1. Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins, 1984)
There are no words to describe the brilliant career Mario Lemieux had. He could do things on the ice fans had never seen before, so it was all to fitting to give him the nickname ”Super Mario”. Lemieux spent his entire 17 season career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, which included a Calder Trophy, six Art Ross Trophies, four Lester B. Pearson Trophies, three Hart Trophies, and most importantly, two Stanley Cup Championships along with two Conn Smythe’s.
Unfortunately, Lemieux was forced to miss the entire 1994-95 season due to lymphoma. He then returned and played the following two seasons before announcing his retirement at the end of the 1996-97 season.
At the time of his retirement, he was the only player in NHL history to retire with his points per game average being above two, as he had put up a ridiculous 1,494 points in just 745 games. He was also immediately voted into the Hall of Fame, becoming just the ninth player of all time to have the three-year waiting period waived.
Prior to the 2000-01 season, there were rumours that Lemieux may be attempting an NHL comeback as he was beginning to feel healthier. Those rumours turned out to be true, and he came back looking like he hadn’t missed a game, let alone three seasons. Despite only playing in 43 games that season, he scored 35 goals and 76 points.
Lemieux played in four seasons after that, but was limited to just 127 games over that time due to many nagging injuries. The 2005-06 season would be his last in the NHL. Though he put up 22 points in just 26 games, he had developed an irregular heartbeat and decided to retire for good. His final career stats ended at 690 goals (11th all time), 1,033 assists (12th), and 1,723 points (eighth).
Those numbers are fantastic on their own, but even more impressive when you realize Lemieux played in just 915 games. That puts him second all time in points per game with 1.883, coming just behind Wayne Gretzky’s 1.921 points per game.
It is unfortunate that we never got to see Lemieux able to play more games, as he may have been able to challenge Gretzky on many records. Regardless, he had a legendary career and will be forever known as one of the greatest hockey players of all time.