Former Penguins player Jay Caufield again will monitor Mario Lemieux’s training – mostly his on-ice training —for the upcoming season. The two apparently will begin working together in early August, when Lemieux hits the ice. Some people wondered last season if Caufield’s training methods off the ice might have aggravated Lemieux’s hip injury, or even caused it. “That goes with the territory,” Caufield said. “When you’re working with the best players in the game, and something goes wrong, it’s always, ‘Who did this and who did what?’ The bottom line is it’s a pretty simple process and a pretty simple workout. … The things I do are very conservative but very intense.”Caufield uses Plyometrics, which incorporates rapid movements such as stepping up and down on a chair to improve explosiveness. He trains other players, including Philadelphia Flyers winger Mark Recchi. With Lemieux, Caufield said he takes extra precautions. “I was so concerned about his back, that I kept it very simple,” Caufield said. “I talked to him numerous times. If there was some work that wasn’t comfortable for him, we didn’t do it. We did whatever was comfortable that benefited him in the game of hockey.” On the ice, Caufield simply makes Lemieux skate. “With any player, if they can’t do the work on the ice, then they’re not going to be ready to play the game,” said Caufield, who played in the Mellon Mario Lemieux Celebrity Invitational over the weekend. THREE MORE YEARS Lemieux announced that his tournament will continue at The Club at Nevillewood for the next three years. Also, Mellon will sponsor the event. “It’s great that we’ll be back here,” Lemieux said. “I know that a lot of the players think this is one of the best places to play. We’re happy we got it done.” Lemieux added that the event raised more than a million dollars for the second consecutive year. “Our goal is to raise as much as we can for (medical) research,” he said. “The sponsors and the athletes play a big role in that. When you get celebrities like Michael (Jordan), Charles Barkley, Dan Marino and John Elway to come to something like this, it really helps. “It was another successful year.” SCOREBOARD Actor Jack Wagner pulled past the competition Sunday to win the Mellon Mario Lemieux Celebrity Invitation at the Club at Nevillewood. He finished with a three-round score of 216 to shoot even par. Here’s how some of the big-name celebrities fared: Ivan Lendl finished 19th at plus-14, Lemieux placed 29th at 25-over, Marino finished 31st at 26-over, Jim McMahon was 34th at 28-over and Barkley finished 52nd with a 65-over. Wagner won $40,000, second-place finisher Steve Bartkowski won $25,000, Rick Rhoden won $18,000 for third place and Stan Humphries won 14,000 for fourth place.

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