. That’s the kind of pace Lemieux is on.

“With the new rules, it’s a lot better for the skilled players to go on the ice and do their jobs,” Lemieux says. “There’s not much interference, hooking or holding. It’s better for the players and the fans.”

Lemieux averaged 2.62 points per game in 1988-89. If Lemieux were to repeat that performance over this season’s 84-game schedule, he would finish with a record 220 points.

Thanks to the league’s new rules, Pittsburgh’s Kevin Stevens and Buffalo’s Pat LaFontaine also were averaging nearly three points per game, and nine others were on a two points per game pace, adding to Lemieux’s chances.

“If he keeps talking to the referee, telling him what to call, he’ll score 350 points,” St. Louis General Manager Ron Caron says. “Seriously, I saw him when he was 16. I saw him when he was 18 and 20. I never thought he had the desire to play as hard as he is playing now.”

Lemieux has risen from Gretzky’s shadow and become the premier player in the NHL. He is making the $42-million question moot. So what if Mario has missed 91 of 240 games the past three seasons because of injuries.

“I’ve heard some grumbling around the league,” Penguins Owner Howard Baldwin says. “But I know I paid less for Mario than the Philadelphia Flyers paid for Eric Lindros. I would rather pay to keep my star than to get another one, especially when Mario is without peer in this game.”

How do you stop Lemieux?

“You don’t,” Blues center Bob Bassen says. “You can ride on his back . . . but unless you tie up those long arms of his, he always seems to find a way to get his stick on the puck. The next thing you know, it’s in the net.”

“The only way anyone has been able to stop Mario in the past was to repeatedly whack at him or grab his stick,” says Flyers forward Mark Recchi, who played with the Penguins until last March. “The league is cracking down on both of those infractions, so stopping Mario is nearly impossible.”

That’s why Lemieux will set all kinds of scoring records this season.

The NHL’s latest demographics show that 17.2% of the league’s players have been born outside North America. That’s up from 11.9% in 1991-92 and nearly double the 8.62 ratio in ‘86-87.

“The league is being taken over by the Europeans,” Flyers Executive Vice President Bobby Clarke. “The way we’re going all the hitting and bodychecking will be gone soon.”

Even if the number of Canadian-born players has decreased to a record-low 66.2% and U.S.-born players have remained in the 16- to 16.9% range for the last four seasons, the new rules have not legislated hitting from the game. Only the hitting from behind and stick-related hits.

“Do I think 1970s hockey will win in the ‘90s? No,” says Whalers General Manager Brian Burke, who is trying to make his team bigger and stronger. “Do I think toughness and gaining respect are critical to success? Absolutely. But if people think my goal is the Hanson brothers in ‘Slapshot,’ they’re dead wrong.”

How good is the Patrick Division? “None of the playoff teams got weaker,” Rangers defenseman Brian Leetch says. “The Islanders are much stronger, and Eric Lindros could give Philadelphia the kind of impact it needs to get back into the playoffs. I don’t see a losing team in the whole division.”

Just one year after defenseman Al Iafrate scored 17 goals and sparked the Capitals’ transition game, he is on the trade block again. His minus-12 plus-minus rating is a big reason for Washington’s sluggish start. . . . Rangers General Manager Neil Smith continues to look for a tough defenseman. Don’t be surprised if he winds up getting Dave Manson from Edmonton in a package that would include Darren Turcotte, Tony Amonte and other considerations. . . . The Red Wings have failed in their attempt to acquire Los Angeles tough guy Marty McSorley. The latest rumor has Jimmy Carson going to San Jose for defenseman Neil Wilkinson.

Keeping no-talent players Jim McKenzie and Stu Grimson has cost the Hartford Whalers and Chicago Blackhawks $10,000 respectively for fights those players started earlier this season. Those end-of-game fights also are no-nos in the NHL this season. . . . Though the intent of the NHL’s new rules is to give small skilled players an opportunity to excel, the big skilled players such as Lemieux, Stevens, Mark Messier, Trevor Linden, Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, Teemu Selanne and Mats Sundin are becoming nearly unstoppable. Even Bob Probert is beginning to realize just what he can do if he uses his talent. “Some of those players are just so strong, you had to hold their sticks to stop them,” Capitals General Manager David Poile says. “I didn’t realize how widespread the holding of the stick was. I thought it was just in front of the net. But it was going on all over the ice.”