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.

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)

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)

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.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers are loaded offensively, as F Jeff Carter was second in the league with 46 goals. They have plenty of grit to control the tempo inside the offensive zone, but what still plagues them is a lack of a killer instinct to put opponents away. This was evident last Sunday after losing home-ice advantage for the playoffs with a third period collapse against the New York Rangers in a 4-3 loss. The Penguins went 12-2 in 14 Eastern Conference playoff games last spring en route to an appearance in the Stanley Cup finals. This year’s squad is missing Ryan Malone and Marian Hossa; both players left via free agency last summer, and coach Michel Therrien was fired during the season. Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin were much-needed trade-deadline additions to revamp the forward unit, and the backline has been fortified by the return of Sergei Gonchar to the lineup. And oh yeah, they have a couple players named Crosby and Malkin to lead their offense. Under rookie interim head coach Dan Bylsma, the Pens went 18-3-4 to finish the regular season. It is fair to ask how rookie coaches will react to the pressures of the postseason. Remember, Bylsma began the season in the AHL and now rides the hottest team in the league into the playoffs.

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Calgary Flames
Six weeks ago, the Flames had the look of a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. They had veteran leadership, a quality goaltender, and acquired a skill player (Olli Jokinen) at the trade-deadline to put the puck in the net. They proceeded to choke away their large lead in the Northwest Division and fell to fifth place in the final conference standings. Chicago’s local media is focusing too much on the revival of hockey in the Windy City and overlooking how talented the Blackhawks are. They have all the ingredients needed for a successful playoff run: goaltending, defense, and coaching. The Hawks put it all together down the stretch of the regular season, as they went 6-0-1 in April and 9-3-1 since March 22nd.

It seems to happen every year, an unlikely team emerges to shine the brightest and breeds hope for all in the NHL. The playoffs are here…thank god!

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. After completing the Jokinen trade early in the day, he sent D Derek Morris to the New York Rangers for F Nigel Dawes, F Petr Prucha, and D Dmitri Kalinin right at the deadline. The hope is for Prucha (a former 30-goal scorer) to become an effective player on the Coyote’s second-team power play unit and not the healthy scratch participant he has been for the Blueshirts all season. Dawes possesses a quick shot and could develop into a big goal scorer under the tutelage of head coach Wayne Gretzky.

The jury is still out on whether the Rangers will make the playoffs, but you cannot criticize GM Glen Slather — at least he tried to improve his team. He brought in John Tortorella as coach to instill enthusiasm into a listless locker room, and yesterday Slats acquired F Nik Antropov and Morris to aid the league’s worst power play. Antropov is the big body needed in front of the net to distract the defense and allow shots to go through from the point on the power play. Morris brings a heavy shot from the point position and will add stability to the defense that has been pushed around all season.

Kudos to Florida Panthers GM Jacques Martin for not trading away D Jay Bouwmeester at the deadline and standing pat for the remainder of the season. This sends a strong message to their fans that they’re committed to fighting for a playoff spot now and will worry about next season later on.

The Stanley Cup will be won in late spring, and at that time we will find out who were the real winners at the NHL’s trading deadline. Until then, it’s all speculation.

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.

Tomas Kaberle – D, Toronto Maple Leafs
He has an iron-clad no-trade clause in his contract, but the Canadian press is reporting that Kaberle gave Maple Leaf GM Brian Burke a list of 10 Eastern Conference teams for which he would waive his no-trade clause. Their asking price could be a stumbling block, as Burke is requesting a minimum bid of a first-round draft choice, an impact roster player, and a prospect from any prospective buyer.

Jay Bouwmeester – D, Florida Panthers
Panthers GM Jacques Martin will have a tough deadline decision to make today. Does he acquire a nice package to aid his team’s effort in making a playoff run or does he stand pat and allow Bouwmeester to become an UFA after the season? The Panthers haven’t been in the playoffs since the ’99-’00 season, and must show their fans some progress.

Keith Tkachuk – C/LW, St. Louis Blues
Here’s another veteran player with a no-trade clause in his contract, and the local media is reporting that Tkachuk is willing to waive it for the right opportunity. The Blues have made a late run for a playoff spot, but they haven’t secured a position yet. If Tkachuk is traded, this will be sign that ownership has decided the playoffs are out of reach and believes he deserves one last opportunity to play for a Stanley Cup.

Olli Jokinen – C, Phoenix Coyotes
The Coyotes are on the brink of financial ruin with no immediate help in sight. They have fallen out of the playoff picture, but upper management is convinced that Jokinen still remains a key ingredient to their recipe for success. All media reports have stated that the Coyotes will need to receive a helluva offer to pry him out of Phoenix. Contenders are trying to gauge the Coyotes’ level of desperation before submitting trade offers.

Ryan Smyth – LW, Colorado Avalanche
The Avs are in a rebuilding mode and Smyth’s salary ($6.25 million) is an albatross around their neck. He is one of few Avalanche players that could bring value back in a trade, but Colorado’s asking price has been too high for most teams to even continue trade talks. If their price comes down, then Smyth will be traded by the deadline.

Let the trading begin…