@@samuelluria4744 he was behind Pat LaFontaine because he was going through chemotherapy. Pat was sure he's going to win the scoring championship with only 16 games left. Mario came back and in those 16 games he scored 51 points to win the scoring championship.
I am from Montreal where Mario is also from, I saw him play as a Junior player in Laval a suburb of Montreal, I also saw Guy Lafleur, Wayne Gretzky, Mike Bossy and more but I never seen anyone with the size and talent Mario possessed. He is the greatest player I have ever seen.
If Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque, Scott stevens, Chris Pronger, Slava Fetisov, Zedeno Chara, Éric Lindros, etc. 11:05 These were the best of their time and the biggest nhl defensemen but playing against that guy…, defense couldn’t do anything, Daddy toying with the kids, having fun, not breaking a sweat. But the irrefutable judgment for me would be coming from the last but not the least Paul Coffee who played with both said it himself. Mario was from another planet. So if Paul Coffee says so that’s good enough for me. who are we to argue?
Mario when healthy was the greatest player in hockey. If healthy he would have set all NHL scoring records. As an owner, he saved the Pittsburgh again. His abscence after Fenway Sports Group bought the franchise is a mystery. Please come back again, Mario, and save to the Penguin franchise again. Terry Olbrysh
It’s amazing that someone that big could be so quick and graceful. I was a kid in Pittsburgh during the Mario era and that excitement made me love hockey.
@@vrokhlenko Gretzky was great but he also played on a juggernaut Edmonton team. A team that was good enough to win the cup the second year after he went to LA. When Mario wasn't playing with Pittsburgh they barely made the playoffs, or didn't even. He was that much of a difference maker.
When Lemieux stole the puck from Ray Boutique and scored, it was his first shift in his first game and that goal was his first shot. When he said he was retiring in 1997 the penguins were playing Philly in his last game in Mellon arena, (or the igloo) Mario scored a goal on a breakaway in the closing moments of the game. It was his last shot too. Now at the time penguins fans thought that it was over. No more Mario. So until he came back out of retirement in 2001 he had scored coming into the NHL and going out of it. Pretty cool. He and Jagr were my favorite players growing up. I remember when Mario became the first player/owner in sports. The penguins owed him money they just didn't have so they gave him something like 15-20% of the team. It turned out pretty well for him. But when he came back from cancer to win the Art Ross in 1993 it was possiblity his greatest accomplishment. He did it in 60 games. When he was done with the treatment and came back mid season he was down to Pat Lafontaine by 50+ points. I can't remember exactly but it was an obvious insurmountable deficit. Not for Super Mario. He was amazing that year.
Lemieux was and still is my all-time favorite sports athlete. I became a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the early 90s while the Lemieux was gone and recovering, and the guy who got me interested in professional hockey could not stop talking about Mario Lemieux and how enthusiastic he was about Lemieux returning soon, so I became a fan of Lemieux after all the great things I heard about him even before I got to see him play, and when he returned, I was so darn impressed because he scored I think it was on his first or second shift, and boy did he rack up alot of points every season until he retired. Even when he retired and came back, I remember him scoring in just over 30 seconds after he put his Skates on the ice. I'm also very lucky to get to say that I got to see him play in person, I went to a Penguins vs. Sabres game back in 1997, it was at the all new Marine Midland arena in Buffalo New York. Sadly, the Penguins lost 1-3, and of course dominik Hasek robbed Lemieux while laying on his side and catching a shot that Lemieux tried going top shelf. And to No Surprise, the only goal the Penguins got was from Jaromir Jagr. Either way, I really enjoyed getting to go to a real NHL game to see my Pittsburgh Penguins play and it's a wonderful memory that I got to see Mario Lemieux play in real life.
Super Mario was the greatest offensive player of all time. He was a much better defensive player than Gretzky. Cancer and back injuries were huge obstacles for him, yet he kept dominating. FYI, I am a Bruins fan.
He also played with players hanging all over him....the clutch and grab era was developed by new jersey to stop mario....its what contributed a great deal to his back problems....although many in pittsburgh would say its from carrying that franchise on his back for the first 6 years of his career
I am one of if not the biggest Mario fans of all time! I played top level hockey my entire life and am now 43 years old. I watched Mario every game he played or Highlights of games I couldn’t. Watching him since the late 80’s. I’ve never seen anyone be so dominant in any sport ever. He’s presence in the ice and size and skill was just something out of this world. It was unmatched by anyone except maybe Jordan with the bulls in the same era. It was a great time to grow up. Just said that most of the world especially the later generations can’t understand how good he was. He was a great idol to have and he never disappointed. Love you Mario. 🐐
Totally agree with you. People don’t understand how amazing he was. The Jordan comparison is exactly right. I’m also 43 and grew up watching all his games lol. He’s definitely the best ever.
