By Wide Acclaim, Lemieux Is Centerpiece of Showcase

DENVER —  This will be less an NHL All-Star game today at the Pepsi Center than an all-out embrace of Pittsburgh Penguin center Mario Lemieux.

It will be a celebration of a remarkable comeback that began Dec. 27, when he left the owner’s box and laced up his skates again. And it will give Lemieux a perfect stage to show the marvels still to come in a career he said Saturday will continue next season and take him to the Salt Lake City Olympics with Team Canada.

“I’m having a lot of fun now that I’m back in the game,” said Lemieux, who believes he’s a few weeks from reaching peak form even though he has collected 16 goals and 32 points in 16 games. He has been held without a point only once, by the Mighty Ducks Jan. 15.

“It’s something I missed quite a bit the last three years,” he added, “and I’m glad I have another opportunity at it. I’m going to play as long as my body allows me to.”

Although divided geographically today, NHL players are united in their admiration of Lemieux. “It’s a dream to be in the same dressing room,” said North America winger Donald Audette of the Atlanta Thrashers. “I saw him play junior hockey when I was growing up. He’s always been one of my idols.”

European players share that awe. “To see Mario Lemieux or Wayne Gretzky on the ice is always something,” said King right wing Ziggy Palffy, a Slovakian and member of the World team. “To the fans, it’s a big deal.”

It’s an even bigger deal to NHL owners. Boosted by sellout or standing-room-only crowds at each of Lemieux’s 16 games--including attendance laggards Boston, Phoenix and Atlanta--the NHL set records for total attendance and average attendance per game in December and broke those records in January.

TV ratings are also up, from a minuscule .51 rating on ESPN’s nine pre-Lemieux telecasts to a slightly less minuscule .74 in four games since his return. ESPN2’s ratings have also climbed, from .22 in 39 games before Lemieux returned to .29 in 20 games since.

“It’s incredible for the game to have Mario Lemieux not only out there, but playing the way he is,” said Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche, the North America starting center and NHL scoring leader. “Everywhere you look, there’s excitement around the game and he’s bringing in more fans.”

Said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman: “This is somebody whose story now transcends hockey and transcends sports. It is a great human interest story to come back from the adversity he has had, to come back for a third time after three years of retirement, to be in the Hall of Fame, to be an owner and then to play at the level that he is playing is simply phenomenal.”

As captain of the North American team, Lemieux will appear in his ninth All-Star game. Yet, it will be anything but routine for the 35-year-old center, who is relieved to be free of the back problems and post-Hodgkin’s disease weakness that led him to retire in 1997 after winning his sixth scoring title.

“I think you appreciate it more when you are out of the game for a long period of time,” he said. “You have a second chance to come to these events and to play with the best players in the world, and you get to appreciate it a lot more than when it is a given to you every year. So this one is very, very special.”

He’s also free of the encumbrances of opponents who couldn’t match his skill and resorted to holding and slashing to stop him. Since he retired, the NHL has been vigilant in penalizing obstruction and allowing its skill players to shine, a shift Lemieux noted with approval.

“The flow of the game is certainly much better than it was 3 1/2 years ago,” he said. “Also, it’s safer for the players. Three, four years ago, at times it was dangerous to go out there because of the slashing to the hands and the upper body.”

What fans will see today bears little resemblance to the everyday version. The only hitting will be the slapping of palms to celebrate goals, which should occur frequently. In the three All-Star games played under this format, the teams have combined for an average of 14 goals a game. North America has won two of the three games.

Brett Hull of Dallas said neither this nor the West vs. East format generated a heated rivalry. “We’re here to promote the game and show fans more of our lighter sides and personalities, which we don’t get enough chance to show otherwise,” Hull said. He also said Lemieux is the only NHL player who can fill a building and suggested the league should do more to allow players’ personalities to emerge, eliciting a laugh from Lemieux.

“Brett obviously is one of the best players ever to have played the game,” he said. “At times he’s very vocal. But I certainly share his views and he’s doing this for the love of the game.”

So is Lemieux.

As the financial white knight to a bankrupt franchise, he gained insights into the economics of a league that depends more on ticket sales than the other major sports leagues. Formerly reticent, he’s open and engaging. Asked if he anticipated trouble signing a contract next season--he’s paying himself the league average of $1.4 million plus incentives this season--he joked, “We’re negotiating.”

