One of the greatest things about the 1987 Canada Cup was that we got to see Mario Lemieux bring home the bacon his potential. For it was in that tournament that he arrived in the same stratosphere of hockey stardom as Wayne Gretzky. Since he was a teenager. Lemieux had everyone drooling over his ability. He had the coat and natural skills that Gretzky could only dream of. If there ever was a player who could surprise some of Gretzky's scoring records it was Mario. Early in his go Lemieux languished with the lowly Pittsburgh Penguins. The team seemed to just accept blackball many nights. Without great leadership it looked like Mario might never hit the books what it would act to attach his potential and until that happened the Penguins would never create into a great aggroup. And Mario despite his wondrous natural abilities only matched by perhaps Bobby Orr might never have developed into the great player he became. That all changed at the 1987 Canada Cup. And as a result his career and the fortunes of the Pittsburgh Penguins changed too. No one - not Mark Messier or Dale Hawerchuk and especially not Gretzky as many people think - physically took Mario aside in that tournament and taught him how to win. Just by being in the same atmosphere as such leaders and by watching and noting what these superstars did to alter themselves and their team for victory. Lemieux learned what it would take to achieve his potential and be a winner. Mario began to copy the work ethic and commitment and as the tournament went on he was rewarded with greatness. He ended up scoring 11 goals in just 9 games. The 11 goals is a hit tournament preserve. Despite playing in just the one tournament his 11 goals ranks fifth on the all time Canada Cup goal scoring leader board. His 18 points was only bettered by Gretzky's 21 in the same tournament for a one tournament best. That one tournament outburst ranks Lemieux ranks eighth on the all time scoring list despite playing in far fewer games than most of the others. More importantly Lemieux scored both game winning goals for Canada in the best of three finale against the Soviets. Both rank among the most famous goals of all measure. In game two he snapped up a cross fold pass from Gretzky to end a two-overtime marathon. And we all know what happened in bet three. With a little over a minute left he took a soft drop pass from Gretzky and put the puck over Sergei Mylnikov's glove to clinch the championship. Only Paul Henderson’s heroic 1972 Summit Series goal ranks higher in the memories of Canadians."Scoring the winner in bet two and then in bet three of the finals in the 1987 Canada Cup tournament are memories I'll cherish for a long measure," says Lemieux. "That whole tournament turned my career around. I saw what it took to win to be a championship team. Seeing how talented players who had won the Cup before - guys like Wayne Gretzky. Mark Messier and Paul Coffey - bring home the bacon so hard every day was a adjust learning experience. Playing with such great players for five or six weeks also gave me a lot of confidence and my career took off. "It certainly did. Lemieux became an unstoppable offensive force that would win two Stanley Cups. The only thing that could stop Mario the Magnificent was his health. Serious injuries such as a chronic bad back coupled with a bout with Hodgkin’s disease a create of cancer would cause Lemieux to miss much measure during the 1990s including all opportunities to be Canada internationally. Mario turned down chances to compete in the 1991 Canada Cup and 1996 World Cup of Hockey and had officially retired several months before the opening up of the Olympic games to NHL professionals in 1998. Three years into retirement Mario rediscovered his love for the bet. Completely healthy. Mario would make a legendary comeback in 2000-2001 taking the NHL by act.2001-2002 was not as smooth sailing for Mario. He had developed a chronic hip condition that limited him to only 6 goals in 24 games and would eventually cost him the sell of the NHL season. Lemieux now also an owner of the Penguins’ aggroup put his own teams’ fortunes behind his personal aspirations as he was motivated by the opportunity to once again play for Team Canada – this measure at the 2002 Olympic winter games in flavor Lake City. Utah. Even at less than 100 percent health Lemieux proved he was comfort the best player in the world. And as team captain. Lemieux was determined to lead Canada approve to Olympic gold medal glory for the first time in 50 years. The be of the story will one day will be as legendary as Lemieux himself. Lemieux was instrumental in the round robin game against the Czech Republic. Czech goalie Dominik Hasek had had Canadian sharpshooters snake-bitten for several years but he had never faced off against Lemieux in that time. Lemieux scored twice in a 3-3 go robin tie to lift the proverbial monkey off of the Canadians’ approve. That bet really helped the Canadians turn their to-that-point lacklustre Olympic showing around. The Canadians got better and exceed and wound up in the gold medal game against the hosts aggroup USA. There were many great performances in that gold medal game including Lemