Super Mario Retires

[Indica]

Hockey is gonna miss him.

 

He's my favorite hockey player of all time.

 

Mario

 

http://nhl.speedera.net//image-upload/lemieux_warmup_skating_tall.jpg

 

Mario Lemieux, the owner and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins announced his retirement as a player Tuesday afternoon, ending a legendary career that saw him post glittering offensive numbers that thrilled a generation of hockey fans.

 

Lemieux also came back to take over ownership of the Penguins and must be credited with saving the franchise that was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

 

"I have two main reasons for retiring here today," he told a packed news conference at Mellon Arena. "The first one is I can no longer play at the level that I was accustomed to in the past and that has been, very, very frustrating to me throughout this past year. The second one is realizing that my health, along with my family is the most important thing in the world."

 

In 22 games this season, Lemieux scored seven goals and 15 assists, but was an unsightly minus-16. He also experiencing physical problems and was out of the lineup indefinitely after experiencing an irregular heartbeat. His last game was Dec. 16, 2005 against Buffalo, but he had returned to practice on Jan. 9.

 

Lemieux said the heart ailment has contributed to his sub-par performance this season.

 

"That's been a big part this year," he said. "Even to this day I'm not feeling 100 percent. That was the most frustrating thing for me."

 

Lemieux said he had a heart episode Monday night, his first in about three weeks. He said he is considering having surgery to correct the problem.

 

Lemieux said the decision was in "the best interest of myself, my family and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

 

"I also realized that the new NHL is really for the young guys and I think we have a lot of them now in the League. Some young guys that are dominating -- we have a few here in Pittsburgh -- and I think these young guys are really the future of the League."

 

Several of those young players, most notably Sidney Crosby, Mare-Andre Fleury and Ryan Whitney, are with a Penguins team this season that has struggled to find a balance between veterans and the infusion of youth.

 

"I think the best decision is to retire as a player and turn the game over to the younger guys who are the future of this team and this League," Lemieux said. "It's a young man's game now.

 

"If I could still play this game, I would be on the ice," he said. "This is it. It hurts.

 

"All I can say to the young players is enjoy every moment of it," he said, pausing to regain his emotions. "Just enjoy every moment of it. Your career goes by very quickly. It's a great game and you guys are all very special to me in the NHL."

 

Lemieux also has been busy with off-ice business, trying to secure a new arena deal in Pittsburgh, where the Penguins still call the antiquated Mellon Arena, the oldest building in the NHL, home. Lemieux also announced last week that the team was for sale.

 

"We've had quite a few inquiries over the last few months," Lemieux said Thursday. "I think the timing was right to look at them and explore them and see what our options are. ... We've laid the foundation for the future and hopefully in a way that they'll stay here forever."

 

Lemieux rode to the Penguins' rescue in 1998 when the team filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. At the time, the club was reportedly $120 million in debt. Lemieux's group bought the team, paid off much of the debt and Lemieux ended his retirement and returned to the ice after nearly four years of retirement in Dec. 2000.

 

Lemieux's playing career ranks among the greatest in hockey history. At 6-foot-4, 230 pounds, he had the body of a power forward, the grace of Jean Beliveau and the scoring instincts of Wayne Gretzky. In 915 regular-season games, he scored 690 goals and 1,033 assists. In Stanley Cup Playoff competition, Lemieux appeared in 107 games, scoring 76 goals and 96 assists, leading the Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1990-91 and 1991-92.

 

"Mario's exceptional play earned him accolades," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said . "His ability to face adversity earned him respect. His devotion to Pittsburgh and the Penguins earned him admiration. His dedication to hockey - at both the NHL and International levels - earned him the enduring appreciation and thanks of everyone associated with the game. We celebrate his playing career and wish him only the best in the future."

 

Lemieux was the first selection of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft after a stunningly successful junior career with the Laval Voisin of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In his final junior season, Lemieux scored an astonishing 133 goals and 282 points. He had a consecutive points streak that stretched 62 games. Needless to say, his NHL debut was eagerly awaited.

