The Collegian, Wednesday February 15
Sports
Mario Lemieux
Truly 'The Best'
by Missy Mace
Collegian Staff Writer
In French, "le mieux" means
"the best," but in Pittsburgh the
best means Mario. At 210
pounds, Mario Lemieux - the
Pittsburgh Penguins' team
captain - is the, league's leading
scorer.
He came to, Pittsburgh - in
1984 from his hometown,
Montreal; where his parents Jea
n and Pierette Lemieux still
live. He is one of three sons,
Richard and Main, all of whom
practiced skatincr ° on a snow
packed floCr at their home in
Montreal. Alain, at age 27, plays
ptofessionallY in Finland. At
one time, he was Lemieux's
teammate in Pittsburgh.
Lemieux was an phenom in
Montreal. He played junior
hockey for the Laval Voisons for
whom he scored 282 points in 70
gammas in his last season.
Lemieux came to Pittsburgh
in 1984 when the Penguins
record was 16-58-6. Last year, the
Pens' record was 36-35-9 and they
pissed, the, playoffs, ort,the last
day of season. ; I'M'S year' he
has helped the Pens to a 28-17-4
record, which all but guarantees
them a playoff birth for the first
time since 1982.
Lemieux has
practically
gnarauteed the,
Penguins ,their first
playoff action since
1982.
Since his rise to stardom with
the Penguins,- Lemieux has
constantly been compared to
Wayne Gretzky. The two came
together for the first time during
the Canada Cup. Their combined
talents were incredible and
eventually defeated the Russian
All-stars with Lemieux scoring
the deciding goal on a pass from
Gretzky. This pairing has since
given Lemieux confidence that he
has brought back to Pittsburgh.
Lemieux and Gretzky have
their similarities and differences
as hockey . players, with the
differences slightly outweighing
the similarities. The obvious
similarity is their great talent of
performing successfully in the
National Hockey League.
Lemieux and. Gretzky are the best
players in the League.
Gretzlcy is now with the Los
Angeles Kings and is in his 10th
season. At theage of 28, GretZlcY
has already obtained 1771
points2' Lemieux is on the verge
Of breaking Gretzkiisiecord this
year of total. Paints in one:season
(:5) and'hag a slot:at hislecord
of goals . • •
Last year, Lemieux took the
MlL's scoring - title and M.V.P.
title that Gretzky achieved for the
preVious eight years. Also last
year, Lemieux had more all star
votes than Gretzky.
This season,ll..emieux reached
the 100-point level in 36 games,
which is the third fastest in
NHL history, trailing Wayne
Gretzky's performances in 1983-
1984 and 1984-1985 seasons. He
accomplished the feat in 34 and
35 games respectively. This
season Lemieux is atop the NHL
with 148 points, which is 25
more than Gretzky. •
Another similarity is that
Lemieux and Gretzky are the only
players in the NHL's history to
record two eight-point games in
the same season. Last season,
Gretzky was the NHL scoring
leader on New Year's Day with
86 points. Lemieux was the
runner up.
The Penguins are having their
best year in history, as are the
Kings. A comparison chart of the
two players up to the All Star
games is as follows:
Mario Lemieux: 54 -games,
58 goals, 90 assists, 148 points ,
68 penalty minutes, 21 power
play goals, nine shorthanded
goals, six game-winning goals,
one game tying goal, 222 shots,
26.1 shot percentage.
Wayne Gretzky: 56 games
played, 42 goals, 81 assists, 123
points , 20 penalty minutes, nine
pow6r-play goals, four
shoithanded goals, four game
winning goals, two game tying
goals, 218 shots, 19.3 shot
percentage.
Mario Lemieux saved the
franchise in Pittsburgh. The
Penguins were repeatedly having
bad seasons and if they didn't
draft a "star player" to help them
they would haVe had leave
Pittsburgh.
A "star , player" isn't the only
title Lemieux owns in
Pittsburgh, there is also the
"better" title used when compared
to the all pro Gretzky. -
Many coaches were smiling as
he was named an all star and
rookie of the year. He continued
to be an all star for four years in
a row. Every season with the
Penguins he has scored one
hundred points or better. -
Last year was Lemieux's
biggest year. He earned The Hart
trophy (the NHL MVP), he won
The. Art Ross trophy (the league's
leading scorer) and he was. the
MVP in last year's All-star game.
Off the ice, he won The Dapper
Dan Award (Pittsburgh) two out
of the last - three years.
- These awards are in addition to
other team awards all prove why
Mario Lemieux defin#elY lives
wto his name as being the best.
Lady Lions Split
by John Musser
Collegian Staff Writer
The Lady Royals of the
University of Buffalo found out
how tough it is to _play in 'the
Pit' as the Lady Lions won their
eighth game and third straight
last Wednesday, 69-61.
The Lady Cagers raced out of
the gate quickly with a 10-2 run
in the first four minutes of play.
Michele Madison and Krista
Fortson powered the quick start
Michele Madison goes for two of her 23 points during
the Lady Lions' victory over the University of Buffalo.
Aerobics?
Get into shape with Aerobics.
Every Thursday Night in the
Niagra Basement at 8:00 pm.
Free Admission.
(Bring Your Own Towel)
Sponsored by JRC
with four points apiece.
Buffalo was not about to take
up residence in 'Blowput City,'
and slowly cut the seven point
deficit to three with 10:51
remaining in the opening half.
The Lady Lion advantage was
still three points with five
minutes left on the clock when
Madison went on a scoring
binge, netting eight points in
two minutes to provide a seven
point lead, 33-26. •
The difference remained the
photo by Jeff Majcher
Page
same as both teams traded
buckets until the halftime buzzer,
and the Lady Lions went into the
locker room on top 37-30.
Buffalo slowly worked their
way back into the game,
chipping away at the Lady Lions
lead. At the 8:09 mark, the Lady
Royals hard work paid off, as
Buffalo moved out front 52-51.
The Lady Lions didn't take
long to regain the lead, as guard
Lisa Dorenkamp nailed a three
point shot just 17 seconds later.
Dorenkamp's bomb was the spark
that ignited the Lady Lion's flame
as they burned Buffalo for 12
unanswered points, pushing the
count to 63-52.
The Lady Lions coasted to
victory in the final two minutes,
as Buffalo never got closer 'than
six. The final score was 69-61.
The Lady Lions outshot
Buffalo 50 to 40 percent from the
field while also holding the edge
at the foul line, 65 to 61 percent.
Michele Madison had game
highs in points (23) and rebounds
(seven) while shooting 60 percent
from the floor. Lisa Butch added
16 markers and five boards, plus
Lisa Dorenkamp pumped in 10.
. The Lady Lions raised their
record to 8-13 and have won five
of their last seven. Buffalo, a
NCAA Division II member,
stumbled to 10-9.
The Lady Lions suffered
their -- .l4th direif - It;(6 - nday
night at file hands of the
Buffalo State Lady
Bengals, 60-39. The Lady
Lions were never really in
this' game, they were
outscored 32-16 in the
first half and just couldn't
catch up. The Lady Lions'
next match up is Feb 16
against SUNY-Fredonia.