If Mario comes back, he's going to throw himself totally into it. With his concentration and skill level, if he's going to do this, he's going to do it all the way. He's coming back to be the best. However, Jagr, whose own scoring is down considerably this season, warned Lemieux it is tougher than ever for scorers to locate open ice and operate with the puck. It was the clutching, grabbing and holding that less-talented players used to neutralize stars that helped drive Lemieux from the league in 1997.
Every game is tough.
This will not be Lemieux's first comeback, or his second. In 1993, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, cancer of the lymph nodes, and missed much of that season. He sat out the 1994-95 season after recovering from the cancer and a second bout with back trouble, but returned to lead the Penguins to within one victory of a third trip to the Stanley Cup finals in 1996. Lemieux, inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame months after his retirement under a special exemption, gained control of the Penguins in federal bankruptcy court on Sept. 3, 1999. He was a major creditor because of deferred payments the team owed him from his playing contracts.