He added, “I think I learned a lot, especially the last two years since I took over as an owner, to take a step back and see how the media and the fans react to the game. I certainly understand my part now, that it’s important for me to go out and to try to promote the game and give my time to the media and to the fans, who always want to know more about the star players.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

2001 NHL ALL-STAR GAME

What: 51st NHL All-Star game

Where: Pepsi Center, Denver

Time: 11:30 a.m. PST

Television--Channel 7

Players from North America face players from the rest of the world in the NHL’s annual all-star game. The format has varied over the years, but this will be the fourth under this format. North America leads, 2-1. (Note: x-denotes starters as voted by fans; y-injured, will not play; z-injury replacement.)

STATISTICS

North America team

*--*

Defensemen GP G A Pts. Rob Blake, Kings 49 17 30 47 x-Ray Bourque, Colorado 52 5 34 39 z-Ed Jovanovski, Vancouver 51 8 22 30 Brian Leetch, N.Y. Rangers 53 14 43 57 y-Al MacInnis, St. Louis 49 11 32 43 z-Scott Niedermayer, New Jersey 31 3 17 20 xy-Chris Pronger, St. Louis 45 6 35 41 Scott Stevens, New Jersey 51 5 13 18

*--*

**

*--*

Forwards GP G A Pts. Jason Allison, Boston 53 19 34 53 Tony Amonte, Chicago 52 27 19 46 Donald Audette, Atlanta 48 25 34 59 x-Theo Fleury, N.Y. Rangers 53 29 38 67 Simon Gagne, Philadelphia 53 22 23 45 Bill Guerin, Boston 56 27 21 48 Brett Hull, Dallas 49 27 27 54 x-Paul Kariya, Ducks 39 12 21 33 Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh 16 16 16 32 Luc Robitaille, Kings 52 25 34 59 x-Joe Sakic, Colorado 53 29 43 72 Doug Weight, Edmonton 55 12 46 58

*--*

**

*--*

Goalies GP Mins. Avg. W-L-T EN SO Martin Brodeur, N. Jersey 45 2688 2.30 25-10-8 1 4 Sean Burke, Phoenix 41 2446 2.06 18-12-10 1 2 x-Patrick Roy, Colorado 41 2414 2.11 28-7-5 1 3

*--*

World team

*--*

Defensemen GP G A Pts. Sergei Gonchar, Washington 47 11 24 35 x-Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit 54 8 35 43 Janne Niinimaa, Edmonton 55 7 24 31 Teppo Numminen, Phoenix 46 5 18 23 x-Sandis Ozolinsh, Carolina 41 4 18 22 Marcus Ragnarsson, San Jose 45 3 10 13

*--*

**

*--*

Forwards GP G A Pts. Radek Bonk, Ottawa 51 15 31 46 x-Pavel Bure, Florida 54 31 21 52 Sergei Fedorov, Detroit 54 23 28 51 x-Peter Forsberg, Colorado 45 17 31 48 z-Milan Hejduk, Colorado 52 30 24 54 Marian Hossa, Ottawa 51 21 31 52 xy-Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh 52 29 40 69 Alexei Kovalev, Pittsburgh 52 27 30 57 Fredrik Modin, Tampa Bay 51 24 16 40 y-Alexander Mogilny, New Jersey 51 27 26 53 Markus Naslund, Vancouver 54 31 23 54 Zigmund Palffy, Kings 44 25 35 60 Sergei Samsonov, Boston 53 21 27 48 Mats Sundin, Toronto 54 19 29 48

*--*

**

*--*

Goalies GP Mins. Avg. W-L-T EN SO Roman Cechmanek, Phila. 34 1948 2.00 20-7-4 1 5 x-Dominik Hasek, Buffalo 41 2366 2.31 18-17-4 2 6 Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose 43 2422 2.08 25-10-5 0 3

*--*

ALL-TIME RECORDS

* Games--23, Gordie Howe (1948-80)

* Consecutive games--18, Ray Bourque (1981-2000)

* Goals--13, Wayne Gretzky (17 games)

* Assists--12, Adam Oates (5 games)

* Points--25, Wayne Gretzky, 13-12--25 (17 games)

* Penalty minutes--27, Howe (23 games)

* Power-play goals--6, Howe