Not only did that lead the league by a staggering 34 points over Pat LaFontaine of the Buffalo Sabres, but it also put him on track for 218 points by season’s end. He scored an astonishing 36 points during the first month of the season (while playing all 11 of Pittsburgh’s games), then tacked on 65 more (while only missing a single game) over the next two months.īy New Year’s Day 1993, Lemieux had 101 points in his team’s first 39 games. Now, Lemieux finally appeared to be healthy - or at least, as healthy as he was going to be 1 - and he was making opponents regret ever taking up the sport of hockey.

Although back injuries had limited him to just 149 out of a possible 240 regular-season games over the previous three seasons, Lemieux still led the league in points per game when he did play, and he’d earned two playoff MVP trophies for his incredible 78 points in 38 games while driving Pittsburgh’s pair of championship runs. (As Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille once said: “A fire hydrant could score 40 goals playing on Lemieux’s line.”) But both angles met up in Lemieux’s most remarkable performance, arguably the greatest comeback in sports history, which began exactly 30 years ago tonight.įresh off two consecutive Stanley Cup victories with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 19, Lemieux was at the peak of his powers heading into the 1992-93 season. For the latter, we could pull up any of countless quotes from teammates who credited Lemieux with elevating their careers. And in Lemieux’s case, there are plenty of numbers - and more especially, stories - to back it up.įor the former, we could point to Super Mario’s status as the NHL’s all-time leader in goals created per game, ahead of even the Great One himself. (I mean, come on, it’s right there in the nickname.) But there are still those who’ll argue for a select few counter-candidates, such as Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, Sidney Crosby … or Mario Lemieux. Just about everyone knows Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player of all time. Mere hours after his final radiation treatment to combat Hodgkin lymphoma, Mario Lemieux took to the ice - and naturally, he had a goal and an assist.

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