Super Mario
By Matt Turka
Edited by Alicia Atkinson
Abstract
Mario Lemieux has made a great impact on the city of Pittsburgh through his record setting performances on the ice and his compassionate selflessness off of it. He saved the city of Pittsburgh from heartbreak twice, when he prevented the Penguins from having to declare bankruptcy. His nonprofit, the Mario Lemieux Foundation has made great contributions to the health and well-being of the citizens of Pittsburgh.
“The Penguins won their third Stanley Cup in 2008-09, and Lemieux became the first person to win the cup as both a player and an owner” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Mario Lemieux has done a lot for this great city of Pittsburgh. He had many record setting performances as a player. He also heroically saved the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise from bankruptcy. His work through The Mario Lemieux Foundation has benefited many important charitable causes in the city of Pittsburgh. As a symbol for hockey and philanthropy, Mario Lemieux is an important figure in Pittsburgh’s culture.
Mario Lemieux was born on October 5th, 1965 in Montreal, Canada. He was born the third son of Jean-Guy and Pierrette Lemieux. At the age of three, he put on his first pair of skates, and began playing hockey (World Biography). In 1984, he was drafted to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the first pick overall in the draft (Encyclopedia Britannica). He lived up to Pittsburgh’s expectations, scoring his first goal on his first shift, of his first game (World Biography). At the end of his rookie season, he had scored one-hundred points, scoring forty-three goals and fifty-seven assists (Encyclopedia Britannica). For his performance he won the Calder Memorial Trophy for the NHL’s Rookie of the Year. He continued this trend through his next six years of play, scoring over one-hundred points in each season (Encyclopedia Britannica).
In the 1988-’89 season, he scored forty-one points in his first twelve games. During this season, he had eighty-five goals, and over one-hundred assists. He won the Hart Trophy, which was voted on by hockey writers, as well as the Lester Pearson Award, which was voted on by fellow players (World Biography). It was during this season that David Sarring’s favorite Lemieux moment occurred (Sarring). On New Year’s Eve, 1988 Mario Lemieux became the first and only player to score five goals, five different ways. He scored an even strength, or five-on-five goal, a shorthanded or four-on-five goal, and a power-play or five-on-four goal. Lemieux wasn’t done with the “Perfect Hat-trick.” He then scored on a penalty shot, which is awarded to a player when a penalty is committed when they are an on a break-away, or one-on-one, with the goaltender. He got his fifth and final type of goal scoring on an empty net, which occurs when the opposing team takes their goalie off the ice, for an extra skater (Five Goals). For this performance he won Pittsburgh’s Man of the Year award in 1989. Mario Lemieux became injured during the 1990-’91 season, which was a trend that would unfortunately continue throughout his career (Encyclopedia Britannica).
Mario missed fifty four games of the 1990-’91 season after having back surgery. He returned to the ice before the playoffs however, and played all but one game, leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to their first Stanley Cup victory. He was awarded the Playoff Most Valuable Player for his performance (Encyclopedia Britannica). Lemieux continued his trend of greatness in the seasons to follow.
In the 1991-’92 season, he scored one-hundred and thirty-one points in sixty-four games (World Biography), and led the Penguins to another Stanley Cup victory. His performance in these playoffs also won Lemieux another Conne Smythe Trophy, for the Playoff MVP (Encyclopedia Britannica). The next season would prove to be a difficult one for NHL great, Mario Lemieux.
Mario Lemieux was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, cancer of the lymph nodes, in 1993 (Lemieux Foundation). Although Lemieux missed twenty games during this 1992-’93 season, he still led the league in scoring, and won the National Hockey League’s Most Valuable Player. The next season he only played twenty-two games, due to his radiation treatment. He took off the 1994-’95 season, in order to focus on his treatment. In the fall of 1995, Mario Lemieux returned to the National Hockey League with a vengeance (Encyclopedia Britannica).
During the 1995-’96 season, Mario Lemieux again won the scoring title and League MVP. During the next season, he won the scoring title again, giving Mario his sixth scoring title in an illustrious career. In 1997, Mario Lemieux announced he would be retiring from the National Hockey League. Although there is usually a waiting period before a player can be inducted in the NHL Hall of Fame, Lemieux was inducted later that year (Encyclopedia Britannica). Without Mario, the Pittsburgh Penguins were heading into some troublesome times.
Ticket sales had dropped without the Penguin’s number 66, and they were forced to declare bankruptcy. There was talk of the Penguins being bought out to another town, but Lemieux would not have this happen to his team. Mario Lemieux had millions of dollars in unpaid salary from the Penguins, which he converted into equity (Encyclopedia Britannica). He got a team of investors together and purchased the Penguins in 1999. This was the second time Lemieux had saved the franchise from bankruptcy, as they were experiencing financial difficulties in the mid 1980’s until Mario was drafted (World Biography). He sparked more attention when during the 2000-‘01 season, Mario Lemieux put on his jersey and returned to play for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
His return made Mario the only player and owner of a sports team in professional sports history. His return was an instant financial success. It put fans in the stands, bringing the Pittsburgh Penguins out of their financial difficulties. Although not at the caliber when he was in his prime, Mario Lemieux kept playing in the NHL as a player and an owner until the 2005-06 season (Encyclopedia Britannica). He announced his second and final retirement, and his jersey number was once again retired, where it still hangs today in the Mellon Arena (Sarring).
He had placed ninth on the National Hockey League’s all-time goals scored list, tenth in assists, and seventh in the points list. Lemieux did all this despite missing a collective five seasons in his career, including his cancer treatment, his first retirement, and the NHL lockout in 2004 (World Biography). His career was brilliant, and he is one of the best players the league had ever seen.
His accomplishments did not stop when he got off the ice, however. Aside from saving of the franchise as an owner, Lemieux has directly done a lot for the city of Pittsburgh. In 1993, after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, Mario Lemieux founded the Mario Lemieux Foundation. The foundation’s ultimate goal is to find a cure for cancer. Through all of their fundraisers, the Lemieux Foundation has made many charitable donations to worthy causes. They gave $5 million to the Mario Lemieux Centers for Patient Care and Research in 2001. They donated $2 million to the Children’s Home of Pittsburgh in 2005. The foundation also established the Austin Lemieux Neonatal Research Project, in honor of Mario and his wife Michele’s son Austin, who was born prematurely. This grant supports research at Magee-Women’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. The Mario Lemieux Foundation also supports the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, the McGowen Institute for Regenerative Medicine, The Leukemia Society, the Lupus Foundation, and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (Lemieux Foundation).
On or off the ice, Mario Lemieux has been very influential for the city of Pittsburgh. His great achievements as a player, his role in saving the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise, and founding the Mario Lemieux Foundation have been very beneficial to a great many people. Mario Lemieux is truly one of the greats and the most influential player to come through Pittsburgh. His drive and determination, even in the face of adversity, makes him a legend, and nobody will forget that.
Works Cited
“Lemieux, Mario.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2010. Web. 07 Mar 2010.
Mario Lemieux - 5 Goals In 5 Different Ways. Youtube, 04 Mar. 2008 Web. 06 Mar. 2010.
“Mario Lemieux.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com 7 Mar. 2010.
Sarring, David. Personal Interview. 06 Mar. 2010.
The Mario Lemieux Foundation. Web. 7 Mar. 2010.
No comments:
Post a Comment