Lemieux was selected by the Pittsburgh Penquins in the 1984 entry draft, and it is no surprise that he was taken first, although there were many teams who would have given almost anything to get him. The Quebec Nordiques offered the 3 Stasny Brothers, and the Minnesota North Stars offered all 12 of their draft picks!

In his first shift of his NHL career Mario scored his first NHL goal against Boston on October 11, 1984. He then followed that night with 42 more and 57 assists, making him only the 3rd rookie in NHL history to score 100 or more points. In 1986-87 brought Lemieux and Gretzky together in the Canada Cup. It was a fitting closure to the series when Lemieux took a pass from Gretzky and put in the winning goal past Russian goalie Sergei Mylnikov.

Lemieux was the only player to take both the Hart and Art Ross Trophies from Gretzky since 1979-80. Many people were looking toward Mario as being the only person who could give Gretzky a run for his money. But health problems began to take their toll on Mario. In 1990 a herniated disc sidelined him for 21 games, yet he was still able to amass 123 points. In July of that year a post operative infection in his back caused him to miss the first 50 games of the 1990-91 season. Despite Mario's absence, the Penguins managed to make it to the Stanley Cup finals and take home their first cup. In that campaign Lemieux was good for 44 points and took home the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Lemieux only missed 16 games the following season and took home the Art Ross Trophy as well as leading the Penguins to their second Stanley Cup. Lemieux faced the "game" of his life in the 1992-93 season when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's deasease. Again, despite missing 20 games, Mario won not only the Art Ross Trophy, but also took home the Hart Trophy, but the Penguins were unable to "three-peat" a Stanley Cup.

Lemieux only played 22 games in the 1993-94 season and did not play the entire 1994-95 season due to chronic back pain and follow up cancer treatements. In 1995-96 Lemieux returned and scored 69 goals and had 92 assists win his 5th scoring title, and repeated the feat the following year with 50 goals and 72 assists for his 6th Art Ross Trophy. Lemieux scored his final goal on the Flyers Garth Snow, and after the 1996-97 season, Mario Lemieux retired.

Many say that some of the feats accomplished by Gretzky will never be equaled. Gretzky scored his 1000th point after 424 games, Lemieux did it in 513, the next closest player was Peter Stastny who did it in 682 games. Lemieux had .823 goals per game, Gretzky had .601. Gretzky had 1.32 assists per game, Lemieux 1.182 and Gretzky had 1.921 points per game and Lemiux had 2.005, the highest in league history. Had Lemieux played the same number of games as Gretzky, he would have surpassed many of Gretzky's records.

In December of 2000, Mario returned to the ice to help his Penguins. In the short time he was on the ice it was obvious that he had a positive effect on the team as they made it into the playoffs, and at the time of this writing they are battling the New Jersey Devils. How long will it be before Lemieux decides to retire for good will be up to Lemieux himself. But one thing is for sure...the magic is back, and perhaps some of the records we thought were invincible will be bettered.