Super Mario Hang's 'em Up - A Tribute Untimely retirement saddens elevenmil...

[elevenmil 0]

To any hockey fan, one can only recognize Mario Lemieux as one of the all-time greats, if not the greatest. For over 17 NHL seasons, Lemieux left hockey fans delighted with skills incomparable to any other big man to ever play the game. His size, speed, vision, stick-handling, and powerful shot were a combination of tools we may never see in a player again. Surely we can all say that he wasn't the greatest as Wayne Gretsky is so far ahead of everyone statistically, but in the end, Lemieux's adversity from injuries and life-threating diseases along with his on-ice success leads me to believe he is the all-time greatest. His natural ability to make any player who plays with him a star can not be matched with Gretsky. For years, Gretsky played with the best of the best, having numerous Hall of Famers on the same line, while Lemieux quarterbacked a group of inexpensive players and turned them into great ones. My favorite moments of Lemieux include his final home game back in 1997, when he first retired. With the Penguins about to win their game, the fans stood and cheered for Lemieux after a tribute to him on the jumbo-tron. The fans cheered for 5 minutes straight, even during gameplay and he was on the bench. Then, as he stepped onto the ice, Ian Moran fed him a pass leading Lemieux on a breakaway, the fans now roaring at a deafening volume. Lemieux ended up scoring on that breakaway, sending all of Pittsburgh crazy. It was one of the more memorable goals in NHL history. I also remember his first game back after a 3 year-long retirement, in Decemeber 2000. A 3 year layoff was not enough to keep him from setting up a goal just 30 seconds into his first game back! He would go on to finish his first game back with 1 goal and 2 assists, and in his second game he had a goal and 3 assists!Lemieux is an all time great and will surely be missed. As a hockey fanatic, I only hope he recovers from his heart ailment and stays involved in a national spotlight. Hockey needed Lemieux, but his time had come. He will surely be missed. Thanks for the greatness Lemieux...