Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux, OC, CQis a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current owner for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He played parts of 17 seasons with the National Hockey League'sPittsburgh Penguins between 1984 and 2006. Dubbed "The Magnificent One" or "Le Magnifique", he is widely acknowledged to be one of the best players of all time. A gifted playmaker and fast skater despite his large size, Lemieux often beat defencemen with fakes and dekes...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionHockey Player
Date of Birth5 October 1965
CityMontreal, Canada
CountryCanada
I think the lottery changed everything for us. Once we got Sidney, it helped us turn this franchise around overnight.
My son, he is the reason I got involved. It's been a joy to be around him and teach him the stuff that I know, and to the other kids as well. When he started playing I wanted to be involved in his hockey career. It's a lot of fun for both of us.
It was great to play with some of my old linemates.
I have two main reasons for retiring. The first is I can no longer play at a level I was accustomed to in the past. That has been very, very frustrating to me throughout this past year. The second one is realizing my health, along with my family, is the most important thing in the world.
One thing I hate is people screaming at me. If you want me to do something, talk to me. When someone screams at me to hurry up, I slow down.
Since the beginning, I always loved the game.
I can no longer play at a level I was accustomed to in the past.
I didn't speak English until I came to Pittsburgh.
I've gone through back surgery a couple times, and of course, my radiation treatments for six weeks got me to the point where I was not able to play at the level that I was accustomed to.
I think people in Montreal smoke a lot, and I used to smoke when I was 17-18, and just picked it up when I was playing juniors. But I think I stopped when I was 22, which was a big decision in my life.
Red wine is a great accompaniment to meat.
Certainly we're not satisfied with just winning games. We've been playing some pretty good hockey, but we think we can play much better.
Of course, my family has been a big reason for me to come back, especially my son who loves the game of hockey - he was a big reason for me coming back.
Everybody I talked to - from my friends to my family and some of the players - really gave me a lot of support from the start. And that certainly made me feel good about trying to come back and be one of the best again.