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For Mario Lemieux, the opening day of his Toyota Mario Lemieux Celebrity Invitational proved to be an exciting event on two fronts.

Lemieux, who retired from hockey two seasons ago to spend more time with his family and on the golf course, was able to put together a strong list of celebrity competitors to play for the $225,000 purse at his golf tournament, which is an official stop on the Celebrity Players Tour.

Many of his friends from his NHL days joined him last Thursday at The Club at Nevillewood near Pittsburgh, including Brett Hull, Ron Francis and John Vanbiesbrouck. Other sports celebrities such as Johnny Bench and Dan Marino played in the event, as well.

However, as it was for all of his years in the NHL, Lemieux stole the show. But this time it was his words, not his actions, that garnered all of the attention.

Earlier that Thursday morning, Lemieux filed suit against the Pittsburgh Penguins in hopes of collecting the deferred payments he said the club owes him from the seven-year, $42 million contract he signed with Penguin owner Howard Baldwin in 1992. Baldwin and Lemieux are close friends and have no troubles with each other. The two agreed to lengthen the payments on the contract several years ago in order for the Penguins to stay afloat financially and re-sign other players to make a run at the Stanley Cup.

But Lemieux said the team's relatively new co-owner, Roger Marino, is apparently balking on paying Lemieux's contract. Marino cuts the checks in Pittsburgh these day, not Baldwin. Lemieux said he just wants the money he believes he deserves.

"We just had no choice. This was my last resort," Lemieux said after he finished putting on the 18th hole at Nevillewood. "I certainly didn't want to bring the Penguins to court. It's the team I played 13 years for and had a great relationship with until Marino came in."

Lemieux said the suit is more of a personal issue between Marino and himself rather than any conflict with the rest of the Penguin organization which he spent his entire career with. He knows that his suit could cause a lot of damage to the Penguins financially, but he said he wants to make sure his family is well taken care of and that he gets the money he earned.

"Pittsburgh is a great franchise and I think the people of Pittsburgh deserve a hockey team, but maybe the way they're running it, there won't be a team for long, if a guy like Marino keeps doing what he's doing," Lemieux said. "I guess Marino's trying to make the best of it, but I think he's taking the wrong approach."

"It's unfortunate because we've revised the contract a couple times, deferring more money because they didn't have the cash," Lemieux added. "Now it's time to pay up and it seems like they don't want to do that either."

While Baldwin has tried to intervene in the conflict to iron out the differences, Lemieux said he's ready for a long, drawn out battle in the courts if necessary.

"I have nothing else to do," Lemieux said with a smirk on his sweat-covered face. "I'm ready for it."

Johnny Cullen Plays Golf

Amongst all of the legal jargon, the real reason for the Lemieux Invitational was almost lost. The golf tournament was a way for Lemieux to raise money for the Lemieux Foundation, an organization the Hodgkin's Disease survivor created to help fight cancer.

And who else would know more at the tournament about cancer than Lemieux? How about LCS idol Johnny Cullen?

Cullen made the trip to Pittsburgh Friday to compete in the Invitational from Tampa Bay, where he is still recovering from his own battle against cancer.

Although he finished near the bottom of the list of celebrities in the tournament, which was won by former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Rick Rhoden, just getting out on the course and swinging a club was a victory of its own.

Cullen, who was deemed cancer-free several months ago after a scary and painful bout against lymphoma, is feeling great these days and he's planning on coming back to the NHL next season. Although he doesn't have a contract, Cullen is expected to re-sign with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

If for some reason the Lightning decide they want a public relations nightmare and don't re-sign the scrappy center, several other teams could be interested. One team that could be is the Boston Bruins. Cullen played college hockey at Boston University and has said that he wouldn't mind playing there again someday.

Until Cullen signs with a team, he'll be trying to get back into playing shape in Tampa. One of Cullen's former linemates in Pittsburgh, Mark Recchi, was also at the Lemieux Invitational. He confirmed the wonderful news that Cullen is feeling great.

"Kevin Stevens, Cully and I, we spent some time together for four days down in Tampa," Recchi said after completing nine holes Thursday. "He's looking great. He's skating again and everything."

Among all the contract hoopla during the first day of the tournament, Recchi's update on Johnny Cullen was news that everyone was happy to hear.

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