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
When someone screams at me to hurry up, I slow down.
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.
Oh, I did stop smoking a long time ago.
I didn't speak English until I came to Pittsburgh.
Red wine is a great accompaniment to meat.
Once I'm at the arena with the guys in the dressing room, and in the bus, and on the plane, I'm a player. And I sit in the back with the players and I play cards and try to take their money.
When it comes to hockey, it's been in my blood since I was 3 or 4 years old. I love coaching the kids, especially at that level.
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.
We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game and the safety of our players.
A month before the season, I don't order fries with my club sandwich.
I'm only 35, and I felt that the time was right to try to come back and have a chance for him to see me play.
If I could play this game at a decent level, I'd come back and play.
We have a system, but guys aren't playing together and aren't all on the same page. We start playing when we're down two or three goals and you can't do that. That comes from not preparing mentally to play the game.
When I bought the team in 1999, my goal was to keep the team here forever and that's not going change. Now, it's up to the gaming board, local politicians and local leaders to support our plan, which is by far the best one out there from what I have seen. Hopefully, we can get it done.