I am not sure if people in the comments actually saw Mario play. Yes, he was incredible. Sometimes. And many times he did absolutely nothing. Going into CC 87 he had a reputation of being lazy. I think I saw a perfect summary of Gretz vs Mario in one of the forums: Maybe Mario in his best game was better than Gretzky in his. But Gretzky had way more good games. In my opinion this is the correct description.
Mario's dedication to the city of Pittsburgh is incredible. .. before the lockout the Penguins had to move players because they just did not have the money to keep them. The Rangers offered Lemieux 10 million a year to cut ties with the Penguins and move to Manhattan. Many players in the same situation would have jumped at the opportunity, but not Mario... he chose to stay with the city and organization he grew to love.
Without question the most talented player to ever lace up a pair of skates. Gretzky has more records but I believe Mario’s points per game were higher and no question a naggy back and cancer were the only things that could slow him down.
I was there when Mario scored a hat trick after coming back from retirement, the igloo was absolutely electric that night! If Mario and Wayne played the exact number of NHL games Wayne wouldn't have come close. When 66 retired he was the only player to ever have a 2pt a game average!
I had the honor of attending the Mario Lemieux Fantasy camp in 2015. As remarkable of a player he was on the ice, he was twice are remarkable off the ice. He hung out with the players and could not have been more accommodating or friendly. He stayed at the same hotel as the fantasy player, even though he lives five miles away. He hung out in the locker room after every game and was available for autographs, pictures or just chatting the entire week.
I was a partial season ticket holder back then and have far to many memories to share. But 2 games stick out. I was at the game Msrio scored 5 goals 5 different ways. It was so remarkable nobody really knew it til later. Then I had a buddy from college who was a Flyer fan and I decided to visit him in March of 93 and he got tix way ahead of time. Little did I know when he got the tix they would be for the game in Philly for Mario's 1st game after Chemo. One thing you missed was in french, Lemieux means "The Best."
Glance is correct. French is my native tongue I think I know the difference between the words better and best in my native language. Lemieux means thebetter. As he said Mieux means better and Meilleur means best. Thanks for trusting I can speak my own language's most basic words.
@@jahramika He was very big , Grezky was'nt . But Semenko gave to Grezky the inchs he missed. The Oilers were more gifted with Messier , Kurri , Coffey, Anderson in bonus..Frankly they were 2 different players and i loved them both. Jagr was very good too. Have a good day.
Mario is a hockey God I was blessed watching him play live all the highlights you see was a average night for Mario just imagine if he played the 508 games he missed the history books would be a lot different
Best player ever.. if healthy ge wouldve beaten all gretzky records.... He also played in the harsh patrick division while gretzky was in the easier free skating smyth division
I was blessed to be able to watch this hockey "God" his entire career living in the Pittsburgh area. What a blessing! Plus, he saved hockey in Pittsburgh as a player and an owner;so he returned the love to the city. I was fortunate enough to meet him and for someone that doesn't get awe struck by celebrities, I can honestly say,he left an indelible mark on my impression of him;such a humble guy. I walked away with meeting a good man. To think of whether he would have surpassed Gretzky if he was able to play to play an entire career without interruption due to cancer, would be dishonoring the greatness of Wayne Gretzky, because, honestly, we'll never know. Unfortunately, people get dealt a bad hand sometime.🤷 But he certainly was unbelievable! They spend so much time on whether Ovechkin is going to break Gretzky's goal record is a joke! He probably will, because he'll continue to play until he does,and probably take 3,000 more shots than Gretzky to do it. In my opinion,Ovechkin couldn't lick Gretzky or Lemieux's boots! But that's just my opinion.
I watched Limieux's last games in 2006. I didn't realize what I was watching at the time. But the way my dad talked about Mario and insisted I watch with him got me interested. And I did my own research. And I realized he had me watch the greatest athlete ever. And he will forever be Super Mario. I love the Mario games, but this real life human being is so incredible that he deserves that moniker more. Edit: I believe he would have shattered Gretzky's records if he didn't have injuries and literal cancer. Gretzky himself has said so too.
Born and raised by die hard Habs fan, still to this day. But Mario was the most talented player, his IQ were years ahead of his competition... him and Patrick Roy are my all time favorites. Then again... my gen!
