Mario Lemieux Totally Explained

Everything about Mario Lemieux totally explained

Mario Lemieux (born October 5, 1965 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a retired professional ice hockey centre who played 17 seasons for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1984 and 2005. He is also the Penguins' principal owner and chairman of the board, having bought the team out of bankruptcy in 1999.
   Lemieux won three Hart trophies as the most valuable player, six Art Ross Trophies as the leading scorer, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP during both Stanley Cup victories. At the time of his retirement, he was the seventh highest all-time scorer with 690 goals and 1,033 assists. He has retired twice because of his health: first in 1997 after battling lymphoma (he returned in 2000), and for a second and final time after being diagnosed with an atrial fibrillation.
   Lemieux was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame immediately after his first retirement, 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. Bobby Orr called him "the most talented player I've ever seen"; Orr, along with Bryan Trottier, and numerous fans, His father created a rink on the front lawn so that the boys could practice regularly, and according to family legend, the family sometimes packed snow onto the living room carpet so the brothers could practice indoors when it was dark.
   Lemieux started his career with the Laval Voisins of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). When he was drafted at age 15, he declared that he'd break league records; In his last game of the regular season, Lemieux needed three goals to tie Guy Lafleur's record of 130 goals— he scored six goals and added six assists in a 16-4 victory.
   Although he played in the 1983 World Junior Hockey Championships, Lemieux refused to play for the Canadian Juniors in 1984 because he disliked how coach Dave King treated him in the previous tournament. He also didn't want to break up his junior season. He finished his QMJHL career with 562 points (247 goals, 315 assists) in three seasons.
   Before the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, Lemieux announced he wanted to play for whomever drafted him. He and his agent were deadlocked with the Penguins and couldn't negotiate a contract. Because of this, when the Penguins called his name as the first overall draft pick, he didn't shake general manager Eddie Johnston's hand or don the Penguins jersey, as is NHL tradition. He claimed he was upset about the contract negotiation, and said that "Pittsburgh doesn't want [him] bad enough." Even though the draft was held in Montreal, over 3,000 fans viewed a broadcast in Pittsburgh's Civic Arena — a typical Penguins game drew less than 7,000 fans at the time. Lemieux's actions upset many fans and led to accusations of arrogance and aloofness.

NHL career

At the start of Lemieux's career, the Penguins were in financial turmoil and there were rumours of relocation. The team declared bankruptcy after the 1974-75 season, and by 1983, they were averaging fewer than 7,000 fans per game — less than half of their arena's capacity.
   Lemieux debuted on October 11, 1984 against the Boston Bruins and scored a goal with his very first NHL shot, on his first shift against Pete Peeters. Later that season, Lemieux played in the NHL All-Star Game and became the first rookie to be named the All-Star Game's Most Valuable Player. Despite missing seven games during the season, Lemieux scored 100 points and won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the rookie of the year. The next season, Lemieux finished second in league scoring with 141 points, behind Wayne Gretzky's NHL-record 215 points. He won the Lester B. Pearson Award as the NHL's best regular-season player as voted by his peers. Lemieux missed 17 games of the 1986-87 NHL season — his point production slipped, and the Penguins once again failed to make the playoffs. However, he played in the Canada Cup during the summer of 1987 and set a tournament record 11 goals in 9 games; his last goal, which clinched the Canadian victory, came against the Soviet team with 1:26 remaining in the third period. Lemieux cited his Canada Cup experience as the reason for his elevated play later on, stating, "Remember, I was only 21 years old at the time. To be around guys like Wayne [Gretzky] and Mark Messier and Paul Coffey [...] was a tremendous learning experience".
   By the 1987-88 season, Wayne Gretzky had won seven consecutive Art Ross Trophies for leading the league in points. That season, fueled by his Canada Cup experience, Lemieux finished the season a close second to Gretzky in voting for the Hart Trophy, and set several milestones and records in the process, becoming the second player to score 70+ goals in two seasons, the fourth player to score 50 goals in 50 games, and the only player to score 13 shorthanded goals in one season.
   Perhaps the defining moment of Lemieux's season was on December 31, 1988, in a game against the New Jersey Devils. However, the Penguins lost the series four games to three.
   During the 1989-90 NHL season, Lemieux scored at least one point in 46 consecutive games. The streak's length was second only to Gretzky's 51-game streak. Lemieux won his third All-Star Game MVP with a four-goal performance. Although he missed 21 games, he finished fourth in the league in scoring with 123 points (45 goals, 78 assists). He was on pace to challenge Gretzky's records of 92 goals in one season (1981-82) and 215 points in one season (1985-86), until January 12, 1993, when he made the shocking announcement that he'd been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was forced to undergo energy-draining radiation treatments, leaving his career and possibly his survival in doubt. He missed two months of play, and without him, the Penguins struggled. When he returned, he was 12 points behind Buffalo's Pat LaFontaine in the scoring race. |width=350px |align=right}}
On the day of his last radiation treatment, Lemieux flew to Philadelphia to play against the Flyers, where he scored a goal and an assist in a 5-4 loss. After the game Lemieux earned a standing ovation from Philadelphia fans — a rare occurrence for a visiting player. The Penguins qualified for the playoffs again, but lost to the Eric Lindros-led Philadelphia Flyers in five games in the first round. Lemieux scored one goal and earned an assist in his final game, played in Philadelphia. Lemieux was given much of the credit, according to the article, for his insistence that everyone owed be paid.
   Lemieux became president, chairman of the board and CEO of the Penguins. He has since relinquished the president's and CEO's posts to Ken Sawyer, but remains the team's principal owner. In January 2006, Lemieux confirmed the team was for sale, but would consider offers only from those who will keep the team in Pittsburgh.

