Talk about staying true to one team – Mario Lemieux is the perfect example of an athlete being loyal to the sports city that embraced him.

Before the Pittsburgh Penguins drafted “Super Mario” with the first overall pick in the 1984 NHL Draft, the organization was in dire straights. Financial turmoil stirred up rumors that the team would have to relocate and by 1983, the Penguins were averaging fewer than 7,000 fans per game, or less than half of their arena’s capacity.

Enter Mario Lemieux.

Mario Lemieux made his NHL debut on October 11, 1984 in a game against the Boston Bruins. On his very first shot attempt, Mario Lemieux sunk a goal against Pete Peeters and his legacy was born. Later that season, Mario Lemieux became the first rookie to be named the All-Star Game’s Most Valuable Player on his way to winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year.

Mario Lemieux went on to play 17 years in the NHL – all of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Mario Lemieux owns the league’s single-season record for shorthanded goals with 13 in the 1988-89 season and shares the record for most goals in one period with four in January of 1997. Mario Lemieux also has the record for most MVP-Awards in All-Star Games with three, and shares the All-Star Game record for career goals with 13.

Of course when an athlete plays 17 years for one team, he’ll hold a few team records, too. Below are several of Mario Lemieux’s Pittsburgh Penguins records.

· Pittsburgh Penguins team record for career games played (915)
· Pittsburgh Penguins team record for career goals (690)
· Pittsburgh Penguins team record for career assists (1033)
· Pittsburgh Penguins team record for career points (1723)
· Pittsburgh Penguins record for longest goal-scoring streak (12 games)
· Pittsburgh Penguins single-season record for goals (85 in 1988-89)
· Pittsburgh Penguins single-season record for assists (114 in 1988-89)
· Pittsburgh Penguins single-season record for points (199 in 1988-89)
· Pittsburgh Penguins single-game record for goals (5, four occasions including playoffs)
· Shares Pittsburgh Penguins single-game record for assists (6, three occasions)
· Pittsburgh Penguins single-game record for points (8, three occasions including playoffs)
· Only player in NHL history to record three eight point games in three consecutive games

For his career, Mario Lemieux played in 915 regular season games, scoring 690 goals and amassing 1,033 assists and 1,723 points. Mario Lemieux was inducted into Hockey’s Hall of Fame in 1997, is a three-time Hart Memorial Trophy Winner (1988, 1993, 1996) and was named ESPN’s Hockey Player of the Decade in 2000.

About the only thing Mario Lemieux couldn’t accomplish on the ice was winning a Stanley Cup. But it’s certainly a testament to Mario Lemieux’s loyalty that he stuck with one team for so long, despite having the opportunity to play for a contender and potentially win a Stanley Cup.

Mario Lemieux is one of the best hockey players of the modern era, not too mention one of the greatest overall athletes of all time.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 8:12 pm and is filed under General, Hockey, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.