Mario Lemieux receives the Order of Canada
Former Pittsburgh Penguins star Mario Lemieux is one of the latest recipients of the Order of Canada. The latest in a long list of awards of accolades for the former Pittsburgh Penguins star. Lemieux and 52 other notable Canadians received their awards in a ceremony that was held on 3 September in Ottawa.
The former no. 66 for the Penguins was one of the most popular players of his era, and often fought with Wayne Gretzky for the scoring spotlight in the National Hockey League. Drafted first overall by the Penguins in 1984, Lemieux played for the team for his entire career. He won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1991 and again the following season. Lemieux also won three Hart Trophies as the NHL’s most valuable player, six Art Ross Trophies as the league’s leading scorer, and two Conn Smythe Trophies as playoff MVP.
Lemieux retired from the game after the 1996-1997 season, and remained inactive for three years. However, on 12 December 2000, the 6ft 4 in centre-left winger decided to return to hockey. He played for six more years, retiring for good on 24 January 2006. In 915 games in the NHL, Lemieux scored 1,723 points (690 goals, 1,033 assists), which places him seventh on the list of all-time NHL scorers.
During his first retirement in 1998, Super Mario traded in his Penguins jersey and stick for a business suit and pen as the team’s new owner. Rampant overspending in the early 1990s had left the team on the brink of bankruptcy and ready to fold entirely. Lemieux stepped in and bought the team, vowing to keep it in Pittsburgh. Lemieux’s decision to buy the team made history, as it made him the first former NHL player to own the team he once played for. He still owns the team to this day.
The Magnificent One also had a highly successful international career. He and Wayne Gretzky led Team Canada to the championship at the Canada Cup in 1987. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, he captained Team Canada to a gold-medal victory over the United States. In the twilight years of his career, Lemieux served as Team Canada’s captain once again, leading his country to the 2004 World Cup of Hockey championship over Finland.
Lemieux was one of the game’s most talented players. He once scored five goals in a game in five different ways in a game against the New Jersey Devils on 31 December, 1988. The Montreal-born superstar also once scored four goals in a single period, a record he shares with numerous other retired greats. Lemieux is also the only NHL player to have ever had three eight-point games.
Despite his notable scoring prowess, Lemieux’s career was plagued by many health problems. On 12 January 1993, Lemieux announced that he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Despite overcoming cancer, injuries continued to be a problem for Lemieux. His first retirement was forced by injuries, while his second was due to a heart condition known as atrial fibrillation.
As Lemieux neared the end of his storied career, he helped to usher in the Sidney Crosby era in Pittsburgh. No. 66 took No. 87 under his wing during his first NHL season in 2005, and helped him to adjust to life in the big leagues. For the first few years of his career, Crosby lived in Lemieux’s house, where he received lots of one-on-one mentoring from the Hall-of-Famer.
Crosby has since made the team his own, and was named team captain in 2007. He eventually led the Penguins to a Stanley Cup victory over the Detroit Red Wings in 2009. It was the first Stanley Cup for Lemieux as team owner.
Lemieux was inducted into the NHL’s Hall of Fame in 1997 shortly after his first retirement. He was only the ninth player to have the mandatory three-years waiting period waived. His recent reception of the Order of Canada serves as a fitting tribute to one of the greatest Canadian players in the history of professional hockey.
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