PITTSBURGH - There never was any doubt where hockey's biggest name stood in the NHL lockout.

These days, Mario Lemieux is the Pittsburgh Penguins' owner first and a player second, not the other way around.

Lemieux might have captained Team Canada to a World Cup championship in September, but has said repeatedly the NHL has no choice but to negotiate a more favorable labor contract - even if such a deal might trim his own salary.

The only other option, he said, is to risk losing hockey in Pittsburgh and other smaller cities, where fans are weary of subsidizing big salaries in what is becoming a niche sport largely ignored by the masses.

That's why Lemieux was hopeful until minutes before commissioner Gary Bettman canceled the 2004-05 season Wednesday there would be a last-minute labor agreement to save the season - and, in his mind, the sport.

"This morning, I thought the two sides would get together before the press conference and make a deal ... that, at the end of the day, there would be too much at stake for both sides." Lemieux said Wednesday. "But I knew and understood throughout this process that it would be a long battle."

Lemieux is the first owner-player in modern American pro sports history, but there never was a chance he would side with the players despite being the NHL's best-known star.

"A few years ago, I thought the owners were making a lot of money and were hiding some under the table," he said. "But then I got on this side and saw the losses this league was accumulating,"

Lemieux tried several weeks ago to secretly move along a deal, meeting in Toronto with Maple Leafs owner Larry Tanenbaum and player Tie Domi to try to bridge the gap between the league and its players union. But he was unsuccessful.

"It's been difficult," Lemieux said of his dual role. "I don't want to say the wrong things on either side and that's why I've chosen to stay away from the negotiations."

Lemieux said the NHL will be damaged by shutting down for a full season, but is confident it will make a strong return with rules changes designed to make the sport more fan-friendly and entertaining - something he has sought for years.

"The game is going to suffer for a couple of years and it's going to take time to win back our fans and rebuild the business," he said. "And the players are going to have to share in that."

The labor impasse couldn't come at a more critical time for the Penguins, two-time Stanley Cup champions who enjoyed considerable on-ice and box office success from 1991-2001 until soaring salary costs forced Lemieux to dump all of his stars except himself.

"I couldn't afford myself," he said, referring to the below-market $5 million salary he paid himself last season.

With attendance down for three consecutive losing seasons amid the sell-off of players such as Jaromir Jagr and Alexei Kovalev, Lemieux said the 38-year-old franchise's very existence rides on a more-favorable labor contract and a new arena.

As for his own career, Lemieux plans to keep playing once the NHL returns to the ice, despite missing 145 games due to injury or rest in the three seasons before the lockout.

Counting his 3½-year retirement from 1997-2000, injuries and the labor strife-delayed 1994-95 season he sat out, Lemieux has missed the equivalent of 9½ seasons for various reasons since his rookie season - nearly half of a career that began in 1984.

"I've done it before, taken a few years off, but it gets tougher and tougher once you get closer to 40 to lose a year," said Lemieux, who turns 40 in October. "But I'll prepare myself this summer to come back and play and hopefully stay healthy and play a few more years."

Even if he can't guess when the highest level of hockey will be played again.

"Nobody knows," Lemieux said.