REPORT SAYS THAT LEMIEUX'S PENGUINS CONTRACT GUARANTEED

          Two addenda to Mario Lemieux's seven-year contract with
     the Penguins -- one attached in '92, the other in '96 --
     "shows his to be a highly unusual deal," according to Dave
     Molinari of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE.  The "most striking
     feature of the 13-page agreement is a clause in the 1992
     addendum that states, in effect, that Lemieux was guaranteed
     to receive the salaries, bonuses and other payments laid out
     in the contract, even if the league office deemed the deal
     invalid."  The second addendum "might reveal the source of
     Lemieux's threatened lawsuit against Penguins co-owner Roger
     Marino."  It calls for Lemieux to receive a $4M "rights"
     payment, payable in $2M installments on January 1, 1997, and
     January 1, 1998.  Lemieux's agent, Tom Reich, said recently
     that the Penguins failed to make payments in January '97 and
     January '98, "although Reich did not specify the nature of
     the payments missed."  Molinari detailed all aspects of the
     contract in his piece (Dave Molinari, POST-GAZETTE, 6/15).