 

Lemieux didn't wait too long to impress, scoring a goal on his first shift against the Boston Bruins. He stole the puck from defenseman Ray Bourque - no easy feat in itself - and sent a wrist shot past goalie Pete Peeters.

 

In his first home game, Lemieux got an assist on his first shift against the Vancouver Canucks and also won a decision from Gary Lupul in a dust-up in that game.

 

Lemieux produced a tidy 100 points in his rookie season on 43 goals and 57 assists. It was the third-best rookie season in NHL history behind Dale Hawerchuk and Peter Stastny, two players he would join in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

 

Lemieux won the Calder Trophy as the top rookie and also was the MVP of that season's All-Star Game.

 

Lemieux had over 100 points in each of his next two seasons and really began to cement his burgeoning reputation at the Rendez-vous 87 series against the Soviet Union. In the two-game series, Lemieux was a standout and followed that with a great Canada Cup tournament in which he scored 18 points in nine games.

 

The championship game against the Soviets produced one of the landmark moments in Lemieux's career when he scored the winning goal off a Gretzky pass in the final seconds of the game.

 

In 1987-88, Lemieux won both the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer with 168 points and the Hart Trophy as the League's MVP.

 

Another luminous night in Lemieux's career came on New Year's Eve 1988 when he scored five goals - an even-strength tally, a shorthanded goal, a power-play goal, a penalty-shot goal and an empty netter. Lemieux would finish the 1988-89 season with 199 points and was again the NHL's leading scorer.

 

Injuries also were a significant part of Lemieux's career. Back woes that would become a persistent problem first surfaced during the 1989-90 season. He missed most of the 1990-91 season before returning for the playoffs, where he notched 44 points in 23 games as the Penguins defeated the Minnesota North Stars to win the Stanley Cup. Lemieux was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs.

 

Lemieux won the Smythe in the 1992 playoffs when the Penguins again won the Cup.

 

A bombshell struck Lemieux in 1992-93 when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. He missed a full month that season undergoing radiation treatments, but he remarkably returned to lead the NHL in scoring. Health problems scuttled the majority of the 1993-94 season and all of the 1994-95 season, but Lemieux returned without missing a beat in 1995-96, winning the Hart and Ross trophies.

 

Lemieux retired in 1997, but it proved to be a temporary situation. With the team on the brink of bankruptcy, Lemieux returned in 1999 as owner and then returned to the ice in 2000, becoming just the third member of the Hockey Hall of Fame - Gordie Howe and Guy Lafleur were the others - to return as a active player following induction.

 

In his first game back, Lemieux scored a goal and two assists. In all, Lemieux played in 43 games in 2000-01, scoring 35 goals with 41 assists. In 2001-02, he was limited to 24 games, scoring six goals with 25 assists. He also was named captain of Team Canada for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and helped Canada end a 50-year gold-medal drought.

 

Rested and healthy again in 2002-03, Lemieux played in 67 games for the Pens, scoring 28 goals and 63 assists. But injuries returned in 2003-04, allowing Lemieux to appear in just 10 games, where he scored a goal and eight assists.

 

This season, buoyed by the addition of Sidney Crosby and several veteran free agents, the Penguins were expected to be a formidable foe in the Eastern Conference. But the team has struggled the entire season, with Lemieux's medical problems the latest chapter.

 

"I have so many great memories, especially the Stanley Cups, and I want to thank the fans in Pittsburgh - and hockey fans everywhere - for the support they've given to me and my family over the years. It's been an unbelievable ride. And I really do believe this team has a great future here in Pittsburgh. I'm looking forward to watching these young players grow and develop into a championship team."

 

 

 

[Drumnut]

Mario will be missed. A true gentleman. Glad to see he's trying to keep The Pens in Pittsburg!

[anagramking]

QUOTE (Drumnut @ Jan 26 2006, 01:58 AM)

Mario will be missed. A true gentleman. Glad to see he's trying to keep The Pens in Pittsburg!

Amen to that. What an amazing player. Those championships were great stuff.