Ask any NHL player, coach or executive about Stephane Richer, and the first reaction you're likely to get is a shaking of the head. Through 15 star-crossed seasons, his story almost invariably has been punctuated with question marks.
That includes three strange exits he has made in the past year or so:
In early 2000, the Blues acquired him from the Lightning, and he was instrumental in leading them to the league's best record down the stretch, netting 25 points in 36 games. Then, inexplicably, he was so disinterested in the Stanley Cup playoffs that he was a healthy scratch for four of seven games in St. Louis' first-round loss to the Sharks. The Blues went from loving him to shoving him out the door in a span of four months.
In September, he skated with the Capitals on the first day of training camp and told reporters afterward how excited he was to be in Washington. The next morning, he informed the team that he was walking away from an $850,000 guaranteed contract and retiring from hockey.
Near Christmas, the Canadiens, his original NHL team, publicly presented him with a chance to return to the fold for a third time. Richer waited a week, then balked because Montreal was offering nothing more than a prorated $150,000 salary, which would have amounted to roughly $75,000.
The answers remain no less uncertain about Richer's pending status with the Penguins.
He is signed to a tryout contract, meaning he will have to show he is worth a regular NHL deal by the end of September. If he succeeds, there is a strong chance he could skate alongside Mario Lemieux on the No. 1 line. If he fails or loses interest or keeps his head in the clouds, he no doubt will return to his hometown of Ripon, Quebec, and announce another retirement.
Hard to imagine Richer taking the latter route, you say?
There is ample precedent.
Icy chips
Lemieux used to wait until the first day of camp to begin his preseason workouts, but that's changed. He and Jay Caufield hit the ice Thursday at Neville Island for his first skating session of the summer, and he plans to go hard from here until the first puck drops.
Electronic Arts, maker of the wildly popular NHL video games, reached agreement Friday to pay Lemieux to be on the cover of the 2002 version, due out next month. "My kids love EA's games," he said, "and I'm enjoying the experience." No word, though, on whether the simulated Lemieux will be able to score on a one-timer, which was virtually impossible in the game's 2001 version.
Martin Straka is far from the first player to be hurt, financially and emotionally, by the arbitration process. But in the aftermath of his hearing this week, in which an NHL lawyer accused him of being inconsistent in effort and not much of a leader, agent Rich Winter suggested that more talks with Penguins General Manager Craig Patrick are in order to mend fences. "We're open to sitting down and seeing what could be done to repair this," Winter said. "Marty's probably the nicest person I've ever known, and this really stung."
Jaromir Jagr has never been through an arbitration duel, but he described its fight-and-make-up nature quite colorfully in a chat with the Czech daily Mlada Fronta Dnes: "It's as if I slagged my girlfriend like there's no tomorrow and then hugged her and told her, 'OK, we're done, darling. Now, please make me some dinner. '"
The Capitals have not begun serious talks toward extending Jagr's deal beyond the two seasons remaining on it. They would be wise not to wait too long because Jagr will ask to be the game's highest-paid player, and prices around the league are on the rise.
Perhaps there is a reason talk around the league about Darius Kasparaitis has quieted. It could be that the loss of Bob Boughner and the injury to Janne Laukkanen has changed Patrick's mind about dealing Kasparaitis, regardless of how his arbitration goes this week.
The next edition of this NHL notebook is due in 48 hours, but since arbitrator Richard Bloch will be writing it, expect to see it next Sunday.
Only 52 days until the puck drops between Lemieux and Joe Sakic.
Dejan Kovacevic can be reached at dkovacevic@ post-gazette.com.
Inside the NHL: Richer knows dramatic exits 
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