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Categories: 1965 births | Canadian ice hockey players | Pittsburgh Penguins players | Quebec sportspeople
Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux (born October 5, 1965 in Montreal, Quebec) is a professional hockey player. Nicknamed "Le Magnifique" and "Super Mario", his surname literally means "the best". He was born on the same day as fellow legend Patrick Roy. Lemieux is 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) and weighs 230 lb (104 kg). He plays as a centre.
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Playing career
Lemieux was selected first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft . He won the Calder Memorial Trophy as best rookie, scoring 100 points. He has won the Art Ross Memorial Trophy six times as the league's leading scorer, the Hart Memorial Trophy three times as the league's MVP, and has been named to the NHL First All-Star Team five times. Lemieux has topped the 100-point mark in a season 10 times, including a 199-point season in 1988-89. He currently plays for, and owns, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Lemieux led the Penguins to both of their Stanley Cup titles in 1990-91 and 1991-92 and was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner in both of those years.
Lemieux was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease in 1993. Amazingly, he returned to play two months after his diagnosis. However, he was retired during the 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-00 seasons due to various injuries.
On September 3, 1999, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved Lemieux's reorganization plan to save the Penguins from bankruptcy, making the then-retired star, who deferred millions in salary he was owed, the first former player to become majority owner of his former team. He is also chairman of the board, CEO, and president.
He returned to the NHL on December 27, 2000. In his first game, he got an assist 33 seconds into his first shift. Despite playing in little more than half the Penguins' games in 2000-01, he was one of the three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy. A member of the Canadian men's Olympic gold-medal hockey team in 2002, Lemieux was second in scoring on the team with six points in six games.
Lemieux's unique status as player and owner has placed him in a potential conflict of interest with respect to ongoing NHL labour negotiations. Because he is also an owner, Lemieux is no longer a member of the National Hockey League Players Association, although he still pays union dues to maintain his pension. By agreement with the NHLPA, Lemieux is paid the average league salary of about $1.4 million and it is from this amount that his union dues are calculated and deducted. By agreement with the league's other owners, he does not vote in owners' meetings, delegating this role to a Penguins vice president. Lemieux appears to have sided with the league on key CBA issues and has suggested that the NHL adopt a salary structure similar to the National Football League, which has a salary cap the union currently says is unacceptable (as of August 2004).
Lemieux is widely considered to be one of the greatest players of all time. After his sudden retirement in 1997, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, as the usual three-year waiting period was waived.
Lemieux married teenage sweetheart Nathalie Asselin on June 26, 1993. They have 4 children, Lauren, Stephanie, Austin, and Alexa.
Awards
- 1985 - Calder Memorial Trophy
- 1986 - Lester B. Pearson Award
- 1988 - Art Ross Trophy
- 1988 - Lester B. Pearson Award
- 1988 - Hart Memorial Trophy
- 1989 - Art Ross Trophy
- 1991 - Conn Smythe Trophy
- 1992 - Art Ross Trophy
- 1992 - Conn Smythe Trophy
- 1993 - Art Ross Trophy
- 1993 - NHL Plus/Minus Award
- 1993 - Hart Memorial Trophy
- 1993 - Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
- 1993 - Lester B. Pearson Award
- 1996 - Art Ross Trophy
- 1996 - Hart Memorial Trophy
- 1996 - Lester B. Pearson Award
- 1997 - Art Ross Trophy
- 1997 - Inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame
- 2002 - Captain of Canadian Gold Medal Team
- 2004 - Captain of Canadian World Cup Championship Team
- NHL All-Star Team - 1988, 1989, 1993, 1996, 1997.
- His number 66 retired by the Pittsburgh Penguins (Although he can still use it)
Records
- Ranked 10th in all-time NHL assists (1018)
- Ranked 8th in all-time NHL goals (683)
- Ranked 7th in all-time NHL points (1701)
Career statistics
Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
1981-82 | Laval | QMJHL | 64 | 30 | 66 | 96 | 22 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
1982-83 | Laval | QMJHL | 66 | 84 | 100 | 184 | 76 | 12 | 14 | 18 | 32 | 18 | ||
1983-84 | Laval | QMJHL | 70 | 133 | 149 | 282 | 92 | 14 | 29 | 23 | 52 | 29 | ||
1984-85 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 73 | 43 | 57 | 100 | 54 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
1985-86 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 79 | 48 | 93 | 141 | 43 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
1986-87 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 63 | 54 | 53 | 107 | 57 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
1987-88 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 77 | 70 | 98 | 168 | 92 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
1988-89 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 76 | 85 | 114 | 199 | 100 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 16 | ||
1989-90 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 59 | 45 | 78 | 123 | 78 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
1990-91 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 26 | 19 | 26 | 45 | 30 | 23 | 16 | 28 | 44 | 16 | ||
1991-92 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 64 | 44 | 87 | 131 | 94 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 34 | 2 | ||
1992-93 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 60 | 69 | 91 | 160 | 38 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 10 | ||
1993-94 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 22 | 17 | 20 | 37 | 32 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 | ||
1995-96 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 70 | 69 | 92 | 161 | 54 | 18 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 33 | ||
1996-97 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 76 | 50 | 72 | 122 | 65 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | ||
2000-01 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 43 | 35 | 41 | 76 | 18 | 18 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 4 | ||
2001-02 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 24 | 6 | 25 | 31 | 14 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
2002-03 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 67 | 28 | 63 | 91 | 43 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
2003-04 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 10 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 6 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
NHL Totals | 889 | 683 | 1018 | 1701 | 818 | 107 | 76 | 96 | 172 | 87 |
International play
- 1985 - Played for Canada in the World Championships
- 1987 - Played for Canada in the Canada Cup
- 2002 - Captain of the Gold medal Canadaian Team at the 2002 Winter Olympics
- 2004 - Captain of the Champions, Canada in the World Cup of Hockey
Pittsburgh Penguins Captains | ||
Preceded by: Mike Bullard and Terry Ruskowski |
First time (1987-1994) (with Dan Frawley until 1988) |
Followed by: Ron Francis |
Preceded by: Ron Francis |
Second time (1995-1997) |
Followed by: Ron Francis |
Preceded by: Jaromir Jagr |
Third time (2001- to present) | Followed by: (current captain) |
Categories: 1965 births | Canadian ice hockey players | Pittsburgh Penguins players | Quebec sportspeople