Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Mario Lemieux has maintained a low profile all season with the media. He has let other members of the front office speak out on club issues. That was until yesterday.

Lemieux held a 12-minute press conference prior to the start of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals on Saturday. Looking tanned and rested, Super Mario offered his opinion on a variety of subjects, including young Penguin superstar Sidney Crosby, the post-lockout game of hockey, and the chances of his team in their return trip to the Stanley Cup finals.

Here are his comments on Crosby:

The Pittsburgh Penguins owner – and one of the greatest NHL players of all-time – indicated that Crosby is much better at age 21 than he was. Lemieux thinks the team’s captain is a lot more mature, too.

“He’s a special kid,” Lemieux said Saturday night. “He’s a better player than I was at the same age, for sure. Some of the things that he does on the ice, his strength, skating ability is incredible. His passion for the game and his will to be the best each and every shift.

“His work ethic, he’s got it all.”

Crosby has lived with Lemieux since entering the league four years ago and has become like another member of the family. The two men speak about hockey “all the time,” according to Lemieux.

He added that the overall play in the league has been great this season, and this is coming from someone who called the NHL a “garbage league� of players clutching and grabbing the elite superstars in the neutral zone. Lemieux hopes his team follows the same path of the 1984 Edmonton Oilers. The previous year, they lost the finals to the New York Islanders before winning the Stanley Cup. He feels both teams were built similarly, with two elite players headlining an up tempo offensive-minded team.

Hockey fans rejoice!

The conference finals were a big yawn, but the Stanley Cup offers an intriguing matchup. Sid the Kid looks to dethrone Hockeytown and spoil the back-to-back title party being planned in the Motor City. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings were the preseason favorites to meet once again in the Cup finals, and both encountered a rough road back to this anticipated rematch.

Oh, and the Lakers and Magic look to close out their respective series this weekend.

All times ET…

NBA Playoffs
Fri, 9 PM: Los Angeles Lakers @ Denver Nuggets (ESPN)
Sat, 8:30 PM: Cleveland Cavaliers @ Orlando Magic (TNT)
Sun, 8:30 PM: Denver Nuggets @ Los Angeles Lakers *if necessary (ABC)

Stanley Cup Finals
Sat, 8 PM: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Detroit Red Wings (NBC)
Sun, TBD: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Detroit Red Wings (NBC)

MLB
Sat, 4:10 PM: Minnesota Twins @ Tampa Bay Rays (FOX)
Sun., 12:40 PM: New York Yankees @ Cleveland Indians (TBS)
Sun., 8 PM: Los Angeles Dodgers @ Chicago Cubs (ESPN)

French Open
Fri, 5 AM: Opening Round Matches (Tennis Channel)
Fri, 12 PM: Opening Round Matches (ESPN2)
Sat, 5 AM: Opening Round Matches (Tennis Channel)
Sat, 1:30 PM: Opening Round Matches (NBC)
Sun, 5 AM: Round of 16 (Tennis Channel)
Sun, 3 PM: Round of 16 (NBC)

The NBA and NHL playoffs are heating up, as the Boston Celtics/Chicago Bulls series could go down as maybe the best first round series ever. The Detroit Red Wings will again battle the Anaheim Ducks, who have defeated them in consecutive playoff series. They defeated the Red Wings in the 2003 Western Conference quarterfinals, it marked the first time since 1952 that a defending Stanley Cup champion was knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.

All times ET…

NBA Playoffs
Fri, 8 PM: Atlanta Hawks @ Miami Heat (ESPN)
Sat, 8 PM: Chicago Bulls @ Boston Celtics (TNT)
Sun, 1 PM: Miami Heat @ Atlanta Hawks* if necessary (ABC)
Sun, 3:30 PM: Dallas Mavericks @ Denver Nuggets (ABC)

NHL Playoffs
Fri, 7 PM: Anaheim Ducks @ Detroit Red Wings (Versus)
Sat, 1PM: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Washington Capitals (NBC)
Sat, 9 PM: Chicago Blackhawks @ Vancouver Canucks (Versus)
Sun, 2 PM: Anaheim Ducks @ Detroit Red Wings (NBC)
Sun, 7:30 PM: Carolina Hurricanes @ Boston Bruins (Versus)

MLB
Sat, 3:40 PM: New York Mets @ Philadelphia Phillies (Fox)
Sun., 1:30 PM: Boston Red Sox @ Tampa Bay Rays (TBS)
Sun., 8 PM: Chicago White Sox @ Texas Rangers (ESPN)

Boxing
Sat, 9 PM: Ricky Hatton vs. Manny Pacquiao for the world junior welterweight title from Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena (HBO PPV)

Horse Racing
Sat, 4 PM: Kentucky Derby from Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY.(NBC)

There’s nothing that sounds quite like an NHL playoff game, except for maybe standing on the tarmac during a plane’s takeoff. The noise is constant from the pre-game skate to the final seconds on the clock. For the players and coaches, springtime means the start of the annual gauntlet run to the Stanley Cup.

