Mario Lemieux and the 1984 draft...

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RyanMac

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Jul 20, 2003
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TSN.ca said:
When the Pittsburgh Penguins made Mario Lemieux the top pick of the 1984 Entry Draft, the Quebec league phenom refused to acknowledge the selection and put on the team's jersey.

Excuse my memory, but did that happen? I have no recollection of this - at all! It kind of bothers me that my memory could forget such an arrogant act.
 

ej_pens

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RyanMac said:
Excuse my memory, but did that happen? I have no recollection of this - at all! It kind of bothers me that my memory could forget such an arrogant act.

Yes. Mario was unhappy with the Pens contract prosposal, so when they annouced his name at the draft, he didn't come down to the stage to put on the Pens jersey.
 

The Old Master

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RyanMac said:
Excuse my memory, but did that happen? I have no recollection of this - at all! It kind of bothers me that my memory could forget such an arrogant act.
i forgot about it the moment he scored on his first shift, first game, first shot. and had no reason to think about it again. :)
 

Big McLargehuge

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To put it bluntly, Lemieux was a ******* as a youngster. All his health problems in the early 90s quickly put a new spin on life for him and turned the guy into nothing short of a saint.
 

Histrion

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RyanMac said:
Excuse my memory, but did that happen? I have no recollection of this - at all! It kind of bothers me that my memory could forget such an arrogant act.

Yeah, I think he wouldn't settle for less than a million dollar, which was huge back in the days. He redeemed himself though. ;)
 

UvBnDatsyuked

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I have an 8X10 photo with Olczyk, Muller and Mario on draft day and Mario is the only one without his teams jersey and hat on. Kirk and Ed looked like they couldn't be happier and Mario looked as if he was waiting in a traffic jam
 

Rand

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Pre-draft Lemieux wasn't exactly regarded as a character player.
His conditioning was reputed to be terrible, and he didn't seem to care about working out. He was a frequent smoker, and was fond of Jack Daniels and McDonalds.

Definitely not the guy you'd have thought of that would for all intents and purposes save the Pens organization. Some questionable decisions at the time, but given what he's done since it's hard to hold it against him.

It's interesting seeing clips of his old QMJHL days.
Some of what would become his biggest strengths in the NHL were arguably his biggest weaknesses in the QMJHL.
 
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Big McLargehuge

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Rand said:
Pre-draft Lemieux wasn't exactly regarded as a character player.
Hios conditioning was reputed to be terrible, and he didn't seem to care about working out. He was a frequent smoker, and was fond of Jack Daniels and McDonalds.

It's funny what a taste of morality can do for a person.
 

Chili

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A personal motto - Don't judge people by mistakes, judge them on what they do about them.

It must have been tough for him that day with all his friends and family in attendance to make that decision with his agent.

I think Mario had done enough by the time he won the rookie of the year award to put this to rest.
 

clefty

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He was acting on the advice of his agent.

Lemieux knew it wasn't the right thing to do, and he apologized to Eddie Johnston (now one of his best friends) for doing so and causing a great deal of embarrassment.

I do think its funny that you still get people today that hold it against him.
 

Mothra

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ej_pens said:
Yes. Mario was unhappy with the Pens contract prosposal, so when they annouced his name at the draft, he didn't come down to the stage to put on the Pens jersey.

Thats BS spin.....he did not want to play in Pit. No sense in trying to paint it another way
 

#66

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Mothra said:
Thats BS spin.....he did not want to play in Pit. No sense in trying to paint it another way
No thats a well known fact that was said even at that time.
 

Mothra

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#66 said:
No thats a well known fact that was said even at that time.

There was a well used quote that had Mario saying he would never play in Pit....it was used a few times when he bought the team, the point being how it was ironic a guy who once said he would never play for the team now owns them

think what you want...I dont expect someone with your nick to think otherwise. I am not trying to slam the guy either......I have lots of respect for the guy after seeing him go though what he did...I also think he might be the best forward I have ever seen play......but thats not the point here
 

#66

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I remember the quote but it wasn't even close to becoming a Lindros affair. While I am a huge Lemieux fan, I would never say that he's some sort of holy being. What hockey player is? Other than Beliveau I can't think of any other player that should be held as untainted. In fact one of the things that I've always liked about Lemieux was that he spoke his mind without being a big mouth like Hull. Did he slam the league a few times? Sure but IMO the NHL deserved it. Its funny that everyone that was calling him a whiner and bashing him is now singing the same tune about obstruction and the rules. Please don't take this a me calling you a basher but more of me being a little over sensitive about the subject. Being a Penguin fanatic since about 1976 and going through some tough years has made me appreciate a star like Lemieux to the utmost degree. I'm not sure if most people know about the Penguins treatment of him before Craig Patrick but it was very shady and IMO his never even hinting about leaving the team speaks volumes about his character. Ten times more than what he did as a 17 year old or what a bum like "Strach" writes.
 
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