Mario Lemieux Statue
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
The Mario Lemieux Statue was unveiled by the Pittsburgh Penguins in March of 2012. Lemieux was a professional ice hockey player that was well known for playing with the Pittsburgh Penguins between 1984 through 2006. Lemieux led Pittsburgh to two consecutive Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992. The bronze statue of Lemieux sits broadly on the intersection of Centre Avenue and Washington Place. The statue was placed to honor the career of Mario Lemieux and all of his accomplishments. A celebration of all of his professional victories can be seen through the complexity of this statue, which is of Lemieux breaking through two defensive players as he drives for a goal.
Images
Picture of Mario Lemieux Statue as he busts through two defensive players to drive for a goal. Picture courtesy of: news.gonzaga.edu
Picture of the Mario Lemieux Statue in front of the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, PA Picture courtesy of: pixshark.com
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Mario Lemieux was born in October of 1965 in Montreal, Canada. Lemieux began playing hockey at the early age of three. He practiced inside and outside as a kid, and his talent for the sport became evident to his family. He started playing on teams with kids older than him, but Lemieux's size was always bigger. Lemieux later broke numerous records in Quebec's Major Junior Hockey League. Everyone around Lemieux knew it was a matter of time before he would go professional.
Lemieux was drafted in 1984 by the National Hockey League to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was the first pick in the entire draft. With a size of 6'4-200 lbs, it was easy to see why hockey enthusiasts called him the future of hockey for the Penguins. Lemieux was given $600,000 over two years, plus a $150,000 signing bonus - which was the largest amount of money that had ever been offered to a rookie (biography.yourdictionary.com). Lemieux was large in size, fast, and more than equipped to handle himself on the ice.
Lemieux had a phenomenal career as a hockey player. He will forever be one of the best players to come out of the National Hockey League. He was the NHL's 7th leading scorer with 1,723 points (sports.espn.go.com). Lemieux was a star for the Pittsburgh Penguins for a long time, and loved by hockey fans across the world. His love for hockey is also what drove him to be successful, and is also what led him to purchase the team he was so proud to be a part of. Lemieux became one of the first players in professional sports history to own the same team as which he played for.
Aside form winning Stanley Cups, breaking records, and becoming a Hall of Famer - Lemieux was also a family man. He married a woman named Nathalie Asselin, and they had four children together. After many illnesses due to various injuries and health concerns, Lemieux finally retired from the game of hockey in 2006.
So, if you are ever planning to visit the city of Pittsburgh - make sure you stop by to admire the 4,700 pound bronze statue of Mario Lemieux, who will always be a historical part of Pittsburgh.
Lemieux was drafted in 1984 by the National Hockey League to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was the first pick in the entire draft. With a size of 6'4-200 lbs, it was easy to see why hockey enthusiasts called him the future of hockey for the Penguins. Lemieux was given $600,000 over two years, plus a $150,000 signing bonus - which was the largest amount of money that had ever been offered to a rookie (biography.yourdictionary.com). Lemieux was large in size, fast, and more than equipped to handle himself on the ice.
Lemieux had a phenomenal career as a hockey player. He will forever be one of the best players to come out of the National Hockey League. He was the NHL's 7th leading scorer with 1,723 points (sports.espn.go.com). Lemieux was a star for the Pittsburgh Penguins for a long time, and loved by hockey fans across the world. His love for hockey is also what drove him to be successful, and is also what led him to purchase the team he was so proud to be a part of. Lemieux became one of the first players in professional sports history to own the same team as which he played for.
Aside form winning Stanley Cups, breaking records, and becoming a Hall of Famer - Lemieux was also a family man. He married a woman named Nathalie Asselin, and they had four children together. After many illnesses due to various injuries and health concerns, Lemieux finally retired from the game of hockey in 2006.
So, if you are ever planning to visit the city of Pittsburgh - make sure you stop by to admire the 4,700 pound bronze statue of Mario Lemieux, who will always be a historical part of Pittsburgh.
Sources
1) Encyclopedia of World Biography (2010). Mario Lemieux Facts. [Online: YourDictionary.com].
The Gale Group, Inc.
2) Espn.go.com (2012). Statue of Mario Lemieux. [Online: Espn.go.com].
3) McCollough, J.B. (2014). The Evolution of Mario Lemieux: 30 years in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [Online:news.interactive.post-gazette.com].
4) The Official Site of the Pittsburgh Penguins (2012). Mario Lemieux Statue. Lemieux
Group, LP. NHL. [Online: Penguins.nhl.com]