Mario Lemieux

Mario Lemieux, OC, CQ (born October 5, 1965) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1984 and 2005. Lemieux was a gifted playmaker and fast skater, despite his large size and strength. Lemieux often beat defencemen with fakes and dekes.[1] He is currently the Penguins' principal owner and chairman of the board, having bought the team out of bankruptcy in 1999. He is the only person ever to win the Stanley Cup as both a player and an owner.[2]

Lemieux led Pittsburgh to two Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992, Canada to an Olympic gold medal in 2002, a championship at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and a Canada Cup in 1987. He won three Hart Trophies as the NHL's most valuable player during the season, six Art Ross Trophies as the league's leading scorer, and two Conn Smythe Trophies as playoff MVP. At the time of his retirement, he was the NHL's seventh-ranked all-time scorer with 690 goals and 1,033 assists.[3] In 2004, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

Playing only 915 out of a potential 1428 regular season NHL games, Lemieux's career was plagued by health problems. His numerous ailments included spinal disc herniation, Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic tendinitis of a hip-flexor muscle, and chronic back pain so severe that other people had to tie his skates.[4] He has retired twice because of his health: first in 1997 after battling lymphoma (he returned in 2000), and for a second and final time in 2006, after being diagnosed with an atrial fibrillation.[3] Despite his lengthy absences from the game, his play remained at a high level upon his return to the ice; he won the Hart Trophy and scoring title in 1995–96 after sitting out the entire previous season, and he was a finalist for the Hart when he made his comeback in 2000.[1]

Lemieux was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame immediately after his first retirement, waiving the normal three-year waiting period; upon his return in 2000, he became the third Hall of Famer (after Gordie Howe and Guy Lafleur) to play after being inducted.[5] Lemieux's impact on the NHL has been significant: Andrew Conte of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review called him the "savior" of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and after Lemieux's retirement, Wayne Gretzky commented that "You don't replace players like Mario Lemieux [...] The game will miss him."[6] Bobby Orr called him "the most talented player I've ever seen." Orr, along with Bryan Trottier and numerous fans,[3] speculate that if Lemieux had not suffered so many issues with his health, his on-ice achievements would have been much greater.