This year, the Western Conference could provide more surprises in the early rounds than its Eastern counterpart. I have highlighted three series to keep an eye on for the first round.

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens
An original six matchup — old Adams Division rivals will meet for the fourth time in the last seven postseasons. The Habs have won 24 of 31 all-time playoff series between the two teams, including the last three encounters (’02, ’04, ‘08). The key for the Canadiens is having a healthy D Andrei Markov back in the lineup. He led the team in scoring and was a key component at the point position on the power play. But they have sputtered since Markov went down with a lower-body injury on April 4th. The Big Bad Bruins have bullied the Canadiens in all six regular season contests, but they must refrain from taking stupid penalties. F Milan Lucic must control his emotions and play with his head on straight, as the referees will be watching him closely. What a banner season for the Bruins, as they had their best win total (53) since 1971-72 regular season en route to becoming the number one-seed in the Eastern Conference.

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The number of firings that have taken place in the NHL this season would make Donald Trump envious. Seven head coaches have left the board room unemployed, including three in the last month from preseason Stanley Cup contending teams.

The purge began on February 2, as the Pittsburgh Penguins fired Michel Therrien only months after he took them to a Stanley Cup final. He paid the price for management’s inability to keep the supporting cast that had surrounded talented young superstars like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Marc-Andre Fleury. It was inevitable that Therrien would become the fall guy, as the Pens have fallen to 10th place in the Eastern Conference and out of the playoff hunt.

The New York Rangers had lost 10 of their last 12 games and fell to sixth place in the Eastern Conference; just two points separated them from missing the playoffs completely. Management felt this underachieving team needed a kick in the butt and hired John Tortorella to replace Tom Renney as head coach. His excitable personality will challenge everyone on the roster to play to their potential and he’ll hold them accountable for their on-ice decisions.

The Montreal Canadiens’ 100th anniversary season was supposed to a year of celebration that would culminate with a Stanley Cup victory. Instead, it has been a nightmare that cost Guy Carbonneau his job earlier this week. Canadiens GM Bob Gainey felt the team needed to get better defensively and cut down the number of shots allowed in their zone.

This is the last, desperate move by teams that had high aspirations at the beginning of the season and are now struggling just to stay in the playoff race. Their only hope is for a mid-season coaching change to ignite a second-half resurgence. Each team’s performance has been below par for the majority of the season.

There is a fine line between success and failure in the business world and sometimes calculated moves do not work out the way they were intended. The one thing that Therrien, Renney and Carbonneau had in common were they were let go after recent success in the NHL. But hey, that’s the sports business today.

This was a strange NHL trading deadline. I was a little disappointed in the lack of big name players changing uniforms. In total, 22 trades (involving 47 players) were completed. And the biggest name that was traded (Olli Jokinen) has never played in a playoff game in his 10-year career.

The Calgary Flames became a legitimate contender in the Western Conference after acquiring D Jordan Leopold from the Colorado Avalanche and Jokinen from the Phoenix Coyotes in separate deadline deals. Leopold is a great fit that could make their backline the most imposing in the league. Jokinen played his best hockey under current Flames coach Mike Keenan during their time together in Florida. He is a great scorer but not a great on-ice leader, though Calgary offers him a fresh start. It’s a veteran squad that will not ask Jokinen to provide leadership in the locker room, just puckss in the net.

A nice day’s work for Coyote GM Don Maloney, as his agenda yesterday was to cut payroll…

With hours remaining before the NHL’s trading deadline at 3 PM (ET) today, hockey fans want to know…

Who’s buying?

Who’s selling?

Who’s going to be traded?

Rumors are running rampant, and it’s very hard to distinguish fact from fiction. 25 of 30 teams in the league have a realistic shot of making the playoffs, and nine of them are legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. You can expect a number of trades today, as a combined 50 deals were executed at the trade deadline in the past two years.

Here are six likely candidates:

Chris Pronger – D, Anaheim Ducks
His immediate impact as an offensive defenseman could be very beneficial to any team that would acquire him. The Ducks are looking to make a major roster overhaul this off-season, and cannot afford to keep Pronger’s large contract ($6.25 million) on the cap next season. He is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) after the 2009-10 season.

A coaching change that occurred over the weekend that made me scratch my head. The Tampa Bay Lightning fired Barry Melrose after only four months on the job and replaced him on an interim basis with Rick Tocchet.

Last summer, the franchise was purchased by a Hollywood movie management group last summer that gained success by producing the Saw franchise. Their main acquisition of the off-season was hiring Melrose to lead the team back into Stanley Cup contention, but the Lightning have been plagued by inconsistent and lackluster play all season.

