Mario Lemieux As Seen By His Contemporaries

By Ross Bonander

As a hockey player, Mario Lemieux's skill, determination, passion, and courage in the face of adversity had an enormous impact on his peers in the world of professional hockey. In fact his influence began before he ever reached the National Hockey League, and it continues through to today, eight years removed from his final game and now a franchise owner. This collection of quotations, curated by an experienced editor, features over 150 quotation-length recollections of Super Mario by famous hockey names, including Gretzky, Orr, Howe, Bossy, Bowman, Savard, Lange, and Robinson, to name only a few.

There are a special few athletes whose accomplishments leave us breathless, shaking our heads in amazement, wondering how they do what they do, and leaving us left with descriptions that seem like hyperbole but still manage tell the truth. Mario Lemieux is one of those unique athletes. All hockey fans can enjoy this tribute to arguably the most dominant player in hockey history, as described by the players, coaches, and broadcasters who had the good fortune to share the ice with No. 66 himself, Mario Lemieux.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ross Bonander
• Release date: Jun 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310834974

Ross Bonander

I am a freelance writer and beer league hockey player. I'm the author or editor of 15 books, including one novel. I'm an at-large writer and editor for The Hockey Writers, and I work as a senior writer for a media company that operates several health-related web sites; for them, I write about cancer, diabetes, and mental health issues. Although I've published several hockey-related books and one book about baseball, I'm not a sports fan-- just hockey crazy, as it should be.

Book preview

Mario Lemieux

As Seen by His Contemporaries

Edited by Ross Bonander

Copyright © 2014 by Ross Bonander

Cover Design: Josh Smith

Formatting: Ross Bonander

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the US Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

He, this most elegant athlete and wonderful person, yet is cursed in health as he is blessed by talent …

Frank Deford

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

QUOTATION ATTRIBUTION INDEX

BEFORE SUPER MARIO

Terry Ruskowski: Mario said, 'Terry spin off your defenseman …

MARIO'S SKILLS

Paul Steigerwald: Mario was worth the price of admission …

MARIO'S SIZE

Mike Keenan: Mario learned how to be a winner …

MARIO'S UNPREDICTABILITY

Thomas Boswell: Lemieux looks like a large sleepy lion …

LEMIEUX: 'THE BEST'

Harry Sinden: Either stop Lemieux and give yourself a chance …

GRETZKY OR LEMIEUX?

Gary Bettman: That's one of the all-time great sports stories …

MISCELLANEOUS

SOURCES

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Mike Lange: The greatest goal in Penguins history…

INTRODUCTION

This book is a collection of quotations taken from books, magazines, newspapers, interviews, video clips and more from the players, coaches, broadcasters and others who were active in professional hockey when Mario Lemieux played center for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Born October 5, 1965 to Jean-Guy and Pierrette Lemieux in the Montreal suburb of Ville-Émard, Mario was the couple's third son: His oldest brother Allain was three years older. Another brother, Richard, was one year older.

It is not uncommon in hockey for the younger or youngest brother in a family with boys to go on and have a successful career in hockey. One reason is because a younger brother will often play shinny and other informal hockey games with his older brother and his friends. Playing against bigger, older players when young has a tendency to make players one's own age seem mediocre by comparison.

He was playing mite hockey at age 6, with boys who were 9 and 10 years old, and he was already the leader of