The Iceman Returneth : And Mario Lemieux’s Play Is a Runaway Hit in Pittsburgh and Throughout NHL

The little boy, his body almost lost in an oversized Pittsburgh Penguin jersey, was too awe-struck to do anything but nod when Mario Lemieux appeared in the hallway outside the visitors’ locker room at the San Jose Arena. The boy’s mother had to speak for him.

“He has your poster next to his bed. He talks to you every night,” she told Lemieux. She led him toward a table, where someone had left a photograph of the Penguin star. Smiling politely, Lemieux leaned over to scrawl his name, then strolled back to the locker room to wait for his teammates to dress after their game-day skate.

Simple movements--bending, straightening, walking. But less than two years ago, Lemieux couldn’t do them without experiencing searing pain in his back.

His journey has been nothing short of phenomenal. Lemieux, 30, hasn’t merely returned from a one-year sabbatical to recover from Hodgkin’s disease and two back operations. He has returned triumphantly, leading the NHL in scoring and averaging 3.4 points per game despite being in what he considers less than peak form.

“My timing isn’t back,” he said Friday. “I’m trying to get back to making better plays and better decisions offensively and defensively, and getting my speed back. I’m not where I was a couple of years ago, but I’m getting closer game by game.”

Others think he is already at his best. “When the announcement was made that he would not play, I said, ‘What we have here is Michelangelo, but he can’t get up the ladder,’ ” said his agent, Tom Reich. “He’s back up that ladder, and I tell you, he’s painting.”

Lemieux, who won four scoring titles and was the most valuable player in Pittsburgh’s 1991 and ’92 Stanley Cup drives, had 37 points in his first 11 games after collecting a goal and four assists Friday in the Penguins’ 9-1 rout of the San Jose Sharks. At that pace, he would have to play only 64 games to break Wayne Gretzky’s single-season record of 215 points, set in 1985-86. Even allowing for nights off to avoid the stress of back-to-back games, 64 games is feasible.

One of the games he will skip is against the Kings in the Forum tonight, because it’s the second in two nights. Lemieux said he planned to play only Friday against the San Jose Sharks, whom he has victimized for 35 points in eight games, because of a favorable schedule.

Because of injuries and other circumstances, Gretzky and Lemieux--who monopolized the NHL scoring title from 1981-1994--have met only seven times in the last six years. A matchup in Pittsburgh on Oct. 21 failed to come off because Lemieux’s back flared up as the result of a cross-check the previous night. With Gretzky in the final year of his contract and Lemieux making no plans beyond this season, they might never face each other again.

“[Playing against Gretzky] is something that I’ve been thinking about, but I want to make sure my back is healthy,” Lemieux said. “I can’t compromise my health because of other peoples’ wishes.”

He was never sure he would come back at all, much less so impressively.

Several of his cousins had died of Hodgkin’s disease, but his case was caught early, diagnosed in January 1993, after he found a lump on his neck. He began radiation therapy the next month and returned to the Penguins’ lineup March 2. Sometimes, he would endure a session in the morning and the nausea and weakness that ensued, then play that night.

He was 12 points behind Buffalo’s Pat LaFontaine in the scoring race when he began the treatments and fell 18 points behind shortly after he returned. He then began a spree in which he scored 27 goals and 51 points in 16 games. He won the scoring title by 12 points, despite missing 24 games.

“He was from another world,” Reich said.

But he couldn’t keep that up. Fatigue and anemia from the radiation treatments plagued him in the playoffs that spring. And that summer, he underwent his second back operation, to repair a herniated muscle. He played only 22 games in 1993-94 and announced in August 1994 that he would sit out a year.

The plan, Reich said, “was to create a window of opportunity for him to return. It was understood that was unlikely. The window was created to harbor the chance, nothing more. The hope was he would start to feel stronger, more energized and more encouraged about the healing process.”

His strength and desire didn’t return until last Christmas. “Every time you get away from the game, you miss it a lot,” Lemieux said. “It’s nice to have a second chance. . . . Yeah, there were some dark times, but I’d rather not talk about them.”

His back sound, he began lifting weights and riding an exercise bike for the first time in his career. His old preseason training program, he once told teammate Ron Francis, was “starting Aug. 1, I don’t order any fries with my club sandwich.” He hired a personal trainer and bulked up to 228 pounds on his 6-foot-4 frame.

“He’s much stronger than he ever was,” Coach Ed Johnston said. “He feels great, and he’s having fun. That’s the key. He’s pain-free. . . . The great players want to be able to play at that level.”

Lemieux has sat out two games this season but has at least one point in every game he has played. He recorded his 500th goal Oct. 26 and scored an astounding seven points Nov. 1 against Tampa Bay.

The Penguins last summer cut their payroll by trading many high-salaried veterans, including Kevin Stevens, who was Lemieux’s left wing. They’re younger and faster but less physical. That could hurt them in the playoffs, when toughness and defense are vital. But if the best defense is a strong offense, the Penguins win hands down: Their power play has converted more than 40% of its chances, by far the NHL’s most potent, and Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Francis rank 1-2-3 in scoring.

The Penguins are difficult to read. So are Lemieux’s thoughts.

“I’m just going to play this year and see what happens,” he said. “The only thing I want to do this year is win the Cup and maybe win the scoring title. We’ll take it from there.”