Lemieux to Take Ice, End Retirement

P I T T S B U R G H, Dec. 27 -- Mario Lemieux is coming back. Or is he?

For sure, the Pittsburgh Penguins will stage one of the mostdramatic moments in NHL history tonight. They will pulldown the retired No. 66 sweater that has resided in the MellonArena rafters for 3½ years and return it to active duty in acomeback unprecedented for its impact and emotion.

Then, the question the hockey world has asked since Lemieuxannounced his unanticipated comeback nearly three weeks will startto be answered as the Penguins play the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Is Super Mario really coming back? Or will he only be So-soMario?

Rusty or Rested?

Lemieux has talked confidently of again being hockey’s bestplayer, of leading the Penguins to another Stanley Cupchampionship, of helping coax Jaromir Jagr out of his scoring slumpand of simply being Mario Lemieux again.

But is that possible in a sport that, despite Lemieux’s remarksto the contrary, is even slower and less scorer-friendly than thathe abandoned with disgust in 1997? That has even bigger, strongerdefensemen and goalies than before? That continues to stiflescoring even while it insists it is opening it up?

“He’s so far above the rest of us, his skill level is sotremendous,” Flyers forward Mark Recchi said. “There will be alittle rust, but what he does with his skills is beyond us, so Ithink he will be fine.”

Lemieux, a six-time NHL scoring champion, overcame cancer andyears of back problems to initially stage a successful comeback in1995. He took a year off for health reasons, then returned to winhis last two scoring titles in his final two seasons in 1995-96 and1996-97.

Still, despite the Jordan-like buzz Lemieux’s comeback hascreated, and the huge number of tickets it has sold in Pittsburgh,and the media attention it has attracted, it is difficult topredict how successful it will be — if only because there never hasbeen one like it.

Other Greats Un-Retired