Notebook: Bad ice? Blame it on Britney

It looked like somebody doused a bunch of big cigars on the Mellon Arena ice surface Saturday night. More than 20 black marks dotted the ice on either side of the blue line closest to the Penguins bench.

Earlier in the day, those black marks were black holes, the result of hydraulic grease leaks from the Britney Spears concert Friday night.

“Good thing we weren't playing an afternoon game (yesterday), or we would have been in a lot of trouble," Penguins president Tom Rooney said. “This was a direct result of how old the building is and what the production challenges are to do a big show."

Rooney knows a well-equipped concert venue when he sees one. He was an executive with Pace Entertainment Group, overseeing 15 amphitheatres and other entertainment venues around the country from 1990-99.

Rooney said Mellon Arena manager SMG did a great job getting the ice surface ready, but the grease leak wasn't discovered until 8 a.m. yesterday.

“(SMG general manager) Doug Hall and his staff do a great job, but this particular building, being 40 years old, is really, really outmoded to do those kinds of shows anymore," Rooney said. “They had a waterfall on stage, and (the grease leak) was from that production. It leaked underneath, through the boards that cover the ice. The grease soaked through, basically to the base of the building. They worked feverishly to get the grease to come up and cover it up."

As the day wore on, the holes in the ice weren't the biggest concern.

“The issue wasn't so much the quality of the ice as whether somebody might mistake a grease spot for a puck on a 2 on 1," Rooney said. Out of the sun

Penguins center Wayne Primeau had a miserable time in Tampa Bay. Off the ice, it was nice. But the Lightning's losing ways made life in the dressing room a downer. Primeau had played on some pretty good Buffalo Sabres teams before he was dealt to the Lightning late in the 1999-2000 season.He played 64 games over two seasons with the Lightning, registering four goals and 16 assists in that span. He finally escaped last February, when Tampa traded him to the Penguins for Matthew Barnaby.Primeau isn't convinced that Tampa Bay's fairly respectable start Ñ they were 4-4-1 at one point is a sign that they will have a good season.

“Last year, they were around .500 for a while, too, and it didn't last," Primeau said. “It's a long season, so anything can happen. But they have some vets with (Dave) Andreychuk and (Tim) Taylor and (Nikolai) Khabibulin. Weekes was pretty good last year, but Khabibulin is more a star, I guess."

Good impression Injured Penguins winger Martin Straka was planning to attend last night's game at Mellon Arena. Straka was impressed with the Penguins' effort in their first two games without him 3-0 loss Wednesday at Philadelphia and a 3-1 win the next night against Toronto.

“I think the guys played great," Straka said. “They've been the better team. The defense is playing awesome, the goaltending's been unbelievable. Everyone's been playing tight defense. That's what we need."

Straka, recovering from a broken leg, plans to stay in Pittsburgh for the next 5-6 weeks.

“After that, I might go home (to the Czech Republic) for a week or two, do some rehab back home, just for a short time, a couple of weeks," he said.

Slap shots

ESPN reported that the Penguins are interested in Tampa Bay center Brian Holzinger, who had no goals, two assists and a minus-3 rating through 10 games. Holzinger's ice time is down to a little less than 8 minutes per game. Tampa Bay GM Rick Dudley denied any talks. ... Penguins winger Stephane Richer played in his 1,000th game last night.

Quotable

“The thing that those guys have to realize is that they can't go out and be Marty Straka, Kovy or Mario Lemieux. They just have to play to the best of their abilities. That's the biggest challenge for them, is to stay mentally solid and strong out there and not get too creative. As long as they do that and play smart hockey, I think the team's going to have a lot of confidence in them."

--Penguins defenseman Andrew Ference, on the team's young forwards

Scratches

The Penguins played without Lemieux, Kovalev, Straka, D Hans Jonsson (ankle), D Janne Laukkanen and D Mike Wilson. Jonsson and Laukkanen will accompany the team on its road trip next week. Jonsson hopes to play on the trip. Laukkanen hopes to play Nov. 17 against the New York Rangers or Nov. 21 against the Vancouver Canucks. ... Tampa Bay played without D Grant Ledyard, D Andrei Zyuzin and LW Jimmi Olvestad.