Past, Future Dreams Converge for All-Stars

Childhood reveries became reality and Olympic dreams took flight Sunday, infusing the North American team’s 14-12 victory over the World team in the NHL All-Star game with rare dashes of poignancy and significance.

Mario Lemieux’s return to all-star competition after a 3 1/2-year retirement enabled him to fulfill his dream of having his son Austin watch him play among the NHL’s finest. “He was certainly a big reason for me coming back,” said Lemieux, who broke a 4-4 tie and gave North America the lead for good at 4:53 of the second period when his ice-skimming shot eluded goalie Roman Cechmanek.

“Being 35, I still have some good hockey left, and to have my kids be a part of it was very important to me.”

Lemieux’s return also brought to life a fantasy cherished by linemate Simon Gagne, who was 4 when Lemieux made his all-star debut in 1985--the same age Lemieux’s son is now.

“I grew up with Mario Lemieux as one of my favorite players,” said Gagne, who plays for the Philadelphia Flyers and scored twice Sunday, the first one assisted by Lemieux and Brett Hull. “For sure, to play with Mario Lemieux was like a dream come true.”

And with each team generally forming its lines according to nationalities, the game also served as a preview of the Salt Lake City Olympics and planted the seeds of dreams that might come true a year from now. The convergence of dreams past and future made the record-setting spree on offense good entertainment, despite the unwritten rule that forbids physical contact and robs all-star games of the emotion that is part of hockey’s appeal.

“This really kick-starts the Olympic hype,” said Boston Bruin and North America right wing Bill Guerin, voted the game’s most valuable player for his three-goal, two-assist performance on a line with U.S. compatriots Doug Weight and Tony Amonte.

“This is the first weekend there’s been a lot of talk about the Olympics, and that’s great. It’s a big deal, and a lot of us want to get there.”

Amonte, a member of the U.S. Olympic team at Nagano in 1998, also felt the stirrings of Olympic spirit. The 30-year old Chicago Blackhawk right wing clicked with Guerin and Edmonton Oiler center Weight as if they had played together for years, combining for six goals and 13 points.

“I’d absolutely love to play in the Olympics with those guys. They’re both great players,” said Amonte, who took a pass from Weight and rifled a wrist shot into the upper-right corner past Cechmanek at 3:25 of the second period to tie the score at 4-4. He scored again at 8:36 to give his team a 7-5 lead.

“I came up with the Rangers with Dougie and played with Billy growing up,” Amonte added. “They’re both comedians. We were hysterical on the bench. I was trying to tell them when we got on the ice, ‘Stop laughing. I can’t play.’

“It’s a year away, and everybody is starting to talk about it. For guys who were in Japan, it’s great redemption for us.”

Canada’s top trio of Colorado’s Joe Sakic between Mighty Duck left wing Paul Kariya and New York Ranger right wing Theo Fleury also sparked talk of Olympic glory by producing three goals and seven points. Kariya, smiling more often than he has this season with the Ducks, had three assists. One was breathtaking, a fake shot/pass to Sakic at 6:59 of the second period for the goal that put North America ahead, 6-4.

“I was in the passing mode today,” Kariya said. “We had some good chemistry on our line. Joe’s a good friend of mine and we talked about possibly playing together. We all play at a high speed and a high skill level.”

Not that the World team had reason to feel inferior.

Swedes Mats Sundin of Toronto and Fredrik Modin of Tampa Bay welcomed Ziggy Palffy of Slovakia and the Kings to their right flank for a three-goal, nine-point performance. The tandem of Russian junior team linemates Sergei Fedorov and Pavel Bure joined Alexei Kovalev to dazzle the sellout crowd of 18,646.

“It was fun. I enjoyed my time here,” said Palffy, who scored his first all-star goal at 17:01 of the second period, set up by Modin and Sundin. “It was really nice. I think scoring so many goals is good for the fans.”

But not for the goalies. Patrick Roy of the hometown Avalanche and North America directed a mock glare toward Avalanche teammate Peter Forsberg after the Swedish center took a nifty backhand pass from Sergei Samsonov and lifted a shot over Roy’s left shoulder to tie the score at 3-3 at 17:26 of the first period.

“I thought, ‘I will not hear the end of that one,’ ” Roy said. “I asked him at the end if he kept the puck [for] his first goal against me, but no.”

Gagne will treasure the memories of his goals, especially the one set up by Lemieux.

“When I got here, Mario came over to me and introduced himself. For him to be like a gentleman was amazing,” Gagne marveled. “I’m the youngest guy in the room and he took the time to introduce himself. . . . No, there was no need for him to say his name. I know him.”

Anyone who was unfamiliar with Lemieux or the extent of his magnetism learned about it Sunday.

“It was important that we would go out there and try to do the best we can and try to put on a show for the fans,” Lemieux said, “and I think we did pretty well. . . . I think there’s a lot of great players in this league. It’s just a matter of renewing the interest in the game and I’m glad to be part of it. There are a lot of great players in this league--[injured Penguin teammate] Jaromir Jagr and Simon coming up and Paul Kariya. You saw 40 or so on the ice today. I just want to be a part of it, a small part of it.”