Lemieux hospitalized with irregular heartbeat

~ The Penguins' owner-player won't play tonight against the Wild.

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Penguins owner-player Mario Lemieux was hospitalized Wednesday for observation of an irregular heartbeat, the latest medical problem for a Hall of Famer who has missed the equivalent of five full seasons due to illness or injury.

Lemieux was to be monitored overnight in an undisclosed hospital and won't play tonight against the Minnesota Wild. The team said his playing status will be day to day after that.

According to Penguins general manager Craig Patrick, Lemieux reported having an irregular heartbeat after practice.

"We thought the best precaution was to have him enter the hospital for observation," Patrick said.

The 40-year-old Lemieux recently missed two games because of what the team described as the stomach flu, but it was not immediately known if an illness that lingered for several weeks was related to his latest problem.

The Hall of Fame center has had numerous medical problems during a career that began in 1984, including a bout with Hodgkin's disease in 1993 that was partly responsible for him sitting out the 1994-95 season.

Lemieux also has been sidelined for long periods with back and hip problems, and he missed two-thirds of the Penguins' 1990-91 Stanley Cup championship season with severe lower back pain. After retiring for 3 1/2 years, he returned in December 2000 after buying the Penguins and has played since, but missed large portions of the 2001-02 and 2003-04 seasons with hip injuries.

The NHL's No. 7 career scorer has seven goals and 14 assists for 21 points in 25 games this season, but recently had a four-game streak without a point that was the longest of his career.

Last week, Lemieux missed a team practice so he could be examined by a doctor. At the time, the team said the problem was related to his flu bout.

Lemieux played in Pittsburgh's last game, getting an assist -- his first point in five games -- on Sidney Crosby's goal during a 3-2 loss Saturday to the Calgary Flames.

Lemieux had three multiple-point games in his first 10 games this season, but he has only one goal and two assists and is a minus-10 in his last 10 games. For the season, Lemieux's minus-17 rating is the second worst in the NHL to teammate Mark Recchi's minus-19.