Mario Lemieux

Mario Lemieux
OC CQ
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1997
Lemieux in 2012
Born (1965-10-05) October 5, 1965 (age 59)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 235 lb (107 kg; 16 st 11 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Right
Played for Pittsburgh Penguins
National team  Canada
NHL draft 1st overall, 1984
Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career 1984–1997
2000–2006

Mario Lemieux OC CQ (/ləˈmjuː/; French: [ləmjø]; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played parts of 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins between 1984 and 2005, and he assumed ownership of the franchise in 1999. Nicknamed "the Magnificent One", "Le Magnifique", and "Super Mario", his combination of size, strength, athleticism, and creativity made him one of the greatest players of all time.[1][2]

Drafted first overall by the Penguins in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft,[3] Lemieux led Pittsburgh to consecutive Stanley Cup championships in 1991 and 1992. Under his ownership, the Penguins won additional titles in 2009, 2016, and 2017. He is the only man to have his name on the Cup both as a player and owner.[4] He also led Team Canada to an Olympic gold medal in 2002,[5] a championship at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, and a Canada Cup in 1987. He won the Lester B. Pearson Award as the most outstanding player voted by the players four times, the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player (MVP) during the regular season three times, the Art Ross Trophy as the league's points leader six times, and the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP in 1991 and 1992. He is the only player to score one goal in each of the five possible situations in a single NHL game, a feat he accomplished in 1988. At the time of his retirement, he was the NHL's seventh-highest career points scorer with 690 goals and 1,033 assists.[6] He ranks second in NHL history with a 0.754 career goals-per-game average, behind Mike Bossy (0.762).[7] He ranks second in NHL history with a 1.129 career assists-per-game average and a 1.883 points-per-game average, both behind Wayne Gretzky (1.320 and 1.921, respectively).

Lemieux was never able to play a full season, and during his career he played in 70 or more games in a season on only six occasions; four of those seasons were before the age of 25. Lemieux's career was plagued by health problems that limited him to 915 of a possible 1,430 regular season games between the opening of the 1984–85 campaign and the final game of 2005–2006. Lemieux's NHL debut was on October 11, 1984 and his final game took place on December 16, 2005.[8][9] His numerous ailments included spinal disc herniation, Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic tendinitis of a hip-flexor muscle, and chronic back pain so severe that other people had to tie his skates.[10] He retired on two occasions due to these health issues, first in 1997 after battling lymphoma before returning in 2000, and then a second and final time in 2006 after being diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. Lemieux also missed the entire 1994–95 season due to Hodgkin's lymphoma.[6] Despite his lengthy absences from the game, his play remained at a high level upon his return to the ice; he won the Hart Trophy and scoring title in 1995–96 after sitting out the entire previous season. He was on pace for 188 points, but only played in 70 games. He was also a finalist for the Hart Trophy when he made his comeback in 2000.[2] In 1999, he bought the then-bankrupt Penguins and their top minor-league affiliate, the American Hockey League's (AHL) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and was the team's principal owner until selling controlling interest in the team to Fenway Sports Group in 2021. However, he remains part-owner and chairman of the board.

The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Lemieux immediately after his first retirement in 1997, waiving the normal three-year waiting period; upon his return in 2000, he became the third Hall of Famer (after Gordie Howe and Guy Lafleur) to play after being inducted.[2] Lemieux's impact on the NHL has been significant: Andrew Conte of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review called him the saviour of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and after Lemieux's retirement, Wayne Gretzky commented that "You don't replace players like Mario Lemieux ... The game will miss him."[11] Bobby Orr called him "the most talented player I've ever seen." Orr, along with Bryan Trottier and numerous fans,[6] speculated that if Lemieux had had fewer health issues, his on-ice achievements would have been much greater.[11] In 2017, he was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players".[12] He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2004, and into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2008.

  1. ^ "Mario Lemieux". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on June 30, 2011. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c "Mario Lemieux Biography". Legends of Hockey.net. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved September 21, 2007.
  3. ^ "1984 NHL Entry Draft". EliteProspects.
  4. ^ "Lemieux to receive Order of Quebec". CBC Sports. June 16, 2009. Archived from the original on August 16, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
  5. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Mario Lemieux". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 4, 2016.
  6. ^ a b c "Lemieux leaves with a heavy heart". CBC Sports. January 24, 2006. Archived from the original on February 6, 2006. Retrieved September 19, 2007.
  7. ^ Player Season Finder Archived February 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  8. ^ "First Goal: Mario Lemieux". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2015. Mario Lemieux scored the first goal of his NHL career on his first shift in his first game on October 11, 1984.
  9. ^ "Mario Lemieux – last five games". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on November 30, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  10. ^ Miller, Saul L. (2003). Hockey Tough. Human Kinetics. p. 94. ISBN 0-7360-5123-6. Retrieved September 23, 2007.
  11. ^ a b "What people are saying". CBC Sports. January 25, 2006. Archived from the original on May 26, 2006. Retrieved September 19, 2007.
  12. ^ "100 Greatest NHL Players". National Hockey League. January 27, 2017. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2017.