15 interesting facts about Mario Lemieux

Mario Lemieux was one of the greatest hockey players of all time. But if you didn’t live through the highs of his era then you might not understand just how crazy his career actually was. Here are fifteen facts you probably didn’t know about Le Magnifique.

In his first shift with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Lemieux stole from Boston defenseman Roy Baroque and scored a goal against Bruins goalie Pete Peeters on his first professional shot according to an account from Wikipedia. 

Even though Lemeuix played 572 fewer games than The Great One according to Bleacher Report, he still holds the record for the highest career points per game at 2.005. 

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

While most fans would recognize Lemieux’s Le Magnifique moniker, the Pittsburgh Penguins center also known as Mr. 66, The Greatest One, and Super Mario. 

For a guy who only played in a total of 1022 games, Mario Lemieux was able to stack up his stats scoring an impressive 690 goals and assisting 1033 times for a total of 1723 career points. 

Lemieux won a lot of awards while playing professionally. By the end of his career he held 3 Hart trophies, 2 Conn Smythe Trophies, one Calder Trophy, and took home the Stanley Cup a total of 2 times. 

While Mr.66 only won the Stanley Cup twice as a player, but he got his name on the cup three more times as an owner of the Penguins when they won in 2009, 2016, and 2017 according to CBS Sports. 

According to Canada’s Walk of fame, Le Magnifique is the only person in hockey history to have won a Stanley Cup as both a player and a team owner, both of which he did with the Penguins as we already mentioned. 

Canada’s Walk of Fame also noted that Super Mario was rather shy. His biggest challenge during his hockey career wasn’t the pressure on the ice but rather public interviews. 

While Lemieux earned several gold medals for Team Canada across a number of international tournaments, he never made a debut as a player in the Olympics. However, he did coach Canada’s 2002 Olympic team to a gold medal victory, adding that title to his already stellar record. 

In December 1988, Lemieux scored five goals in the five different ways a hockey player can get them. One even strength goal, one power-play goal, one shorthanded goal, one penalty shot, and one empty netter according to Bleacher Report. 

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

Mario Lemieux might have been a great hockey player but he was terrible at avoiding injuries. Mr. 66 was always suffering from something bad but the worst was a back problem, the surgery for which caused him to miss 50 games in 1990. 

In 1993, Lemieux was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma but he didn’t let it get him down, always looking forward to his return. “I thought about it even during radiation,” he told Sports Illustrated. “I was determined to come back and regain the lead.” 

After his final radiation treatment On March 2nd, 1993, Super Mario got on a plane and flew to Philadelphia where he received a standing ovation and played one of the best games of his life, scoring two goals and netting one assist according to NHL.com. 

In 1997, Lemieux announced his retirement due to severe back issues and lingering problems associated with his cancer diagnosis. But after 44 months off he returned in 2001 and he hadn't lost a single step in his game. 

“Five weeks into his comeback, the 35-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins center has nabbed 16 goals and 16 assists in just 16 games, and once again has his eye on the league scoring title,” wrote ABC News’ James Walker. 

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!