I witnessed the best hockey player of all time in Bobby Orr, but like his name says, Mario Lemieux was the best player on offense I ever saw. While Gretzky was nifty, Mario was nifty and tough.
If he didn’t get sick and have terrible injuries, and, oh yeah, retire because everyone was holding on to him like the wheel of a jet leaving Afghanistan….he would be the undoubted greatest ever.
Hard to believe that Don Cherry once described Mario as a “Floater”! Lemieux has made an incredible impact on the game both on and off the ice. His impact on the NHL is unprecedented and remains truly a living legend!
@@That90sShow Don King did not pick him in junior world tournament because he was bad in defense. King lost the tournament...Lemieux has nothing to do in defense. But for me the best i saw is Orr. And for me Gretzky and Lemieux are equals. !
In my opinion, Bobby Orr was the best of all time. He was equally great at both ends of the ice. Mario and Gretzky were very close. Gretzky was the better passer, Lemieux was the better goal scorer.
Best of all time. Bad luck is the only reason hes not considered the best. I watched almost every game he played and he dominated the game the whole time.
i was curious about Mario, so in his rookie year i shelled out for for front row seats at the old Gardens, right against the glass, for my wifes birthday (she was fench canadian'). Mario was big,looked slow, looked lazy, and i wondered what the fuss about this guy was, he finished the night with 4 or 5 points, and i swear he never broke a sweat...Wayne has all the records and he was great player, but honestly,Mario was the best purely skilled player i ever saw.........and he could throw them too if he had too. 0)
There are 2 factors that makes Wayne Gretzky stand out from the other legends and it has to do with Gretzky size, and his genius vision on the ice to dodge injury for most of his career. This was a gift most other greats did not have like Bobby Orr, Mike Bossy, Mario Lemiuex, etc with their careers cut short, but Gretzky under normal circumstances should have been tossed around like a tennis ball in the rink, but his visual instinct kept him from major injuries. This in itself sets him apart and most other greats just did not have that prowess. #2, I never thought it was fair to compare players that play an entire 80 games or close to 80 games and players that only play half or more than half a season. Most players including Gretzky slow down and get fatigued usually in the last half of the season and their PPG reduces a bit. i never thought it was fair to compare players that play only 2/3 a season like Lemieux and then get injured their body was not in full fatigue factor like Gretzky was and had Gretzky played the exact same amount of games as Lemieux during a season his PPG total would be significantly higher. The fatigue factor makes a huge difference on points total and Lemieux took advantage of that.
MARIO LEMIEUX IS THE GREATEST ISHOCKEY PLAYER IN THE HISTORY NO QUESTION ABOUT THAT END OF THE STORY KING OF KINGS GOD OF GODS MARIO LEMIEUX ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
For me Lemieux is just behind Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe. Offensively he was untouchable, probably more dominant than Gretzky, but if he had a knock I would say he didn't use his immense size to its fullest advantage. One thing about Mario was to not get him angry during a game because then he would just dominate offensively and pile up the points. I remember a game against Buffalo, he hadn't done much in the first 2 periods, maybe had an assist. Near the end of the 2nd someone took a run at him and in the 3rd he came out and showed the Dominator (Hasek) what domination was all about scoring 5 points. He was something, truly an amazing player!
Mario est le meilleur de tous! the greatest and the most skilled player ever! look his 10 best goals and you'll understand. And he has thebest average goal/game above all with 690/915 that makes him the best ever goal scorer! o,75,4%/game far from the second Ovechkin o,61%/game and Gretzky o,60%/game... Don't ever forget 282 points in junior in 70 games! Super Mario is the best, followed by Gretzky/Orr/McDavid/Roy on the 2nd position. Imagine if he has had no injuries; everyone knows how long it takes to recover you're game shape.
Gretzky didn't get touch like Lemieux ...Mario was getting hook and slash crazy ....A Mario Lemieux healthy Ovi would've been chasing the magnificent Mario Lemieux and thats Facts
Watching him as a youngster, he could have been right beside Wayne. Cancer and that non-existent back of his, after all that comes back and wins a cup. Just look at how many top-goal seasons he had. He would have been either 1 or 2.
Lemieux reminds me of Bo Jackson with all of his injuries. Jackson could have hit 500 home runs and rushed for 15,000 yards if he stayed healthy. But it wasn't meant to be.
