A Big Day For Lemieux

Normally, if someone is talking about hockey and the name "Lemieux" comes up, the immediate thought is former Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Mario Lemieux. For a guy like me who is a Penguins fan, his name is certainly the first that comes to mind whenever someone mentions Lemieux. There were others who had successful NHL careers, however, so perhaps you're thinking of Claude Lemieux if you were a Colorado or Detroit fan thanks to his involvement in that rivalry throughout the late-1990s and early-2000s. Another Lemieux who had a solid career in the NHL was Jocelyn Lemieux who played for six teams in his 13-year career. The Lemieux pictured above, though, had a big day on this date back in 1984, and he does have direct link to Super Mario despite playing just 119 NHL games over his lengthy hockey career!

That man is Alain Lemieux, and he's the older brother of Mario Lemieux whose goal-scoring talent was otherworldly. Alain Lemieux's goal-scoring talent was somewhat less than his younger brother considering that he scored just 28 goals in his 119-game span of games from 1981 until 1987. However, this day should stand out for Alain Lemieux because it was the day he scored three of those goals in one game for the only hat trick of his career!

At 8:18 of the first period, Alain Lemieux scored his second goal of the season unassisted at even-strength to put the St. Louis Blues up 2-1. No one was celebrating Lemieux's goal for long, though, as Brian Sutter scored a power-play goal just 56 seconds later to push the score to 3-1. For Lemieux, he had bounced around between the CHL's Montana Magic, the AHL's Springfield Indians, and the IHL's Peoria Riverman, so his effort would have to continue considering he hadn't scored much before being recalled by the Blues.

Lemieux, though, would find the back of the net again before the period ended when Dave Barr found Lemieux open, and he scored his third goal of the season at 14:26 to stake the Blues to a 4-1 lead. For a guy with 14 career goals entering this game, scoring a pair of goals in one period is a major offensive burst for Lemieux! Of course, this was also hockey in the 1980s, so a three-goal was anything but safe with how frequently teams scored in that era.

The good news is that the Blues scored again just 2:19 into the second period to make it a 5-1 game, and that's when Lemieux decided to have shower him with hats as he scored his third goal of the game at 5:19 when Perry Anderson set him up for the goal! Alain Lemieux's first and only hat trick of his career came against the Vancouver Canucks on this date in 1984 as the Blues defeated the Canucks by that 6-1 score! I should also note that Alain Lemieux did score a second hat trick in the NHL, but he turned that three-goal performance in during a 9-3 win over the LA Kings on September 16, 1990 during the preseason.

Lemieux's description of his three-goal night to reporters made it sound like he was the dominant goal-scorer in the family!

The story takes a turn at this juncture, though, because the four goals that Lemieux scored in the nine games he played to that point in the season would be the only four goals he scored with the Blues that year. He would appear in ten more games for the Blues, recording no additional points, and he was traded to the Quebec Nordiques on January 29, 1985 for Luc Dufour. Lemieux would play 38 more games in the NHL - 37 with Quebec and one with Pittsburgh - before finishing his career in the minor leagues.

The image at the top of the article is a picture of Lemieux with the AHL's Fredericton Express from the 1985-86 season where he played most of season. He did appear in seven games that season, but he spent time wowing fans in New Brunswick to the tune of 29 goals and 45 assists in 64 games for some very Lemieux-like scoring! Despite the great season from Lemieux, Fredericton lost in the opening round of the playoffs to Bill Dineen's Adirondack Red Wings that featured future NHLers such as Basil McRae, Adam Oates, and Bob Probert!

No one can take away the performance he put on for one night on November 27, 1984, though, as Alain Lemieux was one of the top scorers on that day! Of course, some kid named Gretzky put on a show in Toronto against the Maple Leafs with three goals and two assists in a 7-1 Oilers win while Craig Laughlin had two goals and two assists for the Capitals in a 9-2 rout of the Nordiques, but Alain Lemieux could stand with them on that day as his hat trick was half of the goals scored by the Blues in that 6-1 win over the Canucks.

He may not get mentioned as often as his little brother, but Alain Lemieux was the highest-scoring Lemieux for one night in 1984. He deserves a little recognition for scoring three of his 28 total goals on one single night!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!