This is a picture of Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky, two amazing NHL players, in their uniforms for playing in the Canada Cup Tournament.

Mario Lemieux was born was born on October 5, 1965 in Montreal, Canada. He had a hockey-filled childhood and when he was nine years old his father was convinced that he would play in the NHL. When he was sixteen, his parents believed that he needed to compete against older boys. Mario joined the Laval Visions as his brothers had year before. He fulfilled his dream to play in the NHL in 1984 when he was drafted first by the Pittsburgh Penguins. At the time, the team did not have much talent and had finished last the previous year. In 1985, Mario earned the NHL Rookie of the Year award and the MVP of the All-Star game the following year. Although Mario had won the award, his team was still not doing well. In 1987, Mario teamed up with fellow Canadians to play in the Canada Cup tournament. Mario played for the Pittsburgh Penguins from the earlier season of 1984 to 1997. He was said to be the heart and soul of the team. After his 1997 season, Mario was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, without having to wait the usual three years after retirement. Also in 1997, a jersey with the number 66 was raised to the top of his home arena to retire his number. Mario's number was the first number on the Penguin team to ever be retired. Three years later, in December of 2000, Mario announced that he would be returning to the ice. His first game back with the Penguins was on December 27, 2000. In the 2000-2001 season, the Penguins made a successful turn around and began beating teams that they never were before. Mario even helped his team take the Washington Capitals and the Buffalo Sabres before his own team was knocked out by the New Jersey Devils. Mario Lemieux's goal is to bring one more Stanley Cup to Pittsburgh before he retires for good.

Wayne Gretzky was born on January 26, 1961 about 60 miles from Toronto, Canada. Gretzky began playing hockey in 1964. His skill level increased through his childhood and he was awarded with spots on many high level teams. When he was fourteen, Wayne moved to the city of Toronto to play against tougher competition. Though he was always the smallest player on the team, he finished fourth in the league in scoring for his team. He was also voted Metro Junior B Rookie of the Year. Soon after this, Wayne was drafted by the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds. This team was located five hundred miles from his home town. By accepting the offer to join the team, Wayne was moving from Junior B to Junior A hockey. The transition went well and Wayne began scoring many points. By the age of seventeen, Wayne was ready to play in the NHL. There was a rule preventing him from being drafted though. Instead of beginning to play professional then, he decided to play for the WHA's Indianapolis Racers. and play college hockey instead. Wayne was given a $825,000 contract by the team. After the team folded, Wayne began playing for Edmonton. Wayne's team was accepted into the NHL soon after. The Oilers were lucky to have Wayne. He scored 51 goals and 86 assists at the end of his first season. On April 2, 1980, Wayne became the youngest NHL player to score 50 goals in a single season. He broke yet another record the same season when he scored his seventy-seventh goal. In the 1983-1984 season, Wayne won his first Stanley Cup with the Oilers, and the team won a second time in the following season. Though the team did not win three Stanley Cups in a row, they did win the fourth one. Wayne married actress Janet Jones on July 16, 1988 after many seasons of injury. At the end of the same year, he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. The following year, in 1989, Wayne broke Gordie Howe's point record by scoring his 1,851th goal. When Wayne was 32 years old, he was exhausted from such a busy career. He kept on playing though and was later traded to the St. Louis Blues. After playing for the Blues, he was also traded to the New York Rangers.