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Mario "The
Magnificent" dominated the game
of hockey at every level he played.
Mario played for Canada in the 1983
World Junior Championships and
recorded 10 points on the bronze
medal winning team. In his final
year in the Quebec Major Junior
Hockey League (QMJHL), Lemieux
scored a record 133 goals and added
149 assists for 282 points in 70
games for the Laval Titan. He was
named Canadian Junior Hockey Player
of the year and was selected first
overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins
in the 1984 NHL entry draft. On his
first NHL shift against the Boston
Bruins, Lemieux would steal the puck
from Bruin great Ray Bourque and
score his first NHL goal on Pete
Peeters. Mario went on to chalk up
100 points in his rookie campaign
and was awarded the Calder Trophy as
best first year player. Lemieux
recorded 100+ point season the next
couple of seasons and emerged as a
dominating NHL player...Book
Mario Lemieux for Your Event
One of his most
famous goals though was scored as he
played for team Canada, in the 1987
Canada Cup. He took a pass from
Wayne Gretzky and beat Soviet goalie
Sergei Mylnikov at 18:34 of the
third period to get Canada a 6-5
lead and eventual victory in the
Canada Cup fianl. The 1987-88
regular season was dominated by
Lemieux as he tallied 70 goals and
98 assists for 168 points, good
enough to win the Art Ross Trophy
and the Hart Memorial Trophy as most
valuable player in the league. His
battles with Wayne Gretzky continued
as Mario scored a personal best 199
points in 1988-89, 57 more than
Gretzky and good enough for another
Art Ross. Always a great talent with
excellent physical attributes like
strength, size, and a long wingspan,
Lemieux had to endure physical
ailments throughout his career. Back
injuires saw his miss ice-time
beginning in 1989-90 and he only
played in 26 games in the 1990-91
season. His return in the second
half of that year saw the Pittsburgh
Penguins win their first Stanley Cup
Championship. The team was led by
Lemieux who recorded 44 points to
win the Conn Smythe Trophy as
playoff MVP. Pittsburg and Mario
would go on to win their second
Stanley Cup the following year.
In January of 1993 Mario Lemieux's
health problems took a turn for the
worse as he was diagnosed with
Hodgkin's disease, a treatable form
of cancer. Lemieux missed 23 games
as he got radiation treatment, but
still managed to comeback and win
the scoring title. Lemieux would
take the entire 1994-95 season off
to recover from his back injuries
and other ailments, but would come
back to win two Art Ross and a Hart
Trophy before announcing his
retirement in 1997. The Hockey Hall
of Fame waived its waiting period
and inducted Lemieux in November,
1997. Having been in retirement for
three years, Mario made a surprise
comeback with the Pittsburgh
Penguins in the 2000-01 season. His
production numbers were nothing but
awesome in a league that had become
notorious for cluthing, grabbing and
defensive play. His health was still
a problem as he only played 24 games
in 2001-02 but followed that up with
a 67 game performce the following
year, tallying up 91 points.
Book
Mario Lemieux for Your Event
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