Now, it's official...
Mario: Back Again
Super Mario open to being mentor for young team
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH -- Mario Lemieux will return for at least one more season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have fallen on hard times since his surprise comeback 2½ years ago.
In announcing his return Thursday, Lemieux said he's in much better shape and is 12 pounds lighter than last year -- and he didn't rule out playing beyond the upcoming season.
"I retired before for 3½ years, and I know how much I missed it,'' the Hall of Famer said. "As long as I feel good physically and mentally, I want to play.''
Lemieux, the sixth-leading scorer in NHL history, had seemed set to retire again after the Penguins traded most of their veterans late last season and launched their most ambitious overhaul since Lemieux was drafted 19 years ago.
But a few months away from the game and a summer free of health problems appear to have re-energized the Penguins' owner-player. Now, he's embracing the idea of leading a team filled with little-known players.
"I don't know about competing for the (Stanley) Cup. That's a different level,'' Lemieux said. "But we're going to go out there every night competing to win. Our goal should be to make the playoffs.''
Lemieux dropped a strong hint he'd be back for another season at the team's annual golf outing this week when he said he felt better after a couple of months rest and that, if he felt well enough, he wanted to play.
That was a turnaround from the words a weary Lemieux spoke in April when, his back hurting as the Penguins concluded a second consecutive terrible season, he all but said he wouldn't return.
However, Lemieux began working out six weeks ago and intends to resume his usual conditioning program next month. He never even thought of doing such programs during the summers he was retired from 1997-00.
"When you get up to 37, 38, it's a different regimen,'' said Lemieux, who turns 38 on Oct. 5. "You have to work hard at it. But it's something I enjoy doing now, more than earlier in my career.''
Lemieux has 682 goals, 1,010 assists and 1,692 points, but didn't score a goal in his final nine games last season, the longest such streak of his career.
He will now find himself playing for one of the league's worst teams. The Penguins have added no players of significance -- except for No. 1 draft pick Marc-Andre Fleury -- since finishing 29th among the 30 NHL teams last season.
Pittsburgh is adding two veteran free-agents, announcing Thursday the signing of Kelly Buchberger, who played in Phoenix last season, and Mike Eastwood, who was with Chicago.
The Penguins have won only 27 of their last 91 games, a stretch reminiscent of Lemieux's early days with them in 1984-85. One of the NHL's worst teams at the time, the Penguins built around Lemieux and ultimately won two Stanley Cups in 1991-92. They also made the playoffs each season from 1991 until 2001.
Because of the influx of young, inexperienced players they obtained during a succession of trades last season, the Penguins will have their fastest team in years. That could benefit Lemieux during odd-man rushes and create second-chance scoring opportunities for him.
The Penguins also can put a skilled top line of Lemieux, Martin Straka and Aleksey Morozov on the ice, which also may have influenced Lemieux's decision. Straka and Morozov were injured much of last season, so Lemieux ended the season with less-skilled linemates who often couldn't convert the scoring chances he set up.
Lemieux said he wasn't returning this season to stage a farewell tour, or pile up statistics. "It's going to be about winning games,'' he said.
A return by Lemieux would be a significant boost to the Penguins at the box office. Without Lemieux, their marketing campaign would be built around inexperienced coach Eddie Olczyk and the cast of inexperienced players, not a promising proposition at a time when many pro teams are scrambling to sell tickets.
"I'm a better coach than I was a half-hour ago,'' Olczyk said Thursday. "We're a lot better team now.''
By maintaining his visibility as a player, Lemieux could boost the Penguins' efforts to land an arena financing deal. The Penguins are working with state officials to free up partial funding for a $280 million arena across the street from 42-year-old Mellon Arena, the NHL's oldest venue.
ESPN
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Patriotism is a pernicious, psychopathic form of idiocy.-George Bernard Shaw-
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Also schaun mer mal, aber ich denk schon das Le Magnifique diese Woche bekannt gibt, das er weiter spielt.
