Mario Lemieux is a Canadian hockey player. Biography

Mario Lemieux, whose biography is presented in this article, is one of the most famous Canadian hockey players. He became famous for his performances in the team "Pittsburgh Penguins", which he bought in 1999, as well as his country's national team. Throughout his career, this man has managed to win a huge number of individual and team trophies. He is one of the few athletes whose name fell into the "Hockey Hall of Fame" immediately after the end of the player's career. For his professionalism and mastery received several nicknames from the fans - Supermario and Gorgeous.

Childhood

The future star of world hockey was born in one of the suburbs of Montreal on October 5, 1965. His father worked as a builder, and his mother was a housewife. Together with his two older brothers, the boy spent his childhood in the working area of the metropolis. Already at the age of three, Mario began playing hockey with them in the basement of his house. The role of the puck for the guys played the lid from the bottle, and the gate - the mother's piano. The father strongly supported such a hobby of his sons, so later he built an improvised skating rink for them in the yard. In the winter evenings, they constantly trained after school at a nearby playground, playing with their peers.

Debut Steps in Professional Sports

As already noted above, serious abilities for hockey in Mario Lemieux showed up from an early age. In 1972, he became the Montreal Champion in the Hurricanes de Ville-Émard. Speaking for different children's teams, the guy scored 5-6 goals for the duel, so many specialists and coaches talked about his great future in sports. It is believed that Mario's professional career began with the "Laval Voisens" - the team that performed in the Main Quebec junior league. For all three of the season spent here, the guy has always distinguished himself by phenomenal performance.

Draft

In 1984, it was time for a young hockey player to go on draft. Serious success in the youth leagues led to the fact that his first number at the time was exactly Mario Lemieux. NHL is very beckoning guy. Moreover, behind him lined up a queue of clubs. He himself dreamed of wearing the sweater of the legendary Montreal Canadiens. However, fate then decreed otherwise. In the previous season, the main outsider for the first time in the history of its existence was the team "Pittsburgh Penguins", so it was she who was entitled to the first draft number. There was no doubt about who the club will choose as its new face and leader. Representatives of other clubs offered big money and even all of their draft numbers to the "penguins" for the young player, but they refused. This fact was very disappointing for the hockey player himself, because he did not want to play for an outsider, which, in addition, was based in the United States. Whatever it was, the general manager still managed to persuade the young man, who eventually signed a two-year contract with the team, under which he received $ 600,000 of salary and $ 150,000 in bonuses.

Start Season in the NHL

In his starting match in the NHL against the "Boston Bruins" Mario threw the first throw the debut puck. Then a lot of the people of Pittsburgh came to see the game of young talent, and a full house was fixed on the arena itself. Throughout the year the situation has not changed, and the Canadian himself has thanked the fans for his speeches. Over the season, he scored 43 goals and gave 57 assists, thus gaining exactly one hundred points. As a result, the guy was invited to a match of all the stars, in which he was chosen the best player of the fight. At the moment, he remains the only newcomer who has succeeded. In the same year hockey player Mario Lemieu made his debut in the national team of Canada.

By his game, in fact, the player saved his team from bankruptcy. In the next season, he scored 141 points, eventually losing in this indicator only to Wayne Gretzky. Then his team finished in the table much higher, but in the play-off stage could not get through. Whatever it was, Mario extended the contract with his club. In 1988, a hockey player with 168 points became the top scorer, dropping from the pedestal of the above-mentioned Gretzky, who got this title for the last seven years in a row. Numerous assists and goals by Mario Lemieux (114 and 85 respectively) the following year allowed him to easily conquer him again.

Problems

In 1989, the athlete began serious back pain. He often spent a long time resting at the side, and in the locker room he could not take off his equipment on his own. Nevertheless, this did not prevent him from showing high skill. In 1990, doctors diagnosed Mario Lemieux displacement of the spine. He underwent surgery, but it took almost 6 months to recover. When he returned to the ice in 1991, the team became much stronger due to successful management and a number of talented players. Despite this, the best on the site was always just Mario, and the "penguins" won the Stanley Cup. This success, "Pittsburgh" repeated the next season.

In 1993, the hockey player was done another operation on his back, but the pain in it never went away. In the season, the player took part in only 22 fights and scored 37 points. After his graduation, he decided to take a break for a year for normal rehabilitation.

Return

About the return to the big hockey, Mario Lemieux announced in the summer of 1995. After 70 games in the season, the player scored 161 points and for the fifth time in his career became the owner of "Art Ross Trophy", as well as the title of the most valuable league hockey player. October 29, 1995 was marked for him by the 500th wasted goal in his professional career. The team reached the final of the Stanley Cup, but it was not possible to win the trophy that year.

Completion of career

The athlete twice completed his professional career. This happened for the first time after the end of the 1997 season. The main cause was permanent health problems. In 2000, "Pittsburgh" was in a catastrophic financial situation. To save the club from bankruptcy, Mario Lemieux bought it out, thereby pulling out of the crisis. He himself sometimes went out on the ice. It happened rarely, but the player always had excellent performance. In 2002, he and his team became the triumphant winner of the Olympic Games. Whatever it was, the years took their toll. Because of troubles with the heart in 2006, Mario decided on the final completion of the player's career.

Game number

Imitating his elder brother Allan, in youthful leagues the hockey player acted under 12 or 27 number. Later, he was often compared to the legendary Wayne Gretzky, on his sweater, the figure "99" was adorned. To once again emphasize the sporting competition with him, the mentor Mario suggested that he take her inverted version - "66". With this number on the back, the player became famous.