Where does Mario go from here?(foreseen performance and career of hockey player Mario Lemieux)(Brief Article)

Now that the bright-smile telefaces have gone home, the popcorn has been swept away and the last echoes have faded from the Igloo, let's stop and consider what to expect the rest of the way from the return of Mario Lemieux.

Let's hope there is more in store because the NHL needs all the feel-good it can get. Lemieux's comeback has produced the biggest media bounce the sport has seen since the glowing puck was waived for the purpose of its unconditional release. It has been the biggest pepper-upper the game has had this side of Mystery, Alaska.

Lemieux is a throwback to better times, when men were men and traps were plumbing items. Ah, the halcyon days of yore--firewagon hockey; dynasties built on scoring, scoring and more scoring; offensive defensemen who were respected for being the Stepford sons of Bobby Orr, and goals-against averages that rivaled grade-point averages among Mensa members.

That was before the dark times--expansion, budget-busting contracts, the accursed neutral-zone trap and clutch-and-grab hockey that slowed the game to the flow of maple sap in a Vermont winter.

Things got so bad, in fact, they drove Lemieux from the game. It was a shame when Stanley Cups were decided by Claude, not Mario, Lemieux.

For one brief, shining moment last week in Pittsburgh, winter and darkness lifted and we had Camelot on ice. Mario Lemieux was part Arthur, part Merlin--the mighty king who rounded up his knights, then cast his spell to bring light back to the world on ice.

OK, Mario, an assist in your first shift is a big deal. We'll give you that. But what can you do for an encore?