Player/owner status

Lemieux's unique status as player and owner placed him in a potential conflict of interest with respect to NHL labor negotiations. Because he was also an owner, Lemieux was no longer a member of the National Hockey League Players Association, although he still paid union dues to maintain his pension.
   By agreement with the NHLPA, Lemieux was paid the average league salary of about $1.4 million and it was from this amount that his union dues are calculated and deducted. He didn't vote in owners' meetings, delegating this role to a Penguins vice-president.
   He appeared to have sided with the league on key collective bargaining agreement issues and suggested that the NHL adopt a salary structure similar to the National Football League, which has a hard salary cap. Lemieux and fellow team owner Gretzky brought the parties together in a last-ditch effort to save what remained of the season, but the meeting failed.
   As a player, Lemieux was represented by agent Steve Reich of Pittsburgh, who handled all of Lemieux's marketing through his agency, Reich Publishing and Marketing.

Out of retirement

Late in 2000, there were rumours that Lemieux was attempting a comeback and on December 27 of that year he returned to the NHL against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The game was nationally broadcast on ESPN in the U.S. and on Hockey Night in Canada.
   Lemieux proved that his scoring touch hadn't disappeared by scoring a goal and three points, including an assist 33 seconds into the first shift of his return. He was named captain of the North American All-Stars during the midseason All-Star game in Denver, Colorado. Despite playing in only 43 games in 2000-2001, Lemieux scored 76 points to finish 26th in scoring, finishing the season with the highest points-per-game average that season among NHL players.
   Lemieux was one of the three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson NHLPA awards and earned a selection on the postseason NHL All-Star Second Team.
   Lemieux led the Penguins in the postseason and led in playoff scoring for much of it. His team surprised many by going to the Eastern Conference finals, knocking off the higher-seeded Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres along the way in six and seven games, respectively. The Penguins lost in five games to the top-seeded New Jersey Devils.
   Lemieux was limited due to injuries during his last four regular seasons, playing in only 24 games in 2001-02 and ten games during the 2003-04 season. In 2002-03, at age 37, Lemieux led the National Hockey League in scoring for most of the season but missed most of the games towards the end of the schedule and finished eighth in scoring with 92 points in only 67 games. However, Pittsburgh plummeted to the bottom of the NHL and missed the playoffs in each of those three seasons. Lemieux skipped some Penguins games in order to play in what would be the first chance at the Olympics in his career.
   Notably, on December 23, 2002, during his afternoon radio show in Pittsburgh, host Mark Madden said he'd donate $66,000 to the Mario Lemieux Foundation if the hockey great ever scored off a faceoff. That very night, the Penguins played the Buffalo Sabres in Pittsburgh and Lemieux, who was aware of the challenge, made good on it when he scored the game-winning goal right off a faceoff during the third period.

