Lemieux Dominates, Just As He Did in His Prime

After only eight weeks of intensive training before playing his first National Hockey League game in 3 1/2 years, Penguins owner Mario Lemieux returned as a player and simply slowed the game down to his speed.

And dominated, just as he did in his prime.

Lemieux netted an assist on his opening shift, and added another helper and a goal in Pittsburgh's 5-0 rout of the overwhelmed Toronto Maple Leafs at Mellon Arena last night.

``It was a great moment, the kind of moment that I will cherish for a long time,'' said Lemieux, whose last appearance on home ice came in an April 23, 1997 playoff game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Just 33 seconds into his legendary comeback, Lemieux was already on the scoresheet. After taking the opening draw against Leafs captain Mats Sundin, Lemieux helped create the Penguins' first goal when his feed from behind the net bounced off the skate of linemate Jan Hrdina and was banged home by Jaromir Jagr just as the net was being knocked off its pegs.

Nearly every shift by the Lemieux line (Hrdina started the game on the left wing with Mario at center and Jagr on the right; Lemieux switched off with Hrdina in the late going) threatened Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph. Lemieux is such an intimidating presence that on one shift, when he was the sole forechecker against three Leafs, a mesmerized Nik Antropov simply coughed up the puck to him.

The familiar play, the famous pose with his stick high in the air, came midway through second period. Jagr, curling in the right circle. Centering the pass. Lemieux reaching past checker Yanic Perreault. The one-timer. Bang. Bedlam at 10:33 for career goal No. 614.

The black gloves might have been new and stiff, but the hands inside them are as experienced and soft as ever, as Lemieux again demonstrated when he set up Hrdina's goal on his next shift.

After that, his shifts became shorter and he was able to enjoy much of the final period from the bench. Lemieux finished with 20 minutes, 46 seconds of ice time.

Lemieux was in the dressing room and missed one of the emotional moments of the night. His 4 1/2-year-old son, Austin, stood wide-eyed in front of the penalty boxes during a brief but dramatic pregame ceremony in which Lemieux's retired No. 66 was lowered from the Igloo roof to be folded and stored away. From the looks of things, the banner will be mothballed for a long time.

Austin was too young to see his father play in 1997, so he made a simple request for Pop's return.

``A hat trick, he told me,'' a smiling Lemieux said yesterday morning. ``The pressure is on.''

After his three-point night, Lemieux proclaimed his son was satisfied. So was the standing room-only crowd of 17,148, most of whom arrived an hour before game time to pack the Igloo for the pregame warmup, cheering Mario's every move.

The rest of the NHL saluted Lemieux's return as well. Even his beaten opponents showed grudging respect for the 35-year-old Hall of Famer, who will boost TV ratings and ticket sales wherever he goes in the next few months.

``A couple of the (Leafs) came up to me towards the end of the game and said, `Welcome back,' `` Lemieux said. ``And I got a call from Wayne Gretzky.''

Hmmm, did the Phoenix Coyotes almost-owner happen to mention if he, too, is rejecting retirement?

``He might be coming back,'' Lemieux said with a wink. ``I'll start a rumor.''

Even the Great One would have trouble topping Lemieux's reopening act.

(C) 2000, New York Daily News.