If he wasn’t so annoying, Sharks winger Claude Lemieux would be one of this winter’s great sports stories.

He is 43 years old. After a 5-year layoff, he made an improbable comeback. The career pest is back at work for San Jose, aggravating the heck out of opponents.

Last week the Oilers wanted to kill him.

“Obviously, he (ticked) someone off last week when he got pummeled,” sniffed Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios. “He still managed to keep his mask (visor) on, what a surprise.

“If it’s still in him at his age to do that, that’s why they got him.”

Back in the day, Chelios and Lemieux played together in Montreal. Chelios told Booth Newspapers that Claude was a one-of-a-kind prospect.

“Whether it was him cheating at cards or (ticking) someone off,” Chelios said. “But he was young, he’ll be the first to admit he got under people’s skin on other teams as well as his own team, coaches and everybody. Not the most pleasant guy to be around, but he had a big heart.

“I talked to him over the past few years. I like him a lot more than I did back then.”

Lemieux became Public Enemy No. 1 in Motown after driving Red Wings forward Kris Draper head first into the boards during a playoff battle. Then he disgraced himself with by assuming the turtle position in a fight with Darren McCarty.

Later, he earned redemption:

“This is a big rivalry,” Lemieux told the Detroit Free-Press. “Fans didn’t like me here. I don’t expect them to be different today. … I think down deep, people know what I did, the player I was. I played against this team in ’95, I was the MVP of the playoffs. I wasn’t running around trying to hurt people; I was doing what I was supposed to do and was pretty successful.”

The Free-Press celebrated his return with a memory-stirring slide show.

He survived his first game back at Joe Louis Arena, although the Sharks took a 4-1 loss.

THANKS FOR SHARING, DWIGHT HOWARD

The NBA superstar walked us through his pregame ritual.

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while Kansas State wonders what hit them Wednesday night in Columbia:

• If the Tigers can win a couple more games, could they earn a No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament?
• Who in their right mind could have predicted such a thing?
• Has Our Town’s David Freese missed his opportunity to be the Cardinals’ Opening Day third baseman?
• Will Joe Mather make the most of his head start on becoming Troy Glaus‘ early-season replacement?
• How will history remember the Drew Bennett Era in St. Louis?

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Mark Kriegel, FoxSports.com: “The way Phil Mickelson almost fell apart at the Riviera Country Club, it looks like he’s just about ready for Tiger’s return.”

Steve Rosenbloom, ChicagoTribune.com: “The silly World Baseball Classic is the brainchild of Bud Selig, exemplifying how little $18 million a year gets you these days. Premier names beg off the way NFL players treat the Pro Bowl because the silly World Baseball Classic is hated by major-league teams, and for good reason. Spring training becomes ridiculously long and players risk injury in a tournament that means nothing, thereby impacting a regular season that means everything.”

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “Here’s Marshawn Lynch’s cruising checklist: No license plates? Check. Heavily tinted windows? Check. Four reefers and lighter? Check. Loaded 9 mm pistol? Check. No gun registration? Check. Recent guilty plea in incident where you struck a pedestrian and drove away? Check. Fellas, let’s roll! Lynch makes Michael Phelps look like Stephen Hawking.”

Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: “Did you see where fired GM Elgin Baylor has filed a racial discrimination suit against the L.A. Clippers and owner  Donald Sterling? Is it just me or would the lawsuit have more credence if Baylor hadn’t waited until now to file it? I mean, come on, Baylor was only employed by Sterling for — wait for it — 22 YEARS!”

Dan Daly, Washington Times: “Let’s see, we’ve got Josh McDaniels in Denver, Eric Mangini in Cleveland, Scott Pioli and Todd Haley in Kansas City - all former Bill Belichick proteges. If this keeps up, there won’t be anybody on the NFL injury report.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Ken Mink, 73, has been declared academically ineligible to play basketball at Roane State in Tennessee because he failed a Spanish class. What’s Spanish for, ‘Why the hell is a 73-year-old man playing college basketball!?’”

PAYING HIS DEBT TO SOCIETY

Charles Barkley’s DUI beef cost him plenty. He went on hiatus from his NBA commentating gig, he earned a short jail sentence and he lost his T-Mobile endorsement.

So we won’t see any more ads like this one:

MEGAPHONE

“My bottom line is I want to keep this team together and I want to have a chance to win a championship and that’s the most important thing, and I want to be compensated as well because I know these are probably going to be the last two years I’m going to play.”

Gridbirds quarterback Kurt Warner.