Where My Fandom Started

I didn't see him drafted. I rarely got to see him play. He often chose not to dress against the Jets in Winnipeg, often saving himself for the showdown with #99 further west on the road trip, but as a kid I was dazzled by his skill, his moves, and his ability to score goals seemingly at will. He saw the ice like no one else, and often looked like a man among boys when he was at his best. Mario Lemieux was my hockey hero growing up, and it was on this day back in 1984 that the Pittsburgh Penguins selected the lanky kid from the QMJHL's Laval Voisins first-overall at the NHL Entry Draft following a season where he scored 133 goals and 149 assists in 70 regular-season games before dropping another 29 goals and 23 assists in just 14 playoff games.

I'm not here to talk about the Penguins reportedly tanking to draft Lemieux nor am I here to comment on Lemieux's actions at the draft once he was selected. This is simply the video of Mario Lemieux at the draft because I have not seen it aside from wanting to post it here. Sportsnet put this video together, so it's not the entirety of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, but it gives a small glimpse into Mario Lemieux at the draft.

Of course, Lemieux would go on and have a Hall-of-Fame career that saw him score 690 goals and 1033 assists in 915 regular-season games with an added 76 goals and 96 assists in 107 playoff games. He led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup twice on the ice before buying the team and funding them to another three Stanley Cup victories to become the only person to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup as both a player and an owner. He won an Olympic gold medal in 2002, a World Cup of Hockey in 2004, and a Canada Cup in 1987. In 1997, Lemieux was inducted in to the Hockey Hall of Fame and, in 2004, Lemieux was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

Personally, he won the Art Ross Trophy six times, the Lester B. Pearson Trophy four times, the Hart Trophy three times, and the Conn Smythe Trophy twice. He was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame upon retirement as the standard waiting period was waived for his inclusion, and became only the third Hall-of-Famer to return to playing in the NHL. He is the only player to score a goal five different ways in a single NHL game. He defeated cancer.

More than anything else, it is that last victory that still impresses me most. He missed two months of the season after playing his most impressive hockey of his career for treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma. When he returned, he was 12 points back of Pat Lafontaine for the scoring lead. In his first game back in Philadelphia, he received a standing ovation in Philadelphia following a 5-4 loss where he scored a goal and an assist. Following that night, Lemieux was back in full force with the Penguins, helping them to rattle off 17 consecutive wins to finish first-overall for the first time. In 60 games played, Lemieux finished with 160 points - 12 better than Lafontaine - after missing two months for chemotherapy and treatment for cancer.

Through it all, he never once complained about treatments. He never once gave any indication that he was having an off-day. He never mentioned fatigue or being tired. He simply pushed through everything to return and lead his team to their best finish ever while capturing a scoring title. For a kid who needed a little inspiration in his own life in his own health battles, this resolve from his idol galvanized the idealism of what a leader should be.

My first encounter that solidified my belief in Mario Lemieux came in Hamilton where he was learning from Gretzky, Messier, Hawerchuk, and Fuhr on how to be a leader. He hadn't elevated his teammates yet, but he was soaking up the knowledge from those guys who had won quicker than a sponge soaks up water. It wouldn't be long after that Lemieux would be on the same pedestal that the Oilers' greats stood on, and Lemieux became the one who pushed Gretzky to play harder and better. In 1987, the student was learning from the master, and it wouldn't be long before the student was winning scoring races over the master.

I discovered that Mario Lemieux and I shared the same birthday, and he became the player I wanted to be. Out on the road in street hockey or on the ice in shinny, I wanted to be the big Penguins centerman who used his size to overpower defenders, but had the hands of surgeon with his dekes and dangles. I was soon apparent that I was not that player, so I became a fan.

While my belief in Lemieux started at the 1987 Canada Cup, his quest for the Stanley Cup began on June 9, 1984 when the Penguins selected him first-overall. For me, it's a pretty big moment in my personal hockey history.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!