Mario's Return Doesn't Mask Penguins' Shortcomings
Team Still Lacks Grit On Third Line
By Bob Grove

OK. Mario is back.

So, too, is the promise of those indescribable goals. Those ridiculous passes. Those wrist shots that find holes nobody else knew existed. Those dramatics.

But what about those Stanley Cups? Is the addition of one Hall of Famer, one legend, one scoring machine, (one owner) and one leader enough to push the Penguins from the second tier of Cup challengers into that elite circle of teams most likely to win a championship?

Not by itself.

It's a monstrous first step, of course, but there is more work to be done with a team that has failed to reach even the Cup semifinals since 1996, when Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr were still terrorizing goaltenders. There exists a great likelihood that those two will do much the same thing for the remainder of this season, but there's more to winning the Cup than scoring goals.

"The one thing Mario is going to find out playing with them," said Pierre McGuire, former Pittsburgh assistant coach and current hockey analyst for TSN in Canada, "is exactly what they need internally. You get a different perspective when you're at ice level, and that will help Craig Patrick tremendously.

"I think he'll understand when they play against New Jersey and Toronto, two of the better teams in the East, or against Buffalo. . . you've got to have a little bit of sandpaper, a little bit of grit. I remember in 1992, Mario really wanted Rick Tocchet in here, and he got him and that really helped. I really believe you're going to see Craig fine-tune this team before it's over."

The Penguins' grit, or lack of same, has been a topic of concern for some time. It hurt them in last spring's second-round playoff loss to Philadelphia and in a second-round loss to Toronto in 1999. Among the regular forwards used by coach Ivan Hlinka prior to Lemieux's return, all but left wing Rene Corbet and right wing Matthew Barnaby owed their NHL existence more to their skill level than their resolve.

Jagr has noticed that, too.

"I think you need kind of a mix, not four lines of all skill players," he told reporters last month. "You're never going to win anything with that. We've got to be able to play any style. If a team runs at you, you have to have two lines running their players, and I don't think we have it right now."

Former Chicago Blackhawks' goaltender and current ESPN analyst Darren Pang also points to the lack of a physical third line as one factor holding back the Penguins' Cup hopes.

"They need a Mike Keane-type guy. That's the best example I can think of for them," Pang said, referring to the veteran right wing whose grinding style of play helped Montreal and Colorado win the Cup before he landed with his current team, the Dallas Stars, and helped them to the 1999 championship.

"You look at what Toronto has with the line of (Darcy) Tucker, (Gary) Roberts and (Shayne) Corson, and that's what you need - a line that will gladly accept that role and not feel the pressure of scoring."

At the time of Lemieux's return, Hlinka's third line consisted of Corbet, promising rookie center Milan Kraft and disappointing right wing Aleksey Morozov, the latter two drafted primarily for their scoring potential.

The names of veteran Garth Snow and third-year NHL pro Jean-Sebastien Aubin, meanwhile, would not appear on many observers' lists of those goaltenders likely to backstop their teams to the Cup.

Snow has only 14 playoff games to his credit, although he went 8-4 in 1997 to help Ron Hextall push the Philadelphia Flyers to the Cup Finals, where they were swept by Detroit. Snow played only one game in the Finals, losing Game 2, 4-2 - his last post-season appearance. Aubin, who fell behind Snow on the depth chart even before he was sidelined by knee surgery, has never played a single Cup game.

"I know what kind of character Garth has," said Pang, "and so it's extremely important that Garth is consistent. When you haven't proven that you can win (the Cup) at this level, you can't give anyone the opportunity to doubt you."

Pang also believes the Penguins need a No. 2 center who is better on faceoffs - Pittsburgh ranked last in the NHL on draws for most of the first half - and more capable of taking scoring pressure off the top line. Centers Martin Straka and Robert Lang both play on the second line, Lang most often as a left wing, but both are inconsistent in the faceoff circle while Lang has just three goals in 29 career playoff games.

"Is Ron Francis available?" chuckles Pang.

Not likely.

The Penguins, however, may be able to make up for some of those shortcomings with outstanding special teams. Pittsburgh should enjoy marked improvements in both its power play and penalty killing efficiency with the addition of Lemieux. The presence of Lemieux, Jagr and Alexei Kovalev on the same power play, in particular, may prove indefensible.

"Discipline is going to be a very important thing when you're playing the Penguins," says McGuire. "I think the biggest thing of all is to take away all of Mario's outlets and force him to shoot the puck. And don't allow him to shoot the puck from eight feet; force him to shoot it from 20 feet."

Pang agrees.

"Give them the perimeter. It's the only thing you can do," he said. "Let them blast away from the outside and form a tight umbrella. The problem is that you can't match their patience, which is the great strength of Mario. And all their players on the power play will have the luxury of knowing that the penalty killers aren't going to come after them - because if they do, they'll really get burned."