The NHL has been building up this showdown between the Penguins and Carolina for months -- brazenly touting it as "Game No. 1196" -- even though there's little chance it can live up to that kind of hype.
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Will he stay or will he go? Only Mario Lemieux knows if tonight's game against the Carolina Hurricanes will be his last at Mellon Arena. He enters the game with 89 points - sixth in the NHL. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) |
When the Penguins and Hurricanes attempt to commit hockey tonight at Mellon Arena, it promises to be an event only the most confirmed of draftniks could love. Or tolerate. Or bear to watch, for more than a few seconds.
The Hurricanes have taken the express elevator from the 2002 Stanley Cup final to last place in the overall standings. The Penguins have been consistently outclassed by teams just like the Hurricanes. Which is to say, teams that show up in matching sweaters.
Some observers figure these clubs will produce a 60-minute train wreck of a game. Others aren't nearly so optimistic. And the truly mean-spirited speak openly of overtime.
At first blush, it seems like simply another forgettable game at Mellon Arena, like so many hundreds before it.
Except this might be the final game Penguins center Mario Lemieux -- franchise savior, Hall of Famer and arguably the most gifted player to lace of a pair of skates (aching back permitting, of course) -- plays in this town. Or anywhere else, for that matter.
The possibility of Lemieux opting out of the regular-season finale Saturday in Washington can't be overlooked, and he hasn't committed to playing next season. Which means the fans who turn out tonight -- about 2,500 tickets were available yesterday -- might witness the final chapter in his career.
Some folks thought they did that in 1997, when Lemieux left the game for the first time. Turns out, that just gave him a little practice for saying goodbye to the home crowd, whether it happens tonight or next year or in 2010.
"I've done it before, so it's not like it's something new to all of us," Lemieux said. "If I have to retire this summer, I'm sure the fans will understand. I've had a great run over the last 19 years."
Yeah, if earning two Stanley Cups, six scoring championships, three Most Valuable Player awards and instant induction to the Hall of Fame qualifies as a great run.
Those Cups -- one earned at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minn., in 1991, the other at Chicago Stadium in 1992 -- are the highlights of Lemieux's career. They also represent his greatest disappointment.
"That's the only regret," he said. "Winning the two Cups on the road."
The home crowd never seemed to hold that against Lemieux, though, perhaps because that's about the only thing he didn't achieve within the city limits. And the consolation prizes -- like two conference championships his teams clinched here -- were none too bad.
Lemieux won over fans almost instantly -- he set up a Doug Shedden goal 18 seconds into his first shift on home ice, then pummeled Vancouver's Gary Lupul in a fight a few minutes later -- and, within a few years, had become a civic icon.
He made the remarkable almost routine. Did so many things so wonderfully, so effortlessly. Things no Penguin -- and few other mortals, for that matter -- had done.
A sampling of Mario Moments the home crowd has enjoyed:
May 17, 1991 -- Lemieux scores what might be the signature goal of his career, splitting Minnesota defensemen Neil Wilkinson and Shawn Chambers before backhanding a shot past North Stars goalie Jon Casey in a 4-1 victory in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final. "By the time he was finished," teammate Ron Francis said, "people in the first 10 rows were lying on their backs, too."
May 26, 1992 -- Lemieux caps the Penguins' comeback from a 4-1 deficit in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final by throwing a Larry Murphy rebound past Chicago goalie Ed Belfour with 12.6 seconds left in regulation.
Dec. 31, 1988 -- Lemieux becomes the only player in NHL history to score goals five different ways -- even-strength, power play, short-handed, penalty shot and empty net -- in the same game in an 8-6 victory against New Jersey.
Jan. 21, 1990 -- Lemieux records the first opening-period hat trick in All-Star Game history en route to a four-goal performance and his third All-Star MVP award in six years. Campbell Conference goalie Mike Vernon might still be in therapy after the way Lemieux treated him.
April 25, 1989 -- Lemieux scores five goals and sets up three others in a 10-7 victory against Philadelphia in Game 5 of the Patrick Division final. He becomes the fourth man in playoff history to get five goals in a game, the second to record eight points.
March 26, 1996 -- Lemieux celebrates the birth of his son, Austin, by scoring five goals and setting up two others in an 8-4 victory against St. Louis.
March 18, 1993 -- Lemieux, a few weeks removed from his final radiation treatment for Hodgkin's disease, scores four goals and assists on two more in a 7-5 victory against Washington. After a day's rest, he rings up four power-play goals and an assist in a 9-3 victory against Philadelphia.
April 23, 1992 -- Lemieux rallies the Penguins from a 2-0 deficit to Washington in a first-round playoff series by setting up their first three goals and scoring the final three in a 6-4 victory against the Capitals.
There have been other memorable moments, of course -- like the final goal in Phase 1 of his career, when he beat Philadelphia's Garth Snow on a breakaway late in Game 4 of a playoff series April 23, 1997, and his three-point performance Dec. 27, 2000, against Toronto in Game 1 of his comeback -- and perhaps he'll manufacture a few more before he gives up the game for good.
That hinges on whether Lemieux decides to put off retirement for at least one more year. But, if he quits again, the fans at Mellon Arena shouldn't feel cheated. And Lemieux will have no misgivings about giving them 2 1/2 seasons of magic and memories no one was expecting in the fall of 2000.
"It was a challenge for me to come back after 3 1/2 years, to prove to myself that I could still play and enjoy the game," he said. "I have no regrets.
"I'm glad I had a chance to play again. If I choose to retire, it's been a great experience."
Dave Molinari can be reached at 412-263-1144.
Farewell, Mario? Or is it merely 'See ya next year'? 
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