Injury Sidelines Lemieux

Mario Lemieux, like Michael Jordan, is finding that trying to recapture youth can be painful.

Lemieux probably will miss the remainder of the season because of a hip injury that has limited him to 24 games this season. It leaves in question the future of the Pittsburgh Penguin player/owner, who picked up an Olympic gold medal Sunday to go with his two Stanley Cup championships.

Lemieux, who said he still wanted to return next season, needed several painkiller injections to keep him in Canada’s lineup during the Olympics. Now, with gold medal in hand, it remains to be seen if he will be back on the ice or return to the owner’s box.

Lemieux, a six-time scoring champion in the NHL, follows another legend to the sidelines. Jordan, who won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls, had knee surgery Wednesday, possibly ending his comeback season with the Washington Wizards.

Lemieux, 36, has been bothered since training camp by the hip injury, which nearly forced him to miss the Olympics. He had arthroscopic surgery to remove loose cartilage on Oct. 29 and returned two weeks later. But after playing in three games, he was sidelined for two months while doctors tried to determine the cause of his pain.

As late as Tuesday, Lemieux said he was not considering sitting out the rest of the season. But results of recent tests on his hip revealed chronic tendinitis and inflammation. Doctors told Lemieux that he risked further damage if he continued to play this season.

“While I am disappointed I can’t be in the lineup, I am satisfied that I have identified the problem with my hip,” Lemieux said. “The doctors have told me that this period of rest and rehabilitation is necessary so that I can make a full recovery and get back in the lineup next season.”

Lemieux, like Jordan, has found duplicating success difficult. The Wizards were 10th, half a game out of a playoff spot, on Thursday. A big jump for the Wizards, but hardly a Jordan-type leap.

Likewise, the Penguins have struggled and could miss the playoffs for the first time since the 1989-90 season. They were 12th in the Eastern Conference after losing to the Kings, 5-4, Wednesday. Lemieux had two assists in that game to become the seventh player in NHL history to reach 1,600 points.

He had six goals and 25 assists this season.

Lemieux, who overcame back problems and Hodgkin’s disease during his first 13 seasons with the Penguins, retired after the 1996-97 season. He returned from a 44-month retirement in December 2000, and his presence helped the Penguins reach the conference final last spring.

There was speculation that Lemieux returned only to prepare for the Salt Lake City Olympics. He said this season that the Winter Games were his priority, which angered Penguin fans.

Although Lemieux said during the Olympics that he missed some Penguin games because the Olympics took priority, he was shocked at the reaction of the team’s fans.

“I was very disappointed by some of the comments made,” Lemieux said this week. “But I think if you look at my history with this organization, I’ve always put the franchise first and that’s not going to change.”

Canada had not won an Olympic gold medal in 50 years and Lemieux was instrumental in ending that drought. He sat out one game but returned to score two goals against the Czech Republic in a key 3-3 tie.

“Being around guys like Mario, guys who have won Stanley Cups, you learn a lot,” the Mighty Ducks’ Paul Kariya said. “The bigger the games are, the less he changed. He played the same the first game in the preliminary round as he did in the gold-medal game.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Mapping Mario

A chronology of the career of Mario Lemieux:

June 1984--Selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins with the No. 1 pick in the NHL Entry Draft.

1984-85--Won Calder Trophy after becoming only the third rookie in NHL history to score 100 or more points.

1988-89--Won second straight scoring title with 199 points (85, 114).

1990-91--Missed first 50 games recovering from a rare bone disease resulting from a surgery-related infection. Won Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP leading Pittsburgh to first Stanley Cup championship.

1991-92--Won third scoring title with 131 points (44, 87) and Pittsburgh won second straight Stanley Cup.

Jan. 1993--Diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. Underwent radiation treatment from Feb. 1 to March 2.

1992-93--Played in only 60 games after recovering from Hodgkin’s disease.

Aug. 29, 1994--Announced he was taking a medical leave of absence due to fatigue, an effect of his 1993 radiation treatments, and would sit out 1994-95 season.

June 20, 1995--Announced he would return for the 1995-96 season.

Oct. 26, 1995--Scored 500th career goal.

Feb. 4, 1997--Scored 600th career goal.

1996-97--Won sixth scoring title with 122 points (50, 72).

April 6, 1997--Announced he will retire following the playoffs.

Sept. 3, 1999--Lemieux becomes first player in the modern era of sports to buy the team he once played for.

Dec. 8, 2000--Lemieux tells Penguins he plans on comeback.

April 8, 2001--Lemieux finishes with 35 goals and 41 assists in 43 games.

Feb. 24, 2002--By leading Canada to a 5-2 victory over the U.S., Lemieux wins Olympic gold.

Feb. 28, 2002--Hampered by a hip injury that kept him out of 32 of 56 games, Lemieux follows doctor’s advice and calls it quits for the season.