Penguins honour Le Magnifique with statue
Bronze depicts Lemieux splitting the defence
Randy Carlyle never played in the NHL with Mario Lemieux.
But Carlyle did captain that 198384 Penguins team — until he was traded to Winnipeg near that season’s deadline — that finished last overall. In fact, many believe the Penguins traded Carlyle as part of an attempt to drop to last overall, and tank the season.
Why? Because the consensus No.1 pick was Mario Lemieux.
The Penguins chose Lemieux. And after an initial reluctance to don the jersey, Lemieux went on to save the franchise, not just once, but twice.
The first time as a player, making the Penguins a two-time Stanley Cup champion and turning the team into one that matters. The second time as an owner, taking the team out of bankruptcy and entrenching it in the Pittsburgh market, away from the hands that would drag it off to places like Kansas City.
On Wednesday, before a throng of fans and a phalanx of VIPS, the team unveiled a larger-than-life bronze sculpture of Super Mario, or, if you prefer, Le Magnifique, outside the Consol Energy Center.
“You’re always emotional,” said Lemieux. “It’s something special for myself, my family and the fans.”
The statue portrays Lemieux going through a couple of defencemen, taken from a Sports Illustrated photo shot at a Dec. 20, 1988, game against the New York Islanders.
“It’s pretty impressive to see it up close,” said Lemieux. “I have the picture at home, but I don’t remember the play. “Splitting the D, that’s why we picked it. It really illustrates my career.” Going through defencemen, after all, is what he did better than just about anybody. “It was my size, my reach, my speed was deceiving. A combination of good stickhandling and a few other things,” he said. Some Penguins players took in the tribute along with the likes of commissioner Gary Bettman and Leafs GM Brian Burke. “It’s great,” said Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby. “Mario has obviously done so much for our team, the city itself. There’s not a better way to represent that than have a statue in front. It’s a great thing, we’re really happy for him. It’s nice to be part of all that.” Lemieux said his greatest memory was winning the Stanley Cup twice. “If you think of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Mario Lemieux is the epitome of that,” said forward Matt Cooke. “He’s brought success to this team in the past, he’s bringing it now again and he’s the reason why we’re sitting in this building.” A Hall of Famer, Lemieux had a number of serious setbacks in his career. A bad back hobbled him in the early 1990s. He was diagnosed with cancer and missed two months in 1993. Ultimately, he retired in 1997, citing his back problems among the reasons why. He rescued the team from bankruptcy, becoming its owner and promising to keep it in Pittsburgh, and then came out of retirement. His first game back, Dec. 27, 2000, was against the Leafs. He had a goal and two assists.