Lemieux wins NHL scoring title, stops Gretzky streak
Mario Lemieux wins the Art Ross Trophy as the National Hockey Leagues top scorer on this day in 1988.Lemieuxs 168 points bested Wayne Gretzky who had dominated the league as the top scorer for an amazing seven seasons.Lemieux (in French le mieux means the best) was born October 5 1965 in Montreal Quebec and began playing hockey as a small boy.In 1984 he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins then considered the worst team in the NHL.
Lemieux played his first game with the team on October 11 1984 and scored his first goal on his first shift and on his first shot.That season he was the first rookie ever named Most Valuable Player at the NHL All-Star game.He finished his first season with 100 points just the third rookie in NHL history to do so.
He also received the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHLs rookie of the year.During his second season Lemieux was the NHLs second-leading scorer (with 141 points) behind Wayne Gretzkys 215 points.On April 3 1988 Lemieux won the Art Ross trophy for leading the NHL in points (168) ending Wayne Gretzkys streak of seven consecutive scoring titles.That year Super Mario also won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHLs Most Valuable Player an award Gretzky had captured the previous eight seasons in a row.
Lemieux went on to win the scoring title again in 1989 1992 1993 1996 and 1997.In 1991 Lemieux came back from surgery for a herniated disc to lead the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup championship over the Minnesota North Stars and won the leagues Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs.The Penguins repeated their Stanley Cup victory in 1992 by defeating the Chicago Blackhawks and Lemieux took home the MVP trophy once again.In January 1993 Lemieux announced he had Hodgkins lymphoma and missed two months of the season in order to undergo treatment however he returned in time to win his fourth scoring title later that season.
On October 29 1995 he scored his 500th goal in his 605th game only the legendary Gretzky had a better record500 goals in 575 games.Plagued by injuries Lemieux retired from hockey at the end of the 1996-1997 season.In 1999 he became the majority owner of the Penguins and rescued the team from bankruptcy.The next year he delighted the Penguin faithful by rejoining the team as a player and staged a successful comeback before announcing his permanent retirement from the NHL at age 40 in January 2006.
During his career he played 915 regular season games scored 690 goals and made 1033 assists for 1723 points.
