Sunday, August 03, 2003

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

When Eddie Olczyk submits his starting lineup for the Penguins' opener in two months, he will be able to pencil in No. 66 as his center. And he is nothing less than ecstatic about that.

"To get to coach Mario Lemieux," he said, "it's a great, great honor."

But it also presents a thorny issue for any coach, never mind one who has yet to stand behind a professional bench.

Lemieux is not only the team's owner but also a legend of the game. He is known, too, for giving more than a few suggestions to the coaching staff during the course of a season. And, not surprising, his success rate for getting those ideas implemented is roughly 100 percent.

That has intimidated many of Lemieux's coaches over the years, even before he was authorizing their paychecks. But Olczyk is adamant that it will not happen to him.

"I know I'm working for him, and he knows I'm the coach," Olczyk said. "It's a fine line, that mutual respect we have to have. I'm not going to change who I am, and neither will he."

Olczyk acknowledged that Lemieux will be able to dictate how much ice time he wants. He made it clear, too, that Lemieux will be welcome to create offense as always, well outside any system. Lemieux, it should be noted, also stated as much at his Thursday news conference with Olczyk seated 3 feet to his right.

Even so, Olczyk insisted that he will not avoid coaching Lemieux.

Asked if he will feel comfortable making a point to Lemieux after a poor shift or missed assignment, Olczyk replied: "I'm going to have to, and Mario knows that. That's where the mutual respect factor comes in. I'm not going to be intimidated to point out something. There is no reason not to. I'm not insecure. I know I have the type of relationship with him to be able to give it and to get it."

He added that he plans to develop thick skin when reading or hearing derisive suggestions in public forums that he is little more than a figurehead while Lemieux is the real coach, as have so many of Olczyk's predecessors in Pittsburgh.

"You know what? I don't care what people say about me," Olczyk said. "Can you say that Chris Chelios is being coached in Detroit? He's been in the league 20 years. Who's telling him how to play the game? Do you think Paul Maurice is coaching Ronnie Francis? Paul's done a wonderful job, but Ronnie's a great player who knows the game. We've heard this stuff about Mario, but I don't think it's an issue. Who knows the game better than Mario? How can I not want to learn from him? ... Look, I'll talk to him when we need to talk, but let's not kid ourselves about who this is."

Olczyk did allow that his new position could have an impact on their relationship in other ways.

"Maybe the social part," he said. "When I was a broadcaster, we would go out for dinner or different types of things. I value that, what we have with our families. But I'll be honest with you: We have to pick our spots, I believe. I mean, don't forget that he's my boss, too. I'm not preparing to alienate myself from him or anything like that, but I know what our roles are right now."

Icy chips

While Olczyk has spoken of planning to model his strategy after Jacques Lemaire's conservative Wild, he is looking at varying significantly in the neutral zone. Minnesota's tactics involve all five skaters defending in a passive and precise manner, while Olczyk prefers a more aggressive stance. Most likely, his system will have two forwards attack the opponent between the blue lines and the third stay back to cut off passing lanes. "I want our guys going hard in all three zones," Olczyk said. "We're a fast, aggressive team."

Mike Eastwood, acquired by the Penguins Thursday, played with Olczyk in Winnipeg in 1994-96, and he said he saw signs at the time that Olczyk would coach: "He's just so knowledgeable about the game, and that's because he's done it all. He's been on teams where he was the best player and where he was a healthy scratch. He's scored goals, killed penalties, won faceoffs. That helps with what he's doing now."

With their signings this week, the Penguins have roughly $19.8 million committed in NHL-only contracts to 12 players. That does not include any players with two-way contracts who could make the team. The team has not revealed its projected payroll for the coming season, but that figure could be in the range of $25 million. Which might explain why Lemieux and Craig Patrick continue to avoid stating with any certainty the status of Martin Straka, due to make $4.35 million next season and $4.7 million in 2004-05.

Jim Paek, a member of the Penguins' championship teams attending the team's alumni golf outing Monday, said that, while he is delighted with his new job as coach of the Orlando entry in the new WHA2, he has a more worldly aspiration. "I would love to coach my national team in the Olympics," he said, referring to South Korea. "That's my dream." Paek has done work with the national program, but he acknowledged it is far behind other second-tier nations.

Paek, on former Penguins draft pick Richard Park, the only other Korean in NHL history, finally blossoming with the Wild: "That makes me so proud. I hope there can be more of us."

The close-knit ties developed during the Penguins' Stanley Cup years are easily evident at events such as the golf outing. Several players spoke Monday of the bond that was formed. Lemieux: "Going through all those games in the playoffs is tough, and you learn to stick together." Phil Bourque: "Bob Johnson told us before the '91 playoffs started that, if we won the Cup, we would be brothers for life. He was right."

Only 39 days to Southpointe.

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