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Mario Lemieux

Mario Lemieux (born October 5, 1965) is a professional hockey player. Nicknamed "The Magnificent One" and "Super Mario", he has been both a player and owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League. Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on the same day as fellow hockey legend Patrick Roy, Lemieux is 6'4" and weighs 230 lbs. His jersey number is 66.

Lemieux was selected first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. He went on to win 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 most valuable player, 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.

Mario 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, a form of cancer, in 1993. He retired due to chronic back problems following the 1996-97 season, but returned to the NHL in December 2000, after becoming the principal owner of the Penguins. In his return, he got an assist 30 seconds into his first shift. Despite playing in little more than half of the Penguins' games in 2000-01, he was one of the three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy that season.

A member of the Canadian Men's Olympic Gold Medal hockey team in 2002, Lemieux was second on the team with six points in six games.

Lemieux is widely considered to be one of the five greatest hockey players of all time. Following his sudden retirement in 1997, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, as the usual three-year waiting period was waived.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Career Statistics
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM Playoffs GP G A Pts PIM
1981-82 Laval Voisins QMJHL 64 30 66 96 22 -- -- -- -- --
1982-83 Laval Voisins QMJHL 66 84 100 184 76 12 14 18 32 18
1983-84 Laval Voisins QMJHL 70 133 149 282 92 14 29 23 52 29
1984-85 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 73 43 57 100 54 -- -- -- -- --
1985-86 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 79 48 93 141 43 -- -- -- -- --
1986-87 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 63 54 53 107 57 -- -- -- -- --
1987-88 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 77 70 98 168 92 -- -- -- -- --
1988-89 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 76 85 114 199 100 11 12 7 19 16
1989-90 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 59 45 78 123 78 -- -- -- -- --
1990-91 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 26 19 26 45 30 23 16 28 44 16
1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 64 44 87 131 94 15 16 18 34 2
1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 60 69 91 160 38 11 8 10 18 10
1993-94 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 22 17 20 37 32 6 4 3 7 2
1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 70 69 92 161 54 18 11 16 27 33
1996-97 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 76 50 72 122 65 5 3 3 6 4
2000-01 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 43 35 41 76 18 18 6 11 17 4
2001-02 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 24 6 25 31 14 -- -- -- -- --
2002-03 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 67 28 63 91 43 -- -- -- -- --

See also:
Retired NHL Players
and
Current NHL Players