@@claudebuysse7482Actually he did have players of that calibre. In their first 3 seasons with Wayne, Messier had a .81ppg and .37gpg. Kurri had a 1.17ppg and .48gpg. Anderson had a 1.24ppg and .55gpg. In their first 3 seasons with Mario, Quinn had a 1.14ppg and .48gpg. Brown had a 1.20ppg and .52gpg. In Bullard's two seasons with Mario he had a 1.01ppg and .50gpg. Mess averaged 28 goals per season in that time, Kurri averaged 36 goals and Anderson averaged 38 goals. Quinn averaged 34 goals, Brown averaged 35 goals and Bullard averaged 36 goals. Messier was the worst of all of them as the numbers tell us. Many people call Bullard a scrub yet his highest 5 consecutive year goal total is 202 while Messier's is 193. In Mario's rookie season, of the top 10 Pens scorers, 7 had NHL experience with an eighth having 20 games experience. In Wayne's first year, of the oilers top 10 scorers, only 2 had NHL experience with a third having 3 NHL games experience. Mario started on an NHL team while Wayne started on a WHA team in the NHL. Quinn, Errey and Bullard were all first round draft picks and Brown a second rounder who scored 385 points in his last two years of juniors. Messier was a third rounder and Kurri and Anderson were both fourth rounders that everyone passed on multiple times while Coffey was a first rounder. The stats actually contradict your belief. Wayne was the difference in the first 3 years with a .82gpg and 2.14ppg to Mario's .67gpg and 1.61ppg. Sorry to break the news.
Gretzky and Lemieux can be compared to Jerry Rice and Randy Moss. We all know Rice played forever and had ridiculous numbers. But we also know that Moss was a better WR.
I'd take Rice all day over Moss who was a head case. The better analogy would be Emmitt Smith compared to Jim Brown. Emmitt played longer and has better stats, but Jim Brown was the more talented and better player.
@@66smithra Alright, if you don't like Moss then Calvin Johnson works too. He would get triple covered and still make the catch. He had a shorter career also.
Yes, second behind who ? None, he is the most skilled placer in NHL history. There are other good ones, even excellent ones, however was truly above the crowd. Félicitations, Mario !!!!!!.
I'd put Mario tied at #1 best player ever with Bobby Orr...remember they keep comparing Marios stats to Gretzky's...for one thing Gretzky played with more hall future hall of famers on his team than Mario ever did not even close...2 Gretzky was protected and never got hit where Mario was an open target and did get hit...3 Mario had health issue to battle Gretzky didn't...the year that Mario came so close to beating Gretzky's all time point season Mario did not play the full season due to injury where Gretzky played every single game that year Mario was averaging 2.2 points per game and on that pace would have easily surpassed Gretzs point total...IMO Mario was a better skater than Gretz and better all round goal scorer better one on one than Gretz had a harder shot than Gretz and stick handled better than Gretz skated better than Gretz and had that same hockey IQ that Gretz had...Mario was just simply a better all round player period.
Mario played with Murphy, jagr, Coffey, trottier, recchi, zubov, Mullen and Crosby 8 HOFers Wayne played with Anderson, Coffey, Kurri, Robitaille, Lowe, messier and grant Fuhr (a goalie) 8 HOFer to 7 for Wayne so yeah it was close Wayne in 925 games 718 goals 1424 assists and 2142 points 2.31 points per game .77 goals per game Mario 915 games 690 goals 1033 assists 1723 points .75 goals per game and 1.88 points per game. 701/1723 of Mario’s points were on the powerplay or 40% total (biggest pp merchant in history) Wayne had 10 seasons leading the NHL in points with only 1 season depending on the powerplay for more than 40% and that was his final scoring title at 33 Wayne has 8 of the 10 best seasons with not a single one of those seasons in the top 10 of PP points. Not only does Wayne absolutely destroy Mario in goals per game and points per game at 915 games but Wayne absolutely obliterates Mario 5v5.
While being Healthy. Mario was rarely healthy and still put up these insane numbers Gretzky started his career with the best players already on his team Lemieux had guys like Rob Brown to start with. Wayne was protected not Mario Many other differences Both where equals in my opinion. But a healthy Mario was the most dominant Look at his highlights One on one no one comes close to Mario There was a lot more goals scored in the 80s than the 90s Goalies got lot better with the arrival of Roy. And lot bigger equipments. At this point it’s more a matter of opinion and preference to determine who was the goat
@@thebullfighter6733 Gretzky played 4 more years in the 80s than Lemieux did. Lemieux scored 160 in 60 in the early 90s when goalies and defenses were much better. Lemieux's first 5 years (and only years in the high flying 80s) were played largely with bums. The Hof'ers didn't come until the 90s. Mario scored 199 with almost no one else on his team. Gretzky scored 215 passing to Jari Kurri and playing on the best team in the NHL. There are many ways to look at stats.
