Lemieux Started His Career With The Laval Voisins Of The Quebec Hockey
Mario Lemieux, OC, CQ (born October 5, 1965) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player
. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1984 and 2005. Lemieux was a gifted playmaker and fast skater, despite his large size and strength.
Lemieux often beat defencement with fakes and dekes. He is currently the Penguins' principal owner and chairman of the board, having bought the team out of bankruptcy in 1999. He is the only person ever to win the Stanley Cup as both a player and an owner.
Lemieux led Pittsburgh to two Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992, Canada to an Olympic gold medal in 2002, a championship at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and a Canada Cup in 1987. He won three Hart Trophies as the NHL's most valuable player during the regular season, six Art Ross Trophies as the league's leading scorer, and two Conn Smythe Trophies as playoff MVP. At the time of his retirement, he was the NHL's seventh-ranked all-time scorer with 690 goals and 1,033 assists. In 2004, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.
Playing only 915 out of a potential 1428 regular season NHL games, Lemieux's career was plagued by health problems. 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. He has retired twice because of his health (and also missed an entire season because of it prior to his first retirement): first in 1997 after battling lymphoma (he returned in 2000), and for a second and final time in 2006, after being diagnosed with an atrial fibrillation.
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, and he was a finalist for the Hart when he made his comeback in 2000.
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. Lemieux's impact on the NHL has been significant: Andrew Conte of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review called him the "savior" 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."
Bobby Orr called him "the most talented player I've ever seen." Orr, along with Bryan Trottier and numerous fans, speculate that if Lemieux had not suffered so many issues with his health, his on-ice achievements would have been much greater.
Mario Lemieux was born in Montreal to Pierrette, a stay-at-home mom, and Jean-Guy Lemieux, an engineer. He and his older brothers Alain and Richard grew up in a working class family in the Ville-Emard district. Mario began practicing hockey at age 3 in his basement; before using real equipment, he and his brothers used wooden kitchen spoons as hockey sticks and bottle caps as pucks. His father created a rink on the front lawn so that the boys could practice as much as possible, 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 would break league records; in the 1983/84 QMJHL season, Lemieux broke the league record for points in a season with 282 (133 goals, 149 assists) in 70 games. 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 did not play for the Canadian Juniors in 1984 because he disliked how coach Dave King treated him in the previous tournament. He also did not 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 whoever drafted him. He and his agent were deadlocked with the Penguins and could not negotiate a contract. Because of this, when the Penguins called his name as the first overall draft pick, he did not 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 (now known as the Mellon 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. After the draft, Johnston signed Lemieux to a two-year contract for $600,000, plus a $150,000 bonus for signing.
by: Laura Steinfield
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