Ice Hockey: Lemieux retiring?

Do you think Mario Lemieux will hang up his skates for good? I think he will, the Pens are definitely in a rebuilding stage with so many young players and I think Lemieux is way past the point in his career where he wants to be part of a rebuilding project. He had some great years but I think it's time to hang 'em up for good and take it easy.

Mario will most likely hang his skates up for good after this season. If you remember in the last game of the season Mario changed sticks 21 times, and Jersey's 4 times, a person playing another season doesnt do something like this. Mario is still young, but like you said ProudAmerican Lemieux just doesnt want to play on a Hockey Team that is in the rebuilding part. He had some great years playing won a couple of cups and now it is time to go, another big factor is his injuries he has been having some back problems and that could have been another deciding factor with him saying goodbye.

i remember for a while there were really screwed up rumors that he was going to try and sell himself to another team, like he did with Kovy to (my poor, pathetic team) the rangers. But obviousaly that's simply rediculous to think about, but it was funny. I think that he will probably retire and simply work on rebuilding the team. I think that getting Fata will help them a lot, because he seems to have suddenly found his hands since joining the penguins, and with the rebuilding process the team could turn out to be a very good, young one

Pit has a very young team and it will take a couple of years for them to turn around again. If Mario would play for another team he would have to give up being the owner. And i dont think that Mario would want to do that, so look for him to stay the owner of the Peguins.

Super Mario didn't flat-out say he was going to return, but he dropped plenty of hints that suggest an official announcement is just a formality.

According to published reports in Pittsburgh, Mario Lemieux will announce as soon as Wednesday that he plans on returning to the Penguins for a 16th NHL season.

"If I feel 100 percent physically and mentally, I'd love to play," Lemieux said at a Penguins alumni golf outing yesterday in Oglebay in Wheeling, W. Va.

When asked if he felt that way, Lemieux responded: "Yeah, absolutely. After a couple of months of rest, it's a chance to recharge the battery. I feel pretty good."

Lemieux, who turns 38 five days before the Penguins' Oct. 10 season opener, said he has had no problems with his back this summer, even though he has intensified his offseason training program, which began six weeks ago. According to the reports, he plans on hitting the ice by the third week of August.

Lemieux, who came out of retirement in December 2000, had been contemplating whether to again call it quits, but he seems more ready to prove he can still be one of the league's top players.

Lemieux is the all-time NHL leader in points per game and also serves as the Penguins' owner. Staying in the lineup also might improve Lemieux's chances of landing a new arena deal for the Penguins, who are trying to line up financing for a building to replace 42-year-old Mellon Arena.

Lemieux's return also would be a plus for new coach Eddie Olczyk, who has no coaching experience at any organized level of hockey.