Owner Lemieux Practices With Penguins

C A N O N S B U R G, Pa., Dec. 19 -- Add “box office draw” to MarioLemieux’s joint titles of owner and player.

The six-time NHL scoring champion started his comeback todayby practicing with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time sincehis retirement in 1997.

With 500 fans in the stands — about 490 more than normal —Lemieux hit the ice at the Penguins’ practice complex to massiveapplause at 10:51 a.m. He said he got to practice two hours earlyand lost sleep Monday night because he was nervous.

“Everybody is going to have to be patient. I am not going tostep on the ice and score five or six points my first game,”Lemieux said.

Wants to Win the Cup

Lemieux, also a part-owner of the team, took part in routineskating drills and drew another big cheer when he steered the puckinto the net during a three-on-one drill.

The fans applauded any time Lemieux touched the puck, and thefirst 15 minutes of practice was televised live on a cable sportschannel.

“It was fun to be back on the ice and doing drills again,”Lemieux said.

Lemieux announced two weeks ago he would abandon his 3½-yearretirement because he thought the Penguins were close to contendingfor the Stanley Cup.

Penguins forward Martin Straka stuck his head out of the lockerroom half an hour before practice, saw the large crowd and said,“Oh my gosh.”

Will Begin Play Next Week

The 35-year-old Lemieux will join the Penguins on a two-gameFlorida road trip Wednesday and Thursday but does not plan to playuntil Dec. 27 in the first of four home games.

The comeback excited teammates who say the team can useLemieux’s leadership with four-time scoring champion Jaromir Jagrin a slump.

“Overall, it was a good first day,” Lemieux said. “I just hadto get used again to the speed on the ice. I have to get used tothe traffic again.”