In Pittsburgh, where he plays and essentially owns the struggling Penguins, Canadian Mario Lemieux is catching heat from fans who feel they deserve more.
But in Ottawa, capital of the country whose men's hockey team he will captain in final-round Olympic play that gets under way Friday, he is being hailed already as a hero.
"I skipped a few (recent Pittsburgh) games on back-to-back nights — I wanted to be fresh for the Olympics, and I was afraid of getting hurt," said Lemieux, who was cheered by his countrymen — Senators fans — for that stance when the Penguins played Tuesday in Ottawa. "Now that I'm (in Salt Lake), I'll give it everything I have.
"Bringing the gold medal to Canada," Lemieux added during a Wednesday-night news conference, "will be a dream come true."
A chronically injured cancer survivor who is still recovering from hip surgery, Lemieux said he will play back-to-backs Sunday vs. Germany and Monday vs. the Czech Republic.
PRELIM GAMES: With Germany and Belarus already having clinched berths in the final round, two inconsequential preliminary-round games were played Wednesday.
Switzerland beat Belarus 2-1 at the E Center, getting a second-period game-winner from Jean-Jacques Aeschkimann. The Swiss also got 23-save goaltending from Martin Gerber, who started over benched Colorado Avalanche backup David Aebisher.
Meanwhile, at the packed Peaks Ice Arena, Ukraine beat France 4-2. Vadym Shakhraychuk's second-period goal stood up as the game-winner.
OOPS: The Swiss beat Belarus without Marcel Jenni and Reto Von Arx, who were suspended by coach Ralph Krueger for breaking team curfew. According to a news release, the two were absent from the Olympic Village for about 12 overnight hours.
COOL: Thirty-two-year-old Washington Capitals vet Dmitri Khristich came to Salt Lake to play Wednesday vs. France — even though Ukraine already was eliminated from medal contention. Why? "I have never played in the Olympics before," Khristich said, "and now that I have the opportunity, it's like I'm a kid again."
BYE-BYE CARIBBEAN: The Czech Republic on Wednesday tapped Atlanta Thrashers goalie Milan Hnilicka to replace Calgary's Roman Turek, who has nagging knee and shoulder injuries. Hnilicka, also a spare goalie at the 1998 Games in Nagano, canceled a planned vacation to the Cayman Islands to sit in Salt Lake behind Czech Republic starter Dominik Hasek and backup Roman Cechmanek.
CANADA OK: This update from coach Pat Quinn on his many injured Canadians, including Steve Yzerman, who recently had arthroscopic knee surgery: "We have a green light on all our players."
