Mario Lemieux (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #4)
Adjusted Stats
1984-1985 Pit 75 GP 35 goals 46 assists 81 points 1.08 PPG
1985-1986 Pit 81 GP 38 goals 74 assists 112 points 1.38 PPG
1986-1987 Pit 65 GP 46 goals 45 assists 92 points 1.43 PPG
1987-1988 Pit 79 GP 59 goals 83 assists 142 points 1.81 PPG
1988-1989 Pit 78 GP 72 goals 96 assists 168 points 2.16 PPG
1989-1990 Pit 60 GP 39 goals 67 assists 106 points 1.75 PPG
1990-1991 Pit* 27 GP 17 goals 24 assists 41 points 1.54 PPG
1991-1992 Pit* 66 GP 40 goals 79 assists 119 points 1.81 PPG
1992-1993 Pit 59 GP 58 goals 75 assists 133 points 2.27 PPG
1993-1994 Pit 21 GP 16 goals 19 assists 34 points 1.59 PPG
1995-1996 Pit 70 GP 67 goals 90 assists 157 points 2.24 PPG
1996-1997 Pit 76 GP 53 goals 76 assists 129 points 1.70 PPG
2000-2001 Pit 43 GP 39 goals 46 assists 85 points 1.98 PPG
2001-2002 Pit 24 GP 7 goals 29 assists 36 points 1.50 PPG
2002-2003 Pit 67 GP 32 goals 73 assists 105 points 1.57 PPG
2003-2004 Pit 10 GP 1 goal 10 assists 11 points 1.10 PPG
2005-2006 Pit 26 GP 7 goals 15 assists 22 points 0.86 PPG
Adjusted Playoff Stats
1988-1989 Pit 11 GP 10 goals 6 assists 16 points 1.48 PPG
1990-1991 Pit* 23 GP 14 goals 24 assists 38 points 1.63 PPG
1991-1992 Pit* 15 GP 14 goals 16 assists 30 points 1.98 PPG
1992-1993 Pit 11 GP 7 goals 8 assists 15 points 1.34 PPG
1993-1994 Pit 6 GP 4 goals 3 assists 7 points 1.15 PPG
1995-1996 Pit 18 GP 11 goals 15 assists 26 points 1.43 PPG
1996-1997 Pit 5 GP 3 goals 3 assists 6 points 1.26 PPG
2000-2001 Pit 18 GP 7 goals 13 assists 20 points 1.11 PPG
Career - 927 GP, 626 goals, 947 assists, 1573 points, 1.70 PPG
Career-Highs - 72 goals (88-89); 96 assists (88-89); 168 points (88-89); 2.27 PPG (92-93)
Avg. (17 seasons) - 55 GP, 37 goals, 56 assists, 93 points, 1.70 PPG
Peak Avg. (87-96) - 57 GP, 46 goals, 67 assists, 113 points, 1.97 PPG, 2 Cups
Playoff Career - 107 GP, 70 goals, 88 assists, 158 points, 1.48 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 14 goals (91-92); 24 assists (90-91); 38 points (90-91); 1.98 PPG (91-92)
Accolades - 3 MVP awards, 6 Art Ross, Calder, 2 Conn Smythes
All-Star teams - 5-time 1st-team, 4-time 2nd-team
2-time Stanley Cup Champion
I still vividly remember the day in late 2000 when the early rumblings started breaking: Mario Lemieux was coming back?!? Huh? Really? It started off as a fanciful idea, then he was training and it was looking like it was a little more believable, and then the week came, and Mario circled the calendar for the matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs...after Christmas, on December 27th. I had my doubts about whether Mario would look out-of-place. It had been three and a half years since he last played.
Well, Mario delivered his answer pretty swiftly, leading the Penguins alongside his linemate Jaromir Jagr to a 5-0 rout of the Leafs, and notching a goal and two assists in the process. Lemieux went on to average nearly two points per game (adjusted), a remarkable feat that left little doubt in my mind that I was lucky enough to be witnessing one of the all-time greats.
Mario Lemieux is the best player I ever saw play. Well, Gretzky is the best I ever saw play, but when I started watching hockey in the mid-90s, Gretzky was nearing his end, while Lemieux was still dominating. It is arguable that Lemieux might be the most talented player to ever play the game (only Orr and Gretzky are in the discussion). The facts:
- His adjusted career scoring average of 1.70 PPG is the best in history, besting Gretzky's 1.64
- His 0.68 adjuted GPG rate would be the best in history if it weren't for Howie Morenz...who, great as he was, played while Herbert Hoover was failing to ward off the Great Depression. Just saying.
- In four seasons, he averaged nearly a goal per game.
- In three, he averaged more than two points a game.
- His 2.27 PPG average in 1992-1993 is the highest anyone has ever achieved.
Sadly, for Lemieux, despite his awe-inspiring averages, there was always the issue of health. Even in his peak years, he only averaged 57 games played, and that's not even factoring in the 1994-1995 season, which he missed completely.
There was also something less tangible: the feeling that Lemieux left something in the tank, particularly early in his career. Even though the numbers for his first five seasons are remarkable, Lemieux battled the stigma of a moody star who wasn't fully committed to hockey (this may have been an inaccurate and unfair perception, but it existed nonetheless). You often hear the phrase "If Mario had wanted to, he could have torn up the record books". You never hear that with Gretzky.
That's why, in the end, the nod has to go to Gretzky in the debate...Gretzky scored at a Lemieux-like pace, except for a Gretzky-like length of time. But just because he has to defer to Gretzky as the greatest scorer of all time doesn't mean that Lemieux should be remembered as anything but one of the most dominant players to ever grace the ice.
One last thought, just for some historical perspective, about Lemieux: any time you hear someone criticizing a player like, say, Ovechkin or whomever for "not being able to win the big one", remember that Lemieux for the first five or six years of his career suffered from the same criticism...and Yzerman and Sakic suffered from it for even longer. Yes, Lemieux was ultra-talented and put up huge numbers, the critics said, but he was selfish, moody, unpredictable, not a true leader. In his first four seasons, the Penguins were a laughingstock who missed the playoffs.
Well, it's a wonder what two Stanley Cup rings can do to silence the critics. From 1990 to 1992, Lemieux put up two of the best playoff performances ever seen, winning two consecutive Conn Smythes and putting up adjusted numbers of 28 goals and 68 points in 38 games. Now we correctly view Lemieux as one of the rarified four who has ever graced the ice (along with Gretzky, Orr and Howe), and I can think of no one better to have as the cutoff point for the Pantheon of hockey superstars.
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