This Is Perfect Chance for Lemieux to Retire

Last week, Pittsburgh owner-captain Mario Lemieux, having helped Canada to its first Olympic gold medal in 50 years, decided to call it quits for the rest of the season. Critics questioned his timing, claiming that he’s leaving the Penguins in the lurch.

The real question is, why doesn’t Lemieux simply return to retirement?

By playing at Salt Lake City, Lemieux put what would be marvelous finishing touches on a remarkable career--one that includes two Stanley Cup championships and numerous individual honors. He has been playing in pain caused by a hip injury that has bothered him since training camp, and the Penguins’ playoff chances are fading. So, what better time to step away for good?

Lemieux, though, sees things differently.

“If I can play 60-70 games a year, I’d love to play for a few more years; I’d love to play until I was 40,” said Lemieux, 36, who last played a full season in 1996-97. “If I can play most of the games next year, I’ll probably keep playing.”

He experienced hip pain during training camp in September, then had arthroscopic surgery Oct. 29 to remove loose cartilage. He returned less than two weeks later but played only three games before sitting out the next two months after doctors advised him to rest.

The six-time NHL scoring champion, already in the Hockey Hall of Fame, returned Jan. 12, later producing 13 points in a four-game stretch that was part of a six-game Penguin winning streak.

Lemieux, however, seemed bothered by the pain and later said that he’d sat out some Penguin games so he’d be strong enough to play in his first Olympics.

That’s when some began to complain about his motives.

“Most of the fans really agreed with my decision,” said Lemieux, who has six goals and 25 assists for 31 points in 24 games this season. “There were only a few people out there, and there are always going to be people who disagree.”

By telling everyone that he plans to play next season, Lemieux knows that he keeps hope alive for Pittsburgh fans, who have not had much to cheer about recently. The mediocre Penguins are four games under .500 and probably will be out of the playoffs for the first time in 12 years.

If Penguin supporters were in denial before about their team’s demise, they shouldn’t be any longer. Pittsburgh still plays in the 41-year-old Mellon Arena, the oldest in the NHL, and team officials, Lemieux among them, are adamant that the Penguins cannot survive unless they move into a new home soon.

What the Penguins could use is a full-time owner committed to securing financing for a new arena and turning things around. But Lemieux doesn’t seem ready to return to that role. At least not yet.

“I’m back playing because I want to play,” he said, although he has played in fewer games than in any nonretirement season since 1993-94, when he had back surgery and was limited to 22 games. “It’s not because of [the desire for] a new building. The new building’s going to [have to] happen whether I’m playing or not.

“I’m not going to keep playing for the next 10 years. There’s going to be a team here after I’m done playing. The franchise is going to need a new arena. Whether I’m on the ice or not, I don’t think that has any effect.”

When J.R. Talks....

Philadelphia center Jeremy Roenick, known as one of the NHL’s most colorful players, says the league needs more flash to catch up with the other major sports in terms of fan appeal.

“I think the NBA does it very well by trying to bring the flamboyancy out in their players,” said Roenick, who won a silver Olympic medal playing for the U.S. last month. “I think players have to be very friendly in all aspects of the game. There is a time and place for the game to be played and for the game to be played hard. But there’s also a time and place where the antics and the different characters, different people can come out.

“I hate the closed-door mentality, the no-smile mentality, the old-school mentality. The old-school mentality is great with the hard nose and stuff like that, but I believe that the NHL has, without a doubt, the most accessible, nicest people in terms of athletes in any of the major sports.”

Roenick hopes that the NHL can capitalize on the fans attracted to the sport during the Olympics. He said that people need to know more about the players.

“They would then be more inclined to watch and learn about the game,” he said.

“That’s part of our problem. Getting people to watch and understand our game.... You know, people say it’s boring to watch on TV. Well, you can’t tell me that watching a hockey game is more boring than watching a baseball game.”

Line Shifts

* It will be interesting to see how the Toronto Maple Leafs play on a crucial four-game trip in the wake of a pregame ceremony that took a tragic turn.

Art Jackson, 78, the nephew of former Maple Leaf Harvey “Busher” Jackson, collapsed and died just as he was being introduced before Toronto’s 3-3 tie with Buffalo at Air Canada Centre on Saturday.

After winning, 3-2, at Washington on Monday, the Maple Leafs--who are without injured goaltender Curtis Joseph--will face Detroit, Montreal and Philadelphia on the trip.

* Washington center Adam Oates will turn 40 in August but he’s not thinking about retirement. Or about being traded. “I don’t want to be a rent-a-player or a guy seen as an insurance policy,” said Oates, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

* New Jersey’s Bobby Holik is another player not looking to be dealt before the league’s March 19 trading deadline. Holik recently said that if the Devils came to him with an offer, he would definitely listen.

“If they want to make a deal with me, that is something that should not take more than a day or two,” he said.

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