There is only 1 player who touches Gretzky’s GOAT status: Mario Lemieux. Lemieux’s stats are ludicrous. In 1989, he finished the regular season with 114 assists and 85 goals for 199 points. He is the only player to even approach Gretzky’s 200-point mark. Next closest is Steve Yzerman with 155 in the same season. The only thing that could stop Lemieux were the whims of fate. Not even fate could stop him in the early 90s. Starting in 1990, Lemieux had back problems (eventually diagnosed as a herniated disc) that would keep him out of many games. During the subsequent 1990-91 season, Lemieux was only able to play in 26 games (put up 19 goals, 26 assists and 45 points). The Penguins managed to sneak into the playoffs without him. Lemieux came back for the 91 playoffs and went nuclear. In 23 games, Lemieux scored 16 goals and racked up 28 assists for 44 points. It is the 2nd most points in a playoff run ever (guess who is ahead of him). Only McDavid’s 2024 run has approached it since. Behind their superstar, the Penguins won their first ever Stanley Cup and Lemieux won the Connor Smythe as playoff MVP. Somehow, this is just the beginning. Next season, Lemieux managed to play 64 games, missing 16 games due to back problems. Still, he finished that season with 131 points, which led the entire NHL and earned him the Art Ross trophy. The rest of the NHL knew not to cast doubt on Mario so Adam Graves broke Lemieux’s hand in game 2 of the 2nd round series between Mario’s Penguins and Adam’s Rangers. He missed 5 games in that series, but it didn’t matter because the Rangers lost. Despite missing those 5 games, Lemieux led everyone in playoff points once again, this time with 34. He also led in playoff goals with 16 as the Penguins won their 2nd Stanley Cup. Lemieux once again won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP. The Hockey Gods clearly realized that back problems were too easy for Lemieux to overcome so they threw a new curveball. In January of 1993, Lemieux announced he had been diagnosed with cancer, specifically Hodgkin lymphoma. He underwent radiation treatment and missed 2 months of the season. He managed to return before the playoffs and was given a standing ovation by Philadelphia. By the way, did I mention that Lemieux WON THE HART, ART ROSS AND PEARSON?! Lemieux put up 160 points in 60 games. 69 goals and 91 assists in 60 games. Prior to the cancer diagnosis, Lemieux was putting up 104 points with an average of 2.6 points per game. Post-cancer treatment, Lemieux put up 56 points in 20 games for an average of 2.8 points per game. If not for cancer, he breaks Gretzky’s single season record. Lemieux carried that dominance into the playoffs as the Penguins pursued a 3-peat. Sadly, the Penguins were shockingly upset in round 2, by the New York Islanders, in 7 games. Don’t worry, Lemieux put up 18 points in 11 playoff games, good enough for 9th that year, only behind guys that played twice as many games. Lemieux would beat cancer, but he never got the Penguins to another Cup Final during his playing career. Along with being one of the GOATs of hockey, he also became one of the greatest Stanley Cup Heroes.
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