@@66smithra yeah like the fact that Mario scored 80 of 168 points in 87-88 on the powerplay or 47.6 percent of his points on the man advantage Or that he scored 79 of 161 or 49% of his points on the powerplay in 95-96 Or that he scored 79 of 199 on the powerplay or 39.6 percent of his points in 88-89 Or 66 of 141 or 46.8 percent of his points on the powerplay in 85-86 Mario averaged 40% 701/1723 on the poweplay in his career that’s by far the biggest PP merchant at volume In the history of the game Wayne has 8 of the 10 best seasons all time in terms of totals and not a single one of them is top 10 in pp points Wayne in 81-82 had 212 points and 57 on the pp with 68 EVEN STRENGTH goals that’s more points than Mario ever scored with 26.8 powerplay dependence. Literally half the dependence of Mario. In 85-86 the same year mario scored 141 points with 50 percent powerplay dependence Wayne put up 215 points with 54 poweplay points for 25.1 percent power play dependence. Literally half of what Mario needed In the same season. Mario played more games in the 80s than the 90s. He literally missed 6 of a possible 10 seasons from 90-91 to 99-00. If you want to talk about inflated stats looking at how Mario basically was half as dominant as Wayne 5v5 is a good place to start
@@thebullfighter6733 Mario was better on the PP. that points even more to him being better offensively. He drew countless penalties himself. Not sure why you think this is something against Lemieux? Also, like it said, Gretzky played every year in the 80s. The early 80s were some of the highest scoring years in history. Lemieux missed half of the 80s when the league was higher scoring. Do you really think lemieux would have scored less than Gretzky playing on the early 80s Oilers? Come on. He scored 199 with a bad team playing with Rob Brown and Bob Errey.
In 1989 he played so much minutes. I counted a game from the season with only 2 PPs for Penguins but Mario still was able to play 28 minutes and 23 seconds. That explains alot of the mystery.
Has he been surrounded by the likes of kurri messier Anderson tikkanen Smith Coffey Fuhr and of course sememko and could have been fortunate enough to stay healthy there would be no discussion. A/B comparison of careers with all due respect to Wayne, he would've never made it through the struggles of 66
Gretzky played every game that year never missed one game had 215 points...Mario had 199 points and missed 8 games and he was averaging 2.2 points per game you do the math on that one....I'll do it for you it's 17.6 points which would have put him at 216 plus points.
@@jackhammer2671ow’s this for math 215/80 = 2.687 ppg 199/80 = 2.487 ppg Fact check your numbers both Mario’s 199 and Wayne’s 215 were in 80 game seasons mario missed 4 games not 8 Mario also scored 79 points on the powerplay for 39.6 percent of his points on the powerplay that season Wayne scored 54 of his 215 on the powerplay for 25.1 percent powerplay dependence Wayne obliterates Mario 5v5
This is probably the most biased video I have ever seen. We all acknowledge Lemieux's talent and accomplishments, but there is no need to make him appear better than Gretzky. Didn't even get past that part of the video.
@@sammyweed4771 You're clearly a hater of Lemieux, probably a Gretzky disciple. We have heard for years by the haters how Lemieux got his goals by "cherry picking", and yet there was a long time rule called the offside two line pass. Hmm. And what the hell does you playing hockey for 20 yrs have anything to do with knowing how Mario played? I have been driving for 40 yrs, doesn't make me Richard Petty.
@@silntstl yea I played when he played. Watch a lot of hockey that’s why. More than you I can tell you that. I’m not a Mario hater. That’s how much you know about me quit embarrassing yourself. I think Mario is top hockey player. I have about 100 of his hockey cards. I think him and Mike bossy are the two best pure goals scorer,s ever. But him and Gretzky where cherry pickers. That’s what they did. They where offense players and they floated around ready to pounce. So don’t think I’m a hater. I love hockey best sport ever. But truth hurts sometimes. Look at McDavid. Same thing offense player
@@sammyweed4771 The truth hurts!?!?! LOL!! Everyone, and I mean everyone cherry picked back then. He won 2 cups. Clearly he did something right, so stfu.
Yes he probably would have pass Gretzky. And Gretzky wasn't even drafted. Meaning he didn't start with the worst team. Edmonton wasn't the best... But it wasn't the worst either. So right from the start 99 had a little help.
