Mario lemieux biography summary organizer

After the season, Lemieux was awarded his second Hart Trophy, as well as the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophygiven to the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. On July 23,Lemieux underwent his second back surgery, this time to repair a herniated muscle. He missed the first ten games of the season to recover from surgery and missed an additional 48 games due to the injury.

Lemieux reached goals at the second fastest rate. Only Gretzky achieved the plateau faster scoring goals in games. The next seasonLemieux, playing against the Vancouver Canucksscored his th career goal in his th game, and went on to put up his mario lemieux biography summary organizer career point season, both the second-most in history after Wayne Gretzky's goals in games and fifteen point seasons.

On April 6,Lemieux announced that he planned to retire following the playoffs. The Penguins were eliminated in five games by the Eric Lindros -led Philadelphia Flyers during the first round. Lemieux scored one goal and earned an assist in his final game. Despite the typically hostile Philadelphia crowd, Lemieux skated around the ice following the final horn and received a standing ovation.

On November 17,Lemieux was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Famebecoming the ninth player in history to have the mandatory three-year waiting period waived. The Penguins' free-spending ways of the early s came at a high price. As a consequence, the Penguins asked Lemieux and other prominent players to defer their salaries. The team was also forced to make several trades to stop the bleeding, most of which backfired.

The situation became so dire that the Penguins were forced to declare bankruptcy in November For most of the —99 NHL seasonit looked like the Penguins would either move out of town or fold altogether. At this point, Lemieux stepped in with an unusual proposal to buy the team. The U. Lemieux assumed the posts of president, chairman, and CEO of the Penguins.

Lemieux's plan was designed to pay everyone the organization owed. In fact, the bankruptcy court approved his bid in part because of the prospect that the debt would be fully retired—a rare feat, considering that unsecured creditors typically get only pennies on the dollar. Lemieux was given much of the credit, according to the article, for his insistence that everyone owed be paid.

In JanuaryLemieux confirmed the team was for sale, but would consider offers only from those who would keep the team in Pittsburgh. Late inthere were rumours that Lemieux was attempting a comeback. Upon announcing his comeback, Lemieux also signed a "career spanning deal" with Nike to wear their equipment on the ice, and to endorse their products off the ice.

This deal would include Lemieux endorsing their line of footwear and their golf equipment. Lemieux proved that his scoring touch had not disappeared by scoring a goal and three points, including an assist 33 seconds into the first shift of his return. Despite playing in only 43 games in —01, Lemieux scored 76 points to finish 26th in scoring, finishing the season with the highest points-per-game average that season among NHL players.

In fact, he had the highest points-per-game average amongst NHL players for the entire period from his —01 return until his final retirement in — Lemieux led the Penguins in the postseason and led in playoff scoring for much of it. His team surprised many by going to the Eastern Conference finals, knocking off the higher-seeded Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres along the way in six and seven games, respectively.

Lemieux finished Game Five in the penalty box after slashing the Devils' John Madden ; afterwards Lemieux signed his stick and handed it to a young fan. Before the start of the —02 season, Pittsburgh was forced to trade most of their expensive players, so the team plummeted to the bottom of the NHL and missed the playoffs in each of the next four seasons.

However, Lemieux only appeared in 24 games, partially due to injuries that would also plague him for the next three seasons. He also skipped some Penguins games in —02 so he could be in condition to play what would be his only chance at the Olympics in his career. However, Lemieux played only one more game after the Salt Lake City Olympics before being out for the rest of the season due to a nagging hip problem, leading one Pittsburgh columnist to demand that Lemieux apologize for making Team Canada his priority.

On December 23,the Penguins played the Buffalo Sabres in Pittsburgh and Lemieux, who was aware of the challenge, made good on it when he scored the game-winning goal right off a faceoff during the third period. In —03at the age of 37, Lemieux led the NHL in scoring for most of the season but missed most of the games towards the end of the schedule and finished eighth in scoring with 91 points in only 67 games.

Lemieux missed all but ten games during the —04 season. After the lock-out concluded, Lemieux returned to the ice for the —06 season. Hopes for the Penguins were high due to the salary cap and revenue sharing, which enabled the team to compete in the market for several star players. Another reason for optimism was the Penguins winning the lottery for the first draft pick, enabling them to select Sidney Crosby.

Lemieux opened up his home to Crosby to help the rookie settle in Pittsburgh, and served as Crosby's mentor. Lemieux's unique status as player and owner placed him in a potential conflict of interest with respect to NHL labour negotiations. Because he was also an owner, Lemieux was no longer a member of the National Hockey League Players Associationalthough he still paid union dues to maintain his pension.

He did not vote in owners' meetings, delegating this role to a Penguins vice-president. He suggested that the NHL adopt a salary structure similar to the National Football Leaguewhich has a hard salary cap. Lemieux and fellow NHL team executive Gretzky brought the parties together in a last-ditch effort to save what remained of the —05 season, but no agreement was reached and the season was lost.

On January 24,Lemieux announced his second and permanent retirement from professional hockey at the age of This followed a half-season in which he struggled not only with the increased speed of the "new NHL" but also with atrial fibrillationwhich caused him to experience irregular heartbeats. Although he had put up points at a pace that most NHL forwards would be very content with 22 points in 26 games in his last season, Lemieux still remarked that "I can no longer play at a level I was accustomed to in the past.

