Penguins’ Star Remaining Upbeat

The Pittsburgh Penguins are adjusting again to life without Mario Lemieux. Despite the unsettling news he has Hodgkin’s disease, Lemieux is getting on with what he hopes will be a long life.

Lemieux met briefly with his Penguin teammates Wednesday before they left for tonight’s game at Boston.

Lemieux tried to paint a positive picture for his teammates and reporters, whom he met with for only a few moments. He reportedly has already begun radiation treatment for his disease, which attacks the lymph nodes but usually is treatable when detected early.

The NHL’s leading scorer and highest-paid player, Lemieux nodded when asked if he was surprised to learn he has cancer, but said: “I’ll be fine. No problem.”

The Penguins said Lemieux is upbeat and determined to beat his illness.

“It’s a blow mentally when someone gets news like this, but he’s in real good spirits,” said center Ron Francis, who moves to the Penguins’ No. 1 line with Lemieux out indefinitely.

Owner Howard Baldwin said every doctor the Penguins have consulted is optimistic because Lemieux’s disease was detected in an early stage. An enlarged lymph node was removed after Lemieux detected a lump on his neck.

Baldwin will fly from his California home to meet with Lemieux tonight before attending a news conference Friday with Lemieux and General Manager Craig Patrick.

Lemieux’s cancer marks the third time in two years the two-time Stanley Cup champions have had someone on the team affected by the disease.

Two years ago, goaltender Tom Barrasso took an indefinite leave of absence when his daughter, Ashley, was diagnosed with leukemia. She recovered and is doing well.

Barrasso, who studied his daughter’s disease extensively, is extremely confident Lemieux will recover. “People who don’t understand the disease will probably make this out to be worse than it really is,” Barrasso said.

In August of 1991, Coach Bob Johnson was diagnosed with brain cancer. He died that November.

“What Bob Johnson did for this city and this hockey club was pretty incredible,” Lemieux said at the time. “With Bob Johnson, everything was possible.”

The Penguins feel the same way about Lemieux.

“Mario has faced formidable physical obstacles before and returned to the top of the mountain,” said Tom Reich, Lemieux’s agent. “He will do it again.”