In his press release, Lightning general manager Brian Lawton felt a coaching change was needed due to concerns about what direction the team was headed under Melrose. The team is built with an explosive offense featuring high-scoring forwards but have netted a league-worst 33 goals thus far this season and are currently floundering in 13th place of a 15-team Eastern Conference. Also, Lawton was displeased with the lack of playing time given to the league’s 2008 #1-overall draft choice Steven Stamkos, who was averaging a little over 11 minutes of ice-time under Melrose and was recently taken off the power-play unit. Still, to be judged after 16 games is a harsh reality for a new coach, as Melrose had to implement a new system and integrate 14 new players into the lineup.

Tocchet is a former NHL player with over 400 goals and a well-respected assistant coach with prior stops in Colorado and Phoenix. Lawton praised his approach to teaching hockey in a very structured and organized manner. But Tocchet does come with some baggage; he pleaded guilty to running a sports gambling ring in 2007.

Lawton wants to meet with the players to give them a direct explanation on the coaching change and discuss the future direction of the team’s management group.

Chelios: Def Leppard dissed the Stanley Cup
Do not invite Detroit Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios and Def Leppard lead singer Joe Elliott to the same party because the gloves will come off.

Chelios accused Elliott of disrespecting the Stanley Cup during the band’s performance at the “NHL Face-Off Rocks� show at a Detroit concert venue last week. During the show’s encore, Elliott saluted the sport by holding the Cup over his head the same way that the players do after winning the Stanley Cup, and then placed the trophy upside down on the stage.

Backstage observers said that Elliott was in a bad mood all evening and seemed like he wanted to be elsewhere. Some thought his actions on stage were Elliott’s way of taking his frustrations out on the NHL.

Chelios promises he will get even for the honor of the league.

Now, that will be a show.

League braces for an economic storm
The country’s struggling economy isn’t good for anyone, but NHL officials are bracing for one or two Southern-based franchises to look at moving to thriving hockey markets due to the weakening economic climate.

Team executives are concerned that the mess on Wall Street will likely have a direct effect on sales to fans and corporate sponsors this season. If revenues go down, the NHL salary cap will likely decrease by as much as 15 percent (or $8 million) per team.

The cap requires management to make tough decisions and improve their talent evaluation process. The impact of the economic crisis could be felt throughout the NHL for as long as five to 10 years.

Blackhawks fire Denis Savard
The first NHL coach was let go after only four games and just hours after his team’s first victory of the season. The Chicago Blackhawks fired Denis Savard on Thursday and replaced him with Joel Quenneville.

Savard’s plan was to improve on what the young Blackhawk team accomplished last season, hoping to become a playoff contender this season. But he will not get that chance, as general manager Dale Tallon phoned him on Thursday morning with the team’s decision.

Rocky Wirtz took over the day-to-day operations of the team following last year’s death of his father, Bill Wirtz. He made a pledge to the fans this off-season to have the Blackhawks back in the playoffs and he hopes to eventually win a Stanley Cup.

The Chicago media is speculating that Wirtz felt all along that he needed someone else behind the bench. Quenneville will bring a wealth of experience and a winning track record that could have an immediate impact on the young team.

The opening of the NHL season will take place overseas this weekend, and there are a few key storylines to keep an eye on during the first week of the season:

NHL invasion of Europe
A year ago, the Anaheim Ducks opened the season against the Los Angeles Kings in London, England. This season, four teams are kicking off the 2008-09 season in Europe: the Ottawa Senators will play the Pittsburgh Penguins in Stockholm, and the Tampa Bay Lightning open their season against the New York Rangers in Praque. The National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) President Paul Kelly announced that the number of teams opening the season in Europe could double next year, as multiple European cities have expressed interest in hosting NHL games next season.

Selanne resigns with the Ducks
Forward Teemu Selanne signed a two-year contract worth $5.25 million with the Ducks after the club traded defenseman Mathieu Schneider to the Atlanta Thrashers to free up the necessary cap space. Selanne didn’t want to miss time in training camp like last season when he was contemplating retirement from the sport. With a two-year commitment to the team, Selanne is committed to getting the Ducks back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Possible trades due to salary cap restrictions
Rumors have been circulating that a number of teams are looking to deal players due to salary cap restrictions. The Chicago Blackhawks have solved their salary cap problem by putting goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin on waivers this week. The writing was on the wall that his days were numbered in Chicago when the team signed free agent goalie Cristobal Huet to a four-year deal worth $22.5 million in July. The San Jose Sharks are looking to trade defenseman Kyle McLaren and his 2.5 million dollar contract to avoid starting the season $225,000 over the salary cap. McLaren became expendable after the team added Dan Boyle and Rob Blake to the backline in the offseason.

Inventive marketing plan on the West Coast
In an unusual joint venture, the Ducks and Kings announced a ticket-sales package for games that will be played Oct. 14 in Anaheim and Nov. 16 in Los Angeles. The package will be called the “Freeway Face-Off� and $60 will get fans tickets to both games.