However, Balsillie unexpectedly rescinded his offer two months later after an apparent dispute with the NHL Board of Governors over purchasing conditions, despite Balsillie having earlier pledged to the Board that he would not relocate the team. On March 13,Lemieux's ownership group announced a final agreement for a new multi-purpose arena, eventually to be named Consol Energy Centerto be built across the street from Mellon Arena.

The deal keeps the Penguins in Pittsburgh for at least 30 years. Lemieux was instrumental in negotiating this deal, despite outside efforts to move the team to Kansas City. It was later revealed that Lemieux did visit Kansas City only to put pressure on the city and state to push through plans for the new arena. The Penguins returned to the playoffs, losing in five games to the Ottawa Senators inand making the Finals in where they lost in six games to the Detroit Red Wings.

Lemieux played for Canada in the World Junior Championships bronze medalWorld Championships silver medalCanada Cup championshipWinter Olympics captain, gold medal and the World Cup of Hockey captain, championship. The team had failed to win a gold medal at the Olympics in fifty years but were still considered favourites to win. Lemieux was second to Joe Sakic in team scoring with six points in five games, and led the team to gold by defeating the United States 5—2 in the final game.

Lemieux showcased his amazing hockey intelligence during the gold medal game against the United States. With Team Canada trailing 1—0 in the first period, Lemieux made one of the most famous and savvy plays in Olympic hockey history. After a cross-ice pass from Lemieux in the neutral zone, Canadian defenceman Chris Pronger carried the puck across the blue line into the American zone, and fired a pass across the zone.

Lemieux then faked like he was receiving the pass and proceeded to take a shot at the net, all while letting the puck slide through his legs, knowing he had forward Paul Kariya streaking behind him. Lemieux's fake caused American goalie Mike Richter to lunge in Lemieux's direction, and thus created a wide-open net for Kariya to fire the puck in, as he received the pass from Pronger after Lemieux let it go to Kariya.

During the tournament, his hip injury required several painkilling injections to keep him on the ice, and he only played one more NHL game after the Olympics before being lost for the season. He would then play in his final international event, once again captaining Team Canada to victory in the World Cup of Hockeywhere he'd be Team Canada's fourth leading scorer, despite being 38 years old, having injuries, and playing in just 10 NHL games that year.

Lemieux was also selected by team Canada for the Winter Olympicsbut declined due to health. Early in his career, Lemieux smoked, at one point consuming a pack of mario lemieux biographies summary organizer daily. Lemieux married Nathalie Asselin on June 26, They have four children: Lauren born April[ 62 ] Stephanie born[ 63 ] Austin Nicholas born[ 64 ] and Alexa born Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

Lemieux has been criticized for his involvement in multiple sexual assault scandals. That kid faced so much adversity, did his time, came back after three and a half years. To find himself in the NHL is a great accomplishment. Inthe same year he was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphomaLemieux created the Mario Lemieux Foundation to fund medical research projects.

Inhe was among the well-known athletes who founded Athletes for Hopea charitable organization which helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes and inspires non-athletes to volunteer and support the community. With their son, Austin, being born prematurely inthe Lemieux family spent quite a bit of time in the hospital with Austin, including 71 days after his birth.

Using the Lemieux Foundation resources, driven by Nathalie's idea and vision, founded a program called "Austin's Playroom Project". A statue in his honour, created by sculptor Bruce Wolfewas erected in Pittsburgh on March 7,outside the Consol Energy Center. Inlocal confectioner D. Clark Company produced a Mario Bar, modelled on the caramel Bun Barfeaturing his image on the packaging and including collectors' trading cards.

Biographical information and career statistics from NHL. Lemieux has competed at the American Century Championship, an annual competition to determine the best golfers among American sports and entertainment celebrities. He won the tournament in and has two top-ten finishes. It was this year when he shot a 3-under 69 to earn him the ACC trophy.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Canadian ice hockey player born Ice hockey player. Medal record. Early years [ edit ]. Playing career [ edit ]. Post-playing career [ edit ]. International play [ edit ]. Personal life [ edit ].

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Mario lemieux biography summary organizer

Legacy [ edit ]. Career statistics [ edit ]. Regular season and playoffs [ edit ]. International [ edit ]. Awards [ edit ]. This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately.

NHL [ edit ]. Other awards [ edit ]. Cultural references [ edit ]. Celebrity golf [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. Further reading [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Archived from the original on June 30, Retrieved October 30, Legends of Hockey. Archived from the original on March 28, Retrieved September 21, The Athletic. Archived from the original on December 30, Retrieved December 30, CBC Sports.

June 16, Archived from the original on August 16, Retrieved July 23, Olympics at Sports-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 4, January 24, Archived from the original on February 6, Retrieved September 19, Captain of Team Canada, Lemieux stands holding the Canadian flag. Mario Lemieux was born on October 5th, and was a professional Canadian hockey player.

Early life:. Lemieux was born on the outskirts of Montreal on October 5th, He started skating between two and three years, and began playing hockey at six. Lemieux hoists the Stanley Cup. Lemieux underwent radiation treatment for the lymphoma, and returned to playing just two months after finishing treatment, scoring a goal and assisting against the Flyers upon his return.

Later that year, Lemieux started the Mario Lemieux Foundation to help patients battling the same disease. Other Injuries:. Mario Lemieux Hockey player Date of Birth: Contact About Privacy. Bobby Orr. Danny Groulx. Derek Boogaard. Daniele Veggiato. Mattias Weinhandl.