Wayne and Mario: Supernovas Lighting the Way

SAN JOSE — They are two of the greatest players of this generation or any other, having performed at such an extraordinary level for so long that they’re referred to simply as Wayne and Mario.

Some day, Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne may also be known by a single name, because the two Mighty Duck forwards are seen as the standard-bearers who will lead the NHL into the 21st century after New York Ranger center Wayne Gretzky and Pittsburgh Penguin center Mario Lemieux have set their final records.

When Gretzky and Lemieux play for the Eastern Conference team in today’s NHL All-Star game at the San Jose Arena, it will be their first collaboration since the 1987 Canada Cup--and very likely their last, because Lemieux again indicated he will retire after the season. They will begin to pass the torch of leadership to Kariya, Selanne, Philadelphia center Eric Lindros and countless others among the 12 first-time all-stars on the ice tonight.

“There are a lot of great young players in this league. There’s probably 10 or 12 who will be able to pick up the slack when you lose players that have been around 15, 18 years,” said Lemieux, who has played in seven All-Star games and been voted the most valuable player three times. “There’s a lot of young guys on their way to the top, like Kariya, Teemu Selanne and Eric.”

Selanne is aware of the responsibility he is about to inherit, and he welcomes the challenge.

“There’s going to be a new generation, and for sure, we want to keep doing the great things they have done,” said Selanne, who represented the Winnipeg Jets in his three previous All-Star game appearances. “They’ve done so many great things for this game.”

Said Kariya, who made his All-Star debut last season in Boston: “It’s certainly an honor to play with these guys. It’s up to all the younger players to learn from Wayne, Mario and Brett [Hull], how they’ve done things and how they’ve been ambassadors for the league, and to carry on that tradition.”

Dimitri Khristich, the Kings’ lone representative, is looking forward to playing on the same team as Kariya and Selanne instead of against them, although he doesn’t care what lines first-time Coach Ken Hitchcock of Dallas comes up with. “I would enjoy playing with anybody,” said Khristich, a first-time all-star.

Although Gretzky shows few signs of age--eight days away from his 36th birthday, he’s third in the scoring race--he also sees this as the end of an era because of Lemieux’s probable retirement.

“He’s one of the greatest players that ever played our game. What he can do on the ice, we marvel [at] ourselves as players,” said Gretzky, representing the East for the first time after 15 consecutive appearances for the West or its predecessor, the Campbell Conference. “Playing with him in 1987, he helped raise my game. I’ve missed not having the opportunity the last few Canada Cups or World Cups. This may be the last opportunity, so we’ll enjoy ourselves.”

The ascendance of the next generation may even extend to goaltenders. Duck goalie Guy Hebert, added to the West as a replacement for Detroit’s Chris Osgood, will be making his All-Star debut, while starter Patrick Roy of Colorado will be in his seventh game and Dallas’ Andy Moog in his fourth.

“I don’t want him to hear this, but I had a couple of pictures of Patrick Roy on my wall in college,” Hebert said sheepishly. “It’s kind of interesting to sit here and have chance to talk to him.”

The first NHL All-Star game to be held in California since it was at the Forum in 1981 is eagerly anticipated because it promises a wide-open, non-contact game in a season when interference and obstruction have reduced scoring.

“It’s actually fun,” said goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck of the Florida Panthers, the fans’ choice to start for the East. “I don’t think of it as, ‘You’re going to get shelled.’ You may make a few highlight films the wrong way, but you only have to play one period and then you can turn it over to the next victim.”

Detroit’s Brendan Shanahan analyzed the game as the “youthful enthusiasm of the West versus the experience of the East.” Nine West players are first-time all-stars, compared to three for the East.

“They may be saying they’re old, but they’re not playing like it, and I don’t think they believe what they’re saying,” Lindros said of his teammates. “I think there’s a great deal of significance [in playing with Lemieux and Gretzky]. We’ve got a few guys that have set this league on fire the last 15, 16 years between the two of them. To be here and to be in the same room with them both is special.”

All-Star Game Notes

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said league officials are still “digesting and assimilating” information presented last week by the 11 groups that applied for expansion teams. The Board of Governors will reconvene next month to determine its next course of action. . . . Rick Smith, playing for the California Heroes of Hockey team in Friday’s old-timers’ game, wore his old California Seal skates, but he first had to get them back from the Hockey Hall of Fame. . . . In Friday’s skills competition, Peter Bondra of Washington won the fastest skater event, Al MacInnis of St. Louis had the hardest shot at 98.9 mph, the East team won the rapid fire relay, Boston’s Ray Bourque had the most accurate shot and John Vanbiesbrouck of Florida won the goaltending competition.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

All-Star Weekend

TODAY’S EVENTS

* 9 a.m.-6 p.m.: Pinnacle/NHL FANtasy, San Jose Convention Center.

* 5 p.m.: 47th NHL All-Star Game, San Jose Arena, Channel 11.

SUNDAY’S EVENTS

* 9 a.m.-6 p.m.: Pinnacle/NHL FANtasy.