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Tuesday, March 26, 2002

By Dave Molinari, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

No one has accused left winger Ville Nieminen of being the perfect hockey player. Chances are that no one will.

It's pretty difficult to find any fault with his eyesight these days, however, thanks to a Lasik procedure he had in Hershey, Pa., nearly two years ago.

"It's worked out very good," said Nieminen, acquired from Colorado in the Darius Kasparaitis trade a week ago. "My vision is a lot better right now."

Nieminen demonstrated that -- along with some fair hockey sense and timing -- during the Penguins' 6-2 victory against Washington Sunday night, when he deftly set up Randy Robitaille for a goal in the second period.

Nieminen was carrying the puck down the left side into the Washington zone when, aware that Robitaille was in the right circle, he faked a shot to draw Capitals defenders toward him. Once they committed, he fed a cross-ice pass to Robitaille, whose only challenge was to hit the open right half of the net.

"He made a great play," Robitaille said.

And one Nieminen might not have been able to make, at least not so smoothly, if not for that surgery on his eyes.

Before having the procedure, he had been forced to wear contact lenses during games and practices because, "I couldn't see far."

He's been able to discard those, however, and even though he said he has to wear a visor as a result of the operation, he isn't complaining.

"I don't have to wear glasses or contact lenses," Nieminen said. "That's a big help for my hockey, too. You just stay focused. There are less distractions on the ice."

Trivia question

What is the franchise record for most penalty minutes by one player in a playoff game? Answer at end.

Dr. LaCouture

Left winger Dan LaCouture was pulling for the Penguins to acquire Tom Poti from Edmonton at the trading deadline -- Poti ended up going to the New York Rangers -- and it wasn't just because he knew the team could use a quality offensive defenseman.

Poti is one of LaCouture's closest friends, and was his roommate at Boston University and with the Oilers.

And he learned quickly that, because Poti's allergies are numerous and severe, he had to be careful about what he brought into the dorm room and apartment they shared.

Make one mistake, and it could have cost his friend his life.

"One time at BU, I did [have peanut butter in the room]," LaCouture said. "He wasn't there and I made a sandwich. He came back and he was on his [breathing apparatus] because he smelled it in the room."

Rooming with Poti meant LaCouture also had to be prepared to administer an injection designed to buy time for Poti to get to a hospital if he had a severe allergic reaction.

"He has this needle that I had to take care of," LaCouture said. "I know where it was and, in case something happened, I was able to shoot it in his leg."

Early Lang talks?

The Penguins took a major gamble when they decided against trading center Robert Lang last week, because Lang will be free to offer himself to the highest bidder as an unrestricted free agent this summer.

And considering what the Penguins got from Lang after the deadline -- he played all of 10 minutes, 48 seconds before re-fracturing his left hand, an injury that will prevent him from playing until next season -- that decision will look pretty bad if he ends up working elsewhere in the fall, leaving the Penguins with nothing more than a compensatory draft pick.

Both parties, however, insist they are intent on reaching an agreement, with talks set to begin after the season.

Shortly before Lang was injured Saturday, General Manager Craig Patrick said he planned to open the negotiations "when we're finished playing," and even though Lang's hand is not expected to heal until after the end of the regular season, Patrick said he doesn't plan to move the talks up because the Penguins have not been eliminated from playoff contention.

The day before he was hurt, Lang said he didn't want to discuss the contract until after the season because, "I don't want any distractions. As long as the season's going on, I don't like to worry about [issues like contracts]. I didn't worry about it all year. There's no sense worrying about it now. Hopefully, [the end of the season] won't be that soon, but whenever it is, there still will be plenty of time."

By Sunday, Lang was acknowledging that he would not object to starting discussions sooner, since he no longer had on-ice issues on which to focus, but said he would accept whatever timetable Patrick sets.

Although Patrick said he believes the Penguins have a "realistic" chance to re-sign Lang, he added that he does not have a sense for the probable parameters of a deal.

Lang, for his part, has made it clear that length of contract is his primary concern -- he would like four years -- and, based on the $2.9 million he's earning this season, it's reasonable to project his future salary in the $3-4 million range.

That could rise if the talks drag past July 1, when Lang goes on the open market, and another team submits an offer designed to price the Penguins out of the competition.

That's why it behooves Patrick, never one to rush into negotiations, to get Lang locked up before he becomes unrestricted. Especially when Lang is adamant about being willing to pass on his shot at free agency if the Penguins make a satisfactory proposal.

"You have to listen to what's going on [after July 1], but that all depends on what Craig and his people will be saying," Lang said. "Like I said, there's no sense worrying about it now."

Hectic schedule

While teaching is an important part of a mandate for a coaching staff dealing with as many young players as the Penguins have, that can be difficult when the schedule is as frenetic as the one shaped by the Olympics this season.

The Penguins played two distinct sets of three-games-in-four-nights in the first two weeks after the Olympic break and have 10 games shoehorned into the final 18 days of their season.

That means practice time is at a premium, and that the coaches must strike a balance between keeping players sharp and allowing them to be reasonably rested. Rick Kehoe gave the Penguins yesterday off after games against Philadelphia and Washington over the weekend.

"You can't really get involved," Kehoe said. "You can't really get into a grinding practice right now, because of all the games we have."

Few good men lost

The Penguins have lost 260 man-games to injuries this season, more than almost any other NHL team.

More importantly, many of those have been lost by core players like Mario Lemieux (45), Martin Straka (59), Alexei Kovalev (13) and Lang (10), who had been counted on to spearhead the team's drive for a 12th consecutive playoff berth.

And while other clubs have lost more man-games in a given season, few, if any, have had so many front-line players miss so much time.

"I don't think it could happen to anybody else," Straka said. "It couldn't be repeated."

That Lemieux, Lang and Straka (twice) had comebacks aborted almost before they began -- Lemieux was the only one to make it through an entire game -- simply compounds the Penguins' exasperation. The only consolation is that, at this point, indications are that everyone will be healthy by the start of training camp.

"We just have to get everybody healed up and ready for next season," Straka said. "It's been a tough year for everybody. That's the way it goes sometimes."

Trivia answer

Tracy Pratt set the Penguins record for penalty minutes in a playoff game when he received 43 during a game against St. Louis in 1970, and Randy Hillier matched that total during a first-round game against the New York Rangers in 1989.