Today is October 5th, 2011, marking Mario Lemieux's 46th birthday. For those that do not know me personally, I grew up a huge Pittsburgh Penguins fan and a huge fan of #66, Mario Lemieux.
I collected every Lemieux card I could find, had posters of him, video taped games, and bought every magazine that he was on the cover of. Lemieux was my hero, my idol.
I was awed by his magnificence. There's no doubt that Wayne Gretzky had the best hockey career of all-time. Gretzky has more assists than anyone else has points.
However, it's proven that had Lemieux not faced cancer and all of his other major injuries and played in as many games as Gretzky, he would have been close to breaking all of Gretzky's records.
Gretzky didn't play through cancer (Hodkin's Lymphoma) or any of the other serious injuries that Lemieux suffered. Not only did Lemieux get diagnosed with Hodgkin's diseases, it was right smack dab in the middle of the prime of his career.
Gretzky was great in the 1980's when he played for the Edmonton Oilers but he was surrounded by all-stars. The Oilers had Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr, and Mark Messier all of whom are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Lemieux scored 199 points with Rob Brown on his line.
Lemieux was just more physically gifted and talented than Lemieux. Not to mention that the NHL dictated the game in Gretzky's favor. The other NHL players respected Gretzky way more than Lemieux and Gretzky got favorable treatment by his opponents and the league.
Lemieux would get slashed by all 5 players on the other team and still score a goal. Watch this goal he scored against the Quebec Nordiques for example.
It's a shame that a player of Lemieux's stature had his career tainted with such serious injuries and illness's. We will always say what if about most of Lemieux's career.
To me he's the greatest hockey player of all-time.
Not only was Lemieux the most talented player of all-time, he is perhaps one of the classiest guys of all-time. I've met him once and he looked me in the eyes, shook my hand, and had a quick conversation with me. Not many athletes of his stature would do that.
I'm not ashamed to say that I cried when Lemieux played his last game. It was emotional as hell. Watch the highlights and listen to the fans chanting "Mario...Mario....Mario..", it still gives me goosebumps.
To this day Lemieux's comeback during the 2000-2001 season remains my greatest sporst memory and probably always will. Lemieux came back after being out of the league for 3 full seasons. Lemieux came back and registered a point on his first shift. For those of you that don't know, Lemieux scored a goal on his first career shift in the league and as Penguin.
Lemieux, being out of the game for three seasons registered 76 points in just half a season and helped the Penguins reach the Eastern Conference Finals.
Lemieux has done so much for the Penguins and the city of Pittsburgh. He's saved the Penguins from leaving Pittsburgh more than once, has helped them get a brand new state of the art arena and has helped the Penguins build a team and franchise that is committed to winning.
Lemieux was my childhood hero and remains a guy that I look to for motivation throughout my life. He's an inspiration. I can't speak for everyone, but I know Lemieux was one of the main reasons I got involved in hockey, as well as most other kids in Western Pennsylvania.
His talent, the way he conducts himself, and what he's done for the team I love and the city I was born in, I'll be forever thankful for number 66. Happy birthday big guy!
Watch this last video at the bottom, if doesn't give you goosebumps you've got some serious problems.
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