Mario Lemieux

Mario Lemieux is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played parts of 17 seasons with the National Hockey League's (NHL) Pittsburgh Penguins between 1984 and 2006. In 1999, he bought the Penguins and their top minor-league affiliate, the American Hockey League's (AHL) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, out of bankruptcy, and is currently the team's principal owner and chairman. 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 defensemen with fakes and dekes.

Lemieux led Pittsburgh to two consecutive Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992. Under his ownership, the Penguins won a third Cup in 2009. He is the only person to have his name on the Cup as both a player and an owner. He also led Team Canada to an Olympic gold medal in 2002, a championship at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, and a Canada Cup in 1987. He won the Lester B. Pearson Award as the most outstanding player voted by the player four times, the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player (MVP) during the regular season three times, the Art Ross Trophy as the league's points leader six times, and the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1991 and 1992.

At the time of his retirement, he was the NHL's seventh-ranked all-time scorer with 690 goals and 1,033 assists. He ranks second in NHL history with a 0.754 goals-per game average for his career, behind only Islanders great Mike Bossy (0.762). In 2004, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

Lemieux's career was plagued by health problems including spinal disc herniation, Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic tendinitis of a hip-flexor muscle and chronic back pain so severe that other people had to tie his skates.

The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Lemieux immediately after his first retirement in 1997, waiving the normal three-year waiting period; upon his return in 2000, he became the third Hall of Famer (after Gordie Howe and Guy Lafleur) to play after being inducted.