by Rob Sinclair
CBC Sports Online (Dec. 9)

Mario Lemieux averaged 2.005 points in 745 games. (AP Photo)

Comebacks are a Mario Lemieux specialty.

He battled back from cancer.

He re-emerged to rescue his beloved Penguins from the brink of bankruptcy.

Now Pittsburgh's prodigal son plans to return to the ice and lead them back to the promised land.

"I think we have a chance to compete for a championship," Lemieux wrote in a statement issued on Friday.

"I missed the game and missed the challenge of competing. I am excited by the challenge of attempting a comeback.

"I look forward to the chance to get back on the ice with the players."

Dec. 27:
Scott Russell interviews Mario Lemieux
Dec. 9:
Scott Oake talks to GM Craig Patrick

But Lemieux must pull a few strings first.

There is neither precedent nor provision for an owner becoming a salaried player.

"It does raise a lot of issues that will no doubt be dealt with by the players' association, the league and Mario Lemieux and his agent," said Tim Wharnsby of the National Hockey League Players Association.

Conflict of interest or interesting conflict?

Not to his new teammates.

Mario Lemieux amassed 1494 points in just 12 seasons. (AP Photo)

"When Mario comes back, he's a player, not an owner, and we're going to treat him as a player because he's going to be part of the team," Darius Kasparaitis said.

Lemieux reportedly resumed skating last month and has been stockpiling equipment and sticks ever since.

He told Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr of his comeback plans about a month ago.

"I think a lot of the guys are really happy," Jagr enthused. "Now they're going to get to play with a legend."

"I know one thing, he's not coming back to be a stiff. He's coming back to be the best."

LEMIEUX'S LEGACY June 1984: Drafted first overall by the Penguins. Oct. 11, 1984: Scored first goal on first shot on first NHL shift against Bruins' Pete Peeters. 1984-85: Won Calder Trophy. 1985-86: Won NHLPA's Lester B. Pearson Award as league's best player. 1986-87: Led Penguins in scoring despite playing only 63 games due to sprained right knee and bronchitis. 1987-88: Finished with 168 points and won the Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy and Pearson. 1988-89: Won second straight scoring title with 199 points. 1989-90: Finished fourth in NHL scoring with 123 points despite missing 21 games with a herniated back. July 11, 1990: Had surgery to repair herniated disk. 1990-91: Missed first 50 games recovering from a rare bone disease. Won Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP (44 points) in leading Pittsburgh to its first Stanley Cup championship. 1991-92: Won third scoring title with 131 points. Suffered broken hand during Patrick Division finals, but returned after missing only five games to lead the Penguins to a second straight Stanley Cup. Won Conn Smythe again (34 points). Jan. 1993: Diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease and undergoes radiation treatment. 1992-93: Won fourth scoring title with 160 points despite only playing 60 games after recovering from Hodgkin's. Won Hart and Pearson. July 28, 1993: Had second surgery in three years to repair herniated muscle in back. 1993-94: Missed first 10 games recovering from surgery and 58 games total with back problems. Aug. 29, 1994: Took medical leave of absence due to fatigue, an after-effect of his radiation treatments. Sat out entire 1994-95 season. June 20, 1995: Announced return for 1995-96 season. Oct. 26, 1995: Became second-fastest player to score 500 career goals. 1995-96: Won Hart, becoming only seventh player to win it three times. Feb. 4, 1997: Became second-fastest player to score 600 career goals. 1996-97: Won sixth scoring title with 122 points. Recorded 10th career 100-point season, second only to Gretzky's record of 15. Apr. 6, 1997: Announced retirement after playoffs. Apr. 26, 1997: Scored a goal and added an assist in final NHL game, a 6-3 loss to the Flyers which eliminated the Pens from first round of playoffs. Sept. 3, 1999: Assumed majority ownership of Penguins. Dec. 8, 2000: Announced return as an active player.

Mediocrity is unacceptable to Lemieux, so rest assured, he will not treat this latest comeback lightly.

"I know how determined he is and how much desire he has to accomplish things and he showed that by righting this ship," Penguins general manager Craig Patrick said. "There is a better challenge for him, which is on the ice."

But not even Lemieux himself knows how his body will respond to the rigorous pace of the pros after three years of shinny and pleasure skating.

"When I skated with him a month ago, it was clear that his skills were still in peak condition," recalled retired goaltender Darren Pang. "All you had to do was watch him cradle the puck.

"Plus, there is still a real youthful exuberance about Lemieux. He looked comfortable and so happy to be back on the ice."

Gordie Howe came back at age 45.

Guy Lafleur returned at age 37.

But with all due respect to both Hall of Famers, Lemieux's return more closely rivals that of Michael Jordan because he is not fully past his prime.

"He's still a young man," Patrick argued. "You look at the athletes who have retired and could come back and he is, by far, the only one who could make this happen -- make a championship possible."

Just three years removed from retirement, Lemieux could conceivably pick up close to where he left off.

At 35, he is far from the oldest player in the league and not subject to the inevitable erosion of skills that dogged, say, a balding Carl Brewer back in 1979-80.

