‘The Toughest Day of My Life’ : NHL: Lemieux says he ‘cried for hours’ after learning he has Hodgkin’s disease, but he is determined to beat it.

PITTSBURGH — Mario Lemieux, talking publicly for the first time about his cancer, said Friday he “cried for hours” when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease.

But Lemieux added that he is determined to emerge from his latest and most serious medical crisis.

“Any time you hear the word cancer, it’s a scary thing,” Lemieux said. “When the doctors gave me the news, I could hardly drive home because of the tears, and (I was) crying the whole day. That certainly was the toughest day of my life.”

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced Tuesday that Lemieux, has Hodgkin’s disease, or cancer of the lymph nodes. Lemieux has known of the cancer since a cancerous lymph node was removed from his neck on Jan. 8.

The captain of the two-time Stanley Cup champions, who with 104 points in 40 games was threatening Wayne Gretzky’s single-season record of 216 points, said the toughest moment so far was telling his teammates.

“I walked in (Wednesday) and everyone went silent, and that’s not like our team,” Lemieux said. “Kevin (Stevens) is always talking and Ulfie (Samuelsson) is always yapping. It was tough for everybody. . . . I wasn’t sure what to say and nobody else knew what to say.”

The bilingual news conference was televised live by all three Pittsburgh commercial TV stations, a Montreal station and a Canadian sports channel. About 150 reporters crowded into a hotel ballroom to hear Lemieux, his two doctors, Penguin President Howard Baldwin, General Manager Craig Patrick, Coach Scotty Bowman and NHL President Gil Stein answer questions in English and French.

Lemieux was quiet and contemplative but didn’t appear depressed. He smiled at several questions and took time to shake hands with fans lined up outside the ballroom.

They received good news when told that Lemieux’s cancer was detected at such an early stage he has a 95% chance of surviving.

Lemieux first discovered a lump on his neck about 18 months ago, but wasn’t concerned until six months ago when it began growing. Dr. Charles Burke, a team doctor, said the detection time was normal and that the node removed Jan. 8 was relatively small.

When he will play again is uncertain.

Because of a lung infection unrelated to his cancer, Lemieux won’t begin radiation therapy for another two weeks. He then will undergo therapy five days a week for a month and will probably need a short recovery period from the radiation before playing hockey.

Dr. Ted Crandall, a Pittsburgh-based cancer specialist, said the amount of fatigue experienced during therapy varies widely, so he wouldn’t estimate how long it would take Lemieux to get back into shape.

Because of the lung infection, the Penguins’ initial four- to six-week estimate for Lemieux’s return has been revised to six to eight weeks. “The time frame isn’t important,” Lemieux said. “I’ll be back when I’m 100% and I’m cured. If I come back in six weeks or eight weeks or next year, it’s not very important right now. My health is more important than playing hockey.”