Second retirement

After the lockout concluded, Lemieux returned to the ice for the 2005-06 season. Hopes for the Penguins were high due to the salary cap and revenue sharing, which enabled the team to compete in the market for several star players. Another reason for optimism was the Penguins winning the lottery for the first draft pick, enabling them to select Sidney Crosby. Lemieux opened up his home to Crosby to help the rookie settle in Pittsburgh and Lemieux also served as Crosby's mentor.
   On January 24, 2006, Mario Lemieux announced his second and permanent retirement from professional hockey at the age of 40. This followed a half-season in which he struggled not only with the increased speed of the "new NHL" but also with yet another threatening physical ailment, a heart condition called atrial fibrillation that caused him to experience irregular heartbeats.
   Although he'd put up points at a pace that most NHL forwards would be perfectly content with (22 points in 26 games) in his last season, Lemieux still remarked that "I can no longer play at a level I was accustomed to in the past".
   In October 2006, Lemieux's ownership group announced that it had reached an agreement to sell the Penguins to Research in Motion Chairman and Co-CEO Jim Balsillie. However, Balsillie unexpectedly rescinded his agreement two months later after an apparent dispute with the NHL Board of Governors over purchasing conditions, leaving ownership of the Penguins still in the Lemieux group's hands.
   On March 13, 2007, Lemieux's ownership group announced a final agreement for a new multi-purpose arena to be built across the street from the current Mellon Arena. The deal will keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh for at least 30 years. Lemieux was instrumental in negotiating this deal, despite efforts to move the team to Kansas City.

International play

Lemieux played for Canada in the 1983 World Junior Championships (bronze medal), 1985 World Championships (silver medal), 1987 Canada Cup (championship), 2002 Winter Olympics (captain, gold medal) and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey (captain, championship).
At the 2002 Winter Olympics, Lemieux led the Canadian men's team into Salt Lake City, United States as captain. The team had failed to win a gold medal at the Olympics in fifty years but were still considered favorites to win.
Lemieux was second in team scoring with six points in five games, and led the team to gold by defeating the United States 5-2 in the final game. The gold medal secured Lemieux's legacy and helped endear himself to the hockey community with such a selfless performance. His hip injury required several painkilling injections to keep him on the ice during the Olympics.

Personal life

Lemieux was raised by his stay-at-home mother, and his father, who was a construction worker. Lemieux married Nathalie Asselin on June 26, 1993. They have four children: Lauren, Stephanie, Austin, and Alexa. Austin was born prematurely, weighing just 2 pounds, but he's perfectly healthy today. The family lives in the affluent Pittsburgh suburb of Sewickley.
   Popular nicknames for Lemieux include "Le Magnifique," "Super Mario" in reference to the video game character Mario, and "The Magnificent." Mario Lemieux is the youngest of three sons of Jean-Guy Lemieux and Pierrette Lemieux. He was born on the same day as Patrick Roy, in the same Canadian province, just 120 miles apart.
   He has a tradition of opening his home to young Penguins stars such as Marc-Andre Fleury and Sidney Crosby until they settle into the Pittsburgh area.
   On March 30, 2007, Lemieux contributed $2,300 to Democratic U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign fund. In the past, he's also made contributions to the reelections fund of former Republican U.S. Senator Rick Santorum.

Mario Lemieux Foundation

He created the Mario Lemieux Foundation during the same year he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma (1993). The purpose of the Foundation is to fund medical research projects being conducted by scientists.
Additionally, the Lemieux Foundation supports other organizations such as the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the Leukemia Society, the Lupus Foundation and the Children's Home of Pittsburgh.
In 2007, Mario Lemieux along with Andre Agassi, Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong, Warrick Dunn, Mia Hamm, Jeff Gordon, Tony Hawk, Andrea Jaeger, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Alonzo Mourning and Cal Ripken Jr. founded Athletes for Hope

, a charitable organization, which helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes and inspires millions of non-athletes to volunteer and support the community.

Legacy

Mario Lemieux has a considerable number of records, and stands in comparison along with Wayne Gretzky as one of the best NHL players of all time. Two records, points in a season and assists in a season have their first 10 listings as either Gretzky or Mario. Mario was most famous for his style of play, where he could carry other defencemen on his back and still score. Lemieux's career was cut short by Hodgkin's lymphoma, which has led many to speculate that his career totals would have been far higher if he were healthy throughout his career.