Lemieux played at such a high-skill level that regaining even a fraction of his talent should be enough to resume his rightful place among the most formidable forwards in the game.

"It was great watching him play before, and if he comes back, even at 50 per cent, he's one of the most exciting players," said Montreal Canadiens captain Eric Weinrich.

Lemieux's effortless stride, exceptional hands and extraordinary reach made him arguably the best one-on-one player ever.

His penchant for the spectacular was spellbinding, and his creativity confounded defencemen and goaltenders alike.

"When you're on the ice with a guy like that, you hate to be on the other end of a spectacular play," Weinrich said. "You're always in awe of what he does."

A two-time Stanley Cup champion, Lemieux's personal trophy case overflows with hockey's most coveted hardware -- six Art Ross Trophies, three Harts, three Pearsons, two Conn Smythes, one Masterton and the Calder.

Lofty heights for one from humble beginnings.

Born Oct. 5, 1965 in the Montreal suburb of Ville Emard, Lemieux was skating at age two and playing organized hockey at six.

"By the time I was 12, I knew I had a lot of talent," he said.

At 16, Lemieux dropped out of 10th grade to focus on hockey and, by 18, was a junior phenom with the Laval Voisins.

He set a QMJHL record in his final season with 133 goals and 149 assists for 282 points, 11 of them in his last game.

Drafted first overall in 1984, Lemieux debuted in storybook fashion, scoring his first NHL goal on his first shift with his first shot -- a backhand against Pete Peeters of the Boston Bruins on Oct. 11.

Once word spread of his exploits, attendance at Penguins games rose 46 per cent.

Mario Lemieux was playoff MVP both times he won the Cup. (AP Photo)

Said Glen Sather of the Edmonton Oilers: "Without Lemieux, they pack up the team and move to another city."

In 1987-88, he snapped Wayne Gretzky's streaks of eight straight MVP seasons and seven straight scoring titles with 70 goals and 168 points.

That same year, Lemieux and Gretzky combined to lead Team Canada in the Canada Cup.

Lemieux scored a tournament-high 11 goals, including the infamous Cup-clincher on a feed from Gretzky.

That performance erased the perception that Lemieux was lazy and firmly established him among the game's elite.

As an NHL'er, Lemieux notched 613 goals and 881 assists for 1494 points in 745 regular season games.

Mario Lemieux assumed Pens' majority ownership in 1997. (AP Photo)

His playoffs stats were equally striking -- 70 goals and 85 assists for 155 points in 89 games.

Lemieux reached the 100-point plateau 10 times, including a career-high 199 in 1988-89, and his 2.005 points-per-game average is second to none, even Gretzky (1.921).

But chronic back problems and Hodgkin's disease cost him 169 games between 1989 and 1993, plus the entire 1994-95 campaign.

In fact, Lemieux played as many as 70 games only five times in his illustrious 12-year career.

Lemieux returned with a vengeance in 1996, winning his third MVP and fifth scoring title in taking the Penguins to within one victory of a third Stanley Cup final.

He retired in 1997 after capturing his sixth scoring crown en route to automatic induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

One reason for Lemieux's premature departure was the rampant hooking and obstruction so prevalent at the time.

Mario Lemieux plans to return versus the Leafs on Dec. 27. (AP Photo)

He even went so far as to call the NHL, "a garage league."

But a league-wide crackdown has restored flow to the pro game and perhaps hastened Lemieux's return.

The feeling that he was cheated by poor health is another factor.

"When you've had something taken away from you or you let it go, you have a different attitude about it," Patrick said. "That's what I sense is happening here."

Lemieux must feel hard-pressed to fill 16,958 seats at outdated Mellon Arena as well.

Even with Jagr, the world's most talented player, the Penguins have sold out the vacuous venue only three times this season and -- at 15,122 -- average attendance is only 89 per cent capacity.

That will certainly change once No. 66 laces up for an encore.

The hope is that putting Lemieux, the player, will put Lemieux, the owner, in the black.

"His impact will be profound," Patrick said matter of factly.

Just as it was when he assumed majority ownership of the Penguins on Sept. 3, 1997.

The franchise was in financial straits and unable to honour an estimated $26.2-million US owed Lemieux in deferred payments.

Purchasing the Penguins allowed him to flip most of the monies owed into equity and he wants nothing more than to see his investment grow.

Lemieux also sees himself as the solution to Jagr's on-ice struggles, without skewing the club's salary structure.

Jagr is not only said to be at odds with head coach Ivan Hlinka, but to have requested a trade.

Having fallen out of the top-10 in league scoring, he would welcome a big, talented centre.

But why dole out millions for a concussion-prone Eric Lindros when, as owner, Lemieux can simply pay himself something closer to the league minimum of $150,000 US and reap the revenues?

It's not only logical, but legal.

"There's no constitutional or bylaw provision that would prohibit an owner from playing," stated NHL spokesman Frank Brown.

Lemieux became the first player in modern sports history to purchase the team he once played for.

He will soon become the first owner-player too, on Dec. 27 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

With files from CP