1984-2002
Mario Lemieux is the owner and center for the Penguins. Born in Montreal, Quebec in Canada, hockey was in his blood. Mario came to the Penguins in 1984 as the Pens first overall draft pick. On his first shot in the NHL, he scored his first goal against Boston. The most goals Mario has scored in one game against the New Jersey Devils getting 5. He had a complete game scoring a goal in every situation, on the powerplay, 5 on 5, shorthanded (with a penalty), on a breakaway, and lastly on an empty net. This was the first time in history that any player had done this great achievement. Mario Lemieux was diagnosed with cancer in the season of 1998, in which he took off the rest of the season with this news. He later retired for the first time, and began to pay more attention to his health. His number was retired, the old #66. In the year of 2001, the team was about to be traded, and when Mario learned about this, he automatically put up the money for the team. Now owning the Pens, he had a son. He had to show his son his talent, so he came back to the NHL for the team he loved. He would come back in the season of 2001, and play. In his first 7 games, he had at least 1 goal in each game, and more then just a few assists. In this season, he would lead his team to a victory in the playoffs against Buffalo Sabres. Later on in these playoffs, they would lose to the New Jersey Devils. He would train hard in the offseason, and reedeam his "C" in the 2002 year. He would later hurt his hip, and be out for about a month, but made a recovery yet again, and came back. Later in the season, he was voted to be in the All-Star game. He would play for the North America team, but they lost. Later on in the season, he was in the Olympics, playing for his home country, Canada. He won the gold metal, playing against the USA team in the championship, and bring his gold metal back to Pittsburgh. This was the end for the season because of Mario's hip problem. He is out for the 2002-3 season, and is still the current owner. He is training for a 100% recovery for next year, but he is expected to retire by the 2005 season. Overall, Mario Lemieux is said to be the greatest NHL player to ever play the game of hockey.
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
