Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux, OC, CQ (/?mærio? l??mju?/; French pronunciation: [ma?jo l?mjø]; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and co-owner of the National Hockey League's (NHL) Pittsburgh Penguins and the American Hockey League's (AHL) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the best players of all time. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL between 1984 and 2006. A gifted playmaker and fast skater despite his large size, Lemieux often beat defensemen with fakes and dekes. He is currently the Penguins' principal owner and chairman of the board, having bought the team out of bankruptcy in 1999. He is the only person ever to win the Stanley Cup as both a player and an owner.
Lemieux led Pittsburgh to two Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992, won a Stanley Cup as a chairman in 2009 with the Penguins, led 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 three Hart Trophies as the NHL's most valuable player (MVP) during the regular season, six Art Ross Trophies as the league's leading scorer, and two Conn Smythe Trophies as playoff MVP. 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.
Playing only 915 out of a potential 1428 regular season NHL games, Lemieux's career was plagued by health problems. His numerous ailments included 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. He retired two different times over the course of his career due to these health issues (and also missed an entire season because of it prior to his first retirement): first in 1997 after battling lymphoma (he returned in 2000), and for a second and final time in 2006, after being diagnosed with an atrial fibrillation. Despite his lengthy absences from the game, his play remained at a high level upon his return to the ice; he won the Hart Trophy and scoring title in 1995–96 after sitting out the entire previous season, and he was a finalist for the Hart when he made his comeback in 2000.
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. Lemieux's impact on the NHL has been significant: Andrew Conte of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review called him the "savior" of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and after Lemieux's retirement, Wayne Gretzky commented that "You don't replace players like Mario Lemieux. The game will miss him. "Bobby Orr called him "the most talented player I've ever seen." Orr, along with Bryan Trottier and numerous fans, speculate that if Lemieux had not suffered so many issues with his health, his on-ice achievements would have been much greater.
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About Me:
I have been collecting autographs for over 45 years. I owned an Art & Collectibles Gallery in Rancho Mirage Ca for over 25 years, over those years. I have collected and also appraised art and authenticated many signatures and artwork from Monet to Picasso, Red Skelton and many more including Elvis. I framed art for the likes of Red Skelton, President Gerald Ford (Ford for over 15 years) and President Bill Clinton as well as Lucille Ball, Loretta Young, Ginger Rogers, George Montgomery, Dinah Shore and Walter Annenberg, Bob Kane (Batman Artist), Baseball Hall of Fame, Graeme Baxter “World Famous Golf Artist” and many more. I have also framed a Babe Ruth Display that was donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame. I have another customer that I have framed memorabilia that was on the moon as well as a set of pens and quills that go back as far as President Washington. I met many of these people in person and received autographs from many of them as well. I have autographs of Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and about 300 others. I bought Elvis and Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix and others from an estate sale in Germany many, many years ago from a massive collection that was sold off, I wish I could have afforded more of them. This was about 40 years ago, back when there was not as much paperwork on collectibles. I paid good money for these and know they are original autographs. I have even sent some of my autographs that I have seen signed in person out to professional authenticators. They claim to be experts and I found that they were often wrong telling me that some of the autographs I sent them, even though I stood there when they signed them were not to be authentic. Beware of some of the authenticators out there. The reason I am selling my collection is that this was always going to be my retirement business, giving me something to do in retirement. I hope this might answer any questions you might have about me.
Howard
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