Tuesday, October 15, 2002
By Dave Molinari, Post-Gazette Sports Writer 

TORONTO -- The Penguins talked a lot about their power play last night, about how it broke out of a 21/2-game hibernation to run off three goals in a row.

And they should have.

And they talked a lot about their penalty-killing, about how they cannot hope to win many games when they allow four goals while playing short-handed.

And they should have.

But what didn't get mentioned nearly as often as it should have was the goal Ville Nieminen scored late in the second period of their 5-4 victory against Toronto at the Air Canada Centre.

The goal that tied the score, 2-2. The goal he scored while the Penguins (2-1) were short-handed. The goal that came off a move even Nieminen didn't expect to produce anything.

With Toronto ahead, 2-1, and on the power play, Nieminen took a pass from Wayne Primeau and moved in on Maple Leafs defenseman Aki Berg.

Berg didn't challenge him, so Nieminen executed a 180-degree turn -- a spin-a-rama, in the vernacular -- and threw a blind backhander toward the Toronto net. And, like the 18,843 fans in the building, was stunned to learn that it had sailed past the left skate of Maple Leafs goalie Trevor Kidd.

It was the first time Nieminen had pulled that off in a game. Or, so far as he could recall, on artificial ice.

"I've tried it in practice a couple of times," he said. "But never even scored there."

Mario Lemieux described it as "a great Denis Savard move," and insisted that he didn't show it to Nieminen because, "I don't have that in my bag."

Penguins Report: 10/24/02

Thursday, October 24, 2002
By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer 

RW Ville Nieminen had only one goal in 13 games last season after being acquired from the Avalanche as part of the Darius Kasparaitis trade.
Worse, he was out of shape and seldom made any sort of impact. 

But after an off-season in which he felt he trained as hard as at any point in his life, he is showing positive signs. He has only a goal and an assist through six games, but his performance on the forecheck -- especially Tuesday in Montreal -- has been superb at times.
"Sometimes, I wake up and wonder, 'Am I the same guy who got traded here?'" he said yesterday. "At the end of last season, when I would go home after a game, I was scared to look at the mirror and see my face. I was so embarrassed by how I played in those 13 games last season. I was not proud to be a professional hockey player. I had a tough time all summer, too. But I came to camp in better shape, and now we're winning. For me, I just want to win. It doesn't matter if I score or not." 

He allowed to being tired yesterday after the effort in Montreal. "I was wondering if maybe I was overactive. Sometimes, I'm just so mad on the ice that I want to make everything happen."