SAN JOSE, Calif. — Given the hype, it was a surprise that Claude Lemieux did not skate out for his first shift Tuesday night holding four replica Stanley Cups, two in each hand.

Or maybe with a victory parade map stenciled on his forehead.

But no. Lemieux simply had a hockey stick. He had a helmet. He had skates. He had a No. 32 teal Sharks sweater. He had 43-year-old legs.

And no matter what happens from this point, it's the last statistic that's going to be the most significant, hanging in the air like the popcorn-stand odor in the HP Pavilion concourse.

There is a reason no other 43-year-old wings are playing in the NHL. The Sharks made Lemieux serve the necessary minor league penance before bringing him up to add more bumping and grit to the team's fourth line. So you have to assume Lemieux is in pretty impressive shape.

However, going up against kids in Worcester is one thing. Can he keep waking up every day in San Jose and other NHL cities, after playing and hitting at the highest level, and expect that his body will not betray him?

Mike Ricci, the Sharks' development coach (and a former teammate of Lemieux's in Colorado) is betting Lemieux can.

"He will be a bull on the boards," Ricci predicted before the Sharks' 2-1 overtime victory against Vancouver on Tuesday. "I think he'll make some players on the other team uncomfortable. . . . If it's there physically for him, the mentality will be easy to get back."

In Lemieux's first game, would he be a comeback bull? Or would the comeback be ... well, bull?

He took his first shift 2 minutes, 4 seconds into the game. The giant overhead scoreboard television monitor focused on Lemieux as he gnawed on his mouthguard — which drew a nice ovation — and then followed him as he hopped off the bench with fellow fourth-liners Jody Shelley and Tomas Plihal.

Nothing much happened, however, over the next 35 or 40 seconds. And after sending the puck into the Sharks' offensive zone on a dump-in, Lemieux skated back to the bench.

Lemieux's second shift was more classic Lemieux. He displayed the sort of physicality that earned him the nickname "Pepe" (as in cartoon character "Pepe LePew," the annoying skunk). He threw a solid bodycheck into Vancouver's Darcy Hordichuk near the penalty boxes. The noise of Hordichuk hitting the boards drew another loud crowd bark.

On his third shift, Lemieux took the puck and made a semi-nifty move past Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa and fired a 30-foot shot. It was stopped easily by goalie Roberto Luongo. There was one more inconsequential shift for Lemieux in the first period. And that was that.

Conclusion? Best not to get overly LePumped about Lemeiux. There is a very decent chance that this experiment is a terrific idea. The Sharks' fourth line at this point, with Jeremy Roenick injured, definitely needs more experienced energy, jump and savvy. Lemieux brings all of that stuff to the rink.

There is also a chance that the Lemieux experiment won't work at all. Lemieux might bang some folks around his first few games but discover that his body is breaking down, sending him back into retirement. At least one member of the Canucks was candid enough to express doubt about Lemieux's comeback.

"He's had a few years in Montreal, Colorado, New Jersey, Phoenix and Dallas," wing Alex Burrows told the Vancouver Sun. "But I think now it should be time for him to retire and hang them up. ... I would be surprised if he is effective."

More likely, the ultimate Lemieux comeback result will fall somewhere between the two extremes. But no matter what, the risk was certainly worth taking. The Sharks will see enough of him before the March 4 trade deadline to know whether they should keep him or make another move. Lemieux's goal will be to make the decision difficult.

"He doesn't like to lose at cards, I can tell you that," Ricci said. "I took some money from him on a plane ride once and he threw all the garbage on the plane on me. ... He's a good teammate, though, a lot of fun."

The Sharks will like it if he's fun. They will like it even better if he is a bull.