Records

NHL single-season record for shorthanded goals (13 in 1988-89)
NHL record for most goals in one period (4, 26 January 1997, shares record)
NHL record only player in history who scored over 30 Power-Play-Goals in two different seasons
NHL record only player in history who scored over 10 Short-Handed-Goals in two different seasons
NHL record Involved in 57.3% of team's goals in 1988-1989, the highest percentage in NHL history
NHL All-Star Game record for career goals (13, shares record)
NHL All-Star Game record for goals in a single-game (4 in 1990, shares record)
NHL All-Star Game record for points in a single-game (6 in 1988)
NHL All-Star Game record for most MVP-Awards (3, shares record)
NHL playoff record for goals in a single period (4, shares record)
NHL playoff record for goals in a single game (5, shares record)
NHL playoff record for points in a single period (4, shares record)
NHL playoff record for points in a single game (8, shares record)
Pittsburgh Penguins team record for career games played (915)
Pittsburgh Penguins team record for career goals (690)
Pittsburgh Penguins team record for career assists (1033)
Pittsburgh Penguins team record for career points (1723)
Pittsburgh Penguins record for longest goal-scoring streak (12 games)
Pittsburgh Penguins single-season record for goals (85 in 1988-89)
Pittsburgh Penguins single-season record for assists (114 in 1988-89)
Pittsburgh Penguins single-season record for points (199 in 1988-89)
Pittsburgh Penguins single-game record for goals (5, four occasions including playoffs)
Shares Pittsburgh Penguins single-game record for assists (6, three occasions)
Pittsburgh Penguins single-game record for points (8, three occasions including playoffs)
Only player in NHL history to record three eight point games in three consecutive games
Only player in NHL history to score a goal in each of the five different ways possible in one game (even-strength, power-play, shorthanded, penalty shot, and empty-net) (December 31, 1988 against the New Jersey Devils)

Career statistics

Playing career

			Regular season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1980–81	Montreal-Concordia	QAAA	47	62	62	124	127	3	2	5	7	8
1981–82	Laval Voisins	QMJHL	64	30	66	96	22	—	—	—	—	—
1982–83	Laval Voisins	QMJHL	66	84	100	184	76	12	14	18	32	18
1983–84	Laval Voisins	QMJHL	70	133	149	282	92	14	29	23	52	29
1984–85	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	73	43	57	100	54	—	—	—	—	—
1985–86	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	79	48	93	141	43	—	—	—	—	—
1986–87	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	63	54	53	107	57	—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	77	70	98	168	92	—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	76	85	114	199	100	11	12	7	19	16
1989–90	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	59	45	78	123	78	—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	26	19	26	45	30	23	16	28	44	16
1991–92	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	64	44	87	131	94	15	16	18	34	2
1992–93	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	60	69	91	160	38	11	8	10	18	10
1993–94	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	22	17	20	37	32	6	4	3	7	2
1995–96	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	70	69	92	161	54	18	11	16	27	33
1996–97	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	76	50	72	122	65	5	3	3	6	4
2000–01	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	43	35	41	76	18	18	6	11	17	4
2001–02	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	24	6	25	31	14	—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	67	28	63	91	43	—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	10	1	8	9	6	—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	26	7	15	22	16	—	—	—	—	—
QMJHL Totals			200	247	315	562	190	26	43	41	81	47
NHL Totals			915	690	1033	1723	834	107	76	96	172	87

International

Year	Team	Event	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1983	Canada	WJC	7	5	5	10	12
1985	Canada	WC	9	4	6	10	2
1987	Canada	CC	9	11	7	18	8
2002	Canada	Oly	5	2	4	6	0
2004	Canada	WCH	6	1	4	5	2
Senior int'l totals			29	18	21	39	12

All Star Games

Year	Location	G	A	P
1985	Calgary	2	1	3
1986	Hartford	0	0	0
1988	St. Louis	3	3	6
1989	Edmonton	0	1	1
1990	Pittsburgh	4	0	4
1992	Philadelphia	0	1	1
1996	Boston	1	1	2
1997	San Jose	2	1	3
2001	Denver	1	1	2
2002	Los Angeles	1	0	1
All-Star Totals		14	9	23

Awards

He won the NHL rookie of the year award, six Art Ross Trophies, the NHL's single-season points award, and his number, 66, has been retired by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Hockey Hall of Fame - 1997

Hart Memorial Trophy - 1988, 1993, 1996

Art Ross Trophy - 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997

Conn Smythe Trophy - 1991, 1992

Lester B. Pearson Award - 1986, 1988, 1993, 1996

NHL Plus/Minus Award - 1993

Calder Memorial Trophy - 1985

Chrysler-Dodge/NHL Performer of the Year -1985, 1986, 1987

Dapper Dan Athlete of The Year - 1986, 1989

Lester Patrick Trophy - 2000

Bill Masterton Trophy - 1993

NHL All-Star Game MVP - 1985, 1988, 1990

NHL First All-Star Team - 1988, 1989, 1993, 1996, 1997

NHL Second All-Star Team - 1986, 1987, 1992, 2001

NHL All-Rookie Team - 1985

ESPN Hockey Player of The Decade - 2000

ESPY Award NHL Player of The Year - 1993, 1994, 1998

Lou Marsh Trophy - 1993

In 1998, he was ranked number 4 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, the highest-ranking French-Canadian player.

Inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame

in 2004.Further Information

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