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Wednesday, July 30, 2003

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Mario Lemieux has seen his share of extremes in his time with the Penguins. He has strutted with Stanley Cup champions and suffered with last-place losers.

But never has he been surrounded by a supporting group as green as the one he would have next season.

"This probably would be his youngest," said Randy Hillier, a defenseman for the Penguins during Lemieux's first seven seasons in Pittsburgh (1984-91), and now an assistant coach. "Even in his early years, when we didn't have a very strong team, we had more veterans to go with our younger guys."

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Lemieux, 37, has not formally announced that he will play in 2003-04, but he is expected to reveal that in a Mellon Arena news conference today or tomorrow.

When he does, the first question on the minds of many, no doubt, will be this:

Why would he want to do that?

Barring personnel changes, the rebuilding Penguins will offer Lemieux only five teammates 30 or older, including center Brian Holzinger, left wingers Martin Straka and Steve McKenna, defenseman Marc Bergevin and goaltender Johan Hedberg. Most of the rest, while promising, will be trying to carve their initial niche in the NHL.

Lemieux had a taste of that type of roster in the final two months of last season and appeared to have little use for it. Before the Feb. 10 trade of All-Star right winger Alexei Kovalev, Lemieux was the NHL's leading scorer with 73 points in 44 games. But he produced only 18 points in his final 23 games and, most alarming for the Penguins, frequently showed exasperation and even disinterest.

Why should next season, when the team figures to be younger, be any different?

Those most intimate with Lemieux's work in good times, members of the Penguins' championship teams of 1991 and 1992, universally express a belief that he will transform himself, that he has made up his mind to be a mentor. And that he will shine in the role.

"It used to be that, when he played with younger guys, he still wanted the puck all the time," said Peter Taglianetti, a defenseman in 1990-95. "Now, I think he realizes that he doesn't need it all the time. Nor should these younger guys feel obligated to give it to him every 30 seconds. They have to develop their own skills, and Mario has to find a way to complement them and to school them. I think he'll do that."

"There's no question Mario still has what it takes to be a dominant player in the NHL. I also don't think there's any question there's a lot of young talent in the organization," said Jay Caufield, a right winger in 1988-93 and now Lemieux's personal trainer. "What has to happen is that it has to come together. Mario can make players around him better. That's what I think will happen."

"I know that, from my time when I joined this team, he helped me," said Jim Paek, a defenseman in 1990-94. "I'm sure he can find a way to make this work for him and for the team."

Hillier had a closer view of Lemieux last season than most of his peers from the Cup days, and he shares their outlook.

"We all know how frustrated he was there at the end," Hillier said. "But I think that, with the rest he's had since then, he's come to realize that he still can be a very, very effective player in this league and that, with young talent we have coming up, he can help them develop their skills at more rapid pace. Of course, it takes someone to have that mind-set to make it happen. Is he capable of that? Of course. But it's a matter of wanting to do it. I believe he is ready to take that step."

Hillier noted, too, that Lemieux does not have to be flanked by rookies. In Straka and right winger Aleksey Morozov, 26, he could have skilled, experienced linemates.

"We haven't talked about lines yet," Hillier said. "But you would think those three would complement each other very well. That's not throwing him out there with a bunch of kids."

Since emerging from retirement, Lemieux has scored 46.4 percent of his goals on the power play, making that element of the game critical to his production. There, too, the Penguins will have the aforementioned three players, plus defenseman Dick Tarnstrom and other candidates to help the team have a chance at being prolific with the man-advantage.

But Hillier added that, for the team to advance its rebuilding, Lemieux cannot be the show as he has been in the past, a sentiment Lemieux seems to share. That could mean that Lemieux will consume less ice time, possibly even on the power play, so that the Penguins can find out about young center prospects such as Milan Kraft, 23.

"A guy like Krafty, for him to progress, he has to be on top two lines and on the power play," Hillier said. "And he has to have the opportunity to make that happen while working within the number of minutes Mario wants to play."

Lemieux has two significant milestones he could achieve rather easily next season, needing 18 goals to reach 700 and eight points to reach 1,700. But those who know him from the glory days feel he will not be satisfied with individual accomplishments, regardless of the caliber of his team.

"He's still about winning, and that's not going to change," said Phil Bourque, a left winger for the Penguins in 1983-92. "I think he'll help this team, even though it's young. It seems like every year of Mario's career has brought a different scenario, a different challenge, and he always seems to rise to the occasion. I learned a long time ago: Never doubt him."