Tonight, after hearing the final buzzer in Game 5 between the Flyers and the Penguins, I went through
a range of emotions not unlike those experienced with the loss of a loved one. Disbelief, anger, sadness,
and ultimately, acceptance. Not even when Wayne Gretzky was traded away from the Kings have I experienced
such a sense of loss as I have tonight, watching Mario Lemieux step off the rink in Philly for the final time.
I couldn't believe it. He said he couldn't accept the way his skills were deteriorating, and that he wasn't at the
top of his game (Hell, I wish I had HALF of those deteriorating skills!). Yet he leaves the game of hockey with his
sixth scoring title, and two Stanley Cup rings to his credit. Mario Lemieux will leave as he wants to beremembered:
as a champion who left at the top of his game (at least in everyone else's eyes, if not his own). His departure will
also make certain that the Great Debate of Hockey will never have an answer. It will almost be impossible for someone
to say if Lemieux was really better than Gretzky. Sure, Wayne is probably the best table setter of all-time,
but I don't think anyone will ever be the goal scorer that Mario was.
He also leaves under the air of protest against what the NHL has become. The endless clutching and grabbing, hooking and
holding and interference non-calls of countless mediocre have caused one of the top three players in history to call it quits
at the age of 31, only 11 years after he came into the league. He lost his love for the game, his passion for going to the rink,
and the desire to go to work everyday for 9 months a year. He was branded a whiner and was often ripped in the media for his complaints
that the best players weren't being given the room to showcase their skills. The shame of it all is is that he is right, and yet the
league only made a passing attempt at correcting the situation. Because of this, the NHL lost one of its finest this evening. It can only
be hoped that the league will take a long, hard look at itself this summer and make adjustments to allow the best players to play as well
as they can(perhaps the only true edge that the NBA has over the NHL, and certainly one of the reasons that the NBA is more marketable).
Along the way, Mario has taught us all something about courage and iron will. He has dealt with back problems ever since he came into the league.
On some days he could not even bend over to tie his own skates, or even pick up one of his children. However, the herniated disc and the two surgeries
weren't even the toughest challenges he's faced. On January 12, 1993, Lemieux announced to the world that he had Hodgkin's Disease, a form of cancer that
affects the lymphatic system. In just six weeks, he came back to the NHL, and proceeded to catch Pat LaFontaine from 40 pts. down to win the scoring
title. He, like Dave Dravecky, and only two recently Tony Granato, Brett Butler, and Arnold Palmer, showed us what willpower and courage were all about. It's
staring down a barrel of a loaded gun and telling the shooter, "You can't kill me cause I won't let you. You are not going to win cause I'm not through here."
So, as we bid good-bye to #66, I would just like to say: Thank you, Mario Lemieux, for everything. Thank you for the show, thank you for beating the hell out of the
league for all these years. Thank you for giving goaltenders nightmares and then turning those bad dreams into a shiny red light and a loud foghorn. Thank you for showing
us that determination really does win out over adversity. I hope that you enjoy your retirement, and that your children, born and unborn, will one day come to learn how great
their father really is.......MBDM
Thanks for the Memories Mario!
I wish I had gotten to see you play live, and I will always cherish the times I remember watching you play your magic on television. Even against the teams I love.
To me you will always be, not the greatest player I ever saw, but by far the most natural player ever. I will never forget the season you were averaging more than 3 pts/game, and the
shock of your bout with cancer.
You made hockey an art!!....Ethan Lindsey
It's unfortunate that even if the NHL does get its shit together and start clamping down on the way the game is played that it will be too late...one of the greats is gone. Athletes
like him come only once or twice in a lifetime.
I'm sorry to see that Lemieux won't play in the Olympics either, though I can understand why. I would assume that in the International game there won't be as much of the clutching and
grabbing, and not as physical. (Fighting is a no-no) It would have been nice to watch him fly one more time.
Goodbye Mario...I enjoyed your greatness, and I respect your decision!...KEN
I'll admit, I've never been a big fan of his, but for one who will go into the hockey history books and the HOF as perhaps the only guy to give the Great One a run for his money, he got
my respect.
But the value of Mario Lemieux to his sport, to his team, to his city of Pittsburgh...can't be measured by looking up numbers. He transformed a desperate franchise(Which averaged about
7,000 a game...sound familiar?)into a 2-time Cup winner, did so with style and grace. Aside from Bugsy Watson, he put Pgh. "on the map" in the NHL, and single-handedly inspired legions of
people to love and play the game. Unlike The Great One, whose true gift was for passing and whose goals were often "crimes of opportunity," the goals of Super Mario were often things of beauty,
works of art with superhuman strength. He did not emerge on the scene with the likes of Messier, Anderson, Kurri, Fuhr, and Coffey like Wayne did. he never had the team, that Gretzky had in Edmonton;
he inherited the worst team in the league, made them into Champions by raising the level of the game of everyone he ever played with. He is, was, and always will be Pittsburgh hockey. He faced one of the
scariest things to ever happen to a person, hodgkin's disease, the same way he faced an opposing goalie; with courage and style, and he beat it. He returned from crippling back problems to again dominate
his sport and easily skate out with a league leader in the point race. His departure leaves a gaping hole in the fabric of the NHL. Sure, there are wonderful young stars to pick up the torch and carry it,
names like Jagr, Forsberg, Kariya, Lindros, Tkachuk, Brodeur...
With Le Magnifique retiring, I hope someone, SOMEONE, in the League's office gets the point. But it won't happen. While watching the playoffs, I had to make a few points. Not enough penalties are called,
and they still aren't. I am going to check on the number of injuries that have been incurred this week.
But there will never be another Mario Lemieux.
From a fan who watched you in person with amazement and admiration, a simple thought as you begin post hockey life. Thanks for the memories(Even if it meant beating the Kings!) and a lifetime of health and
success to you. Thank you Mario. The NHL and it's fans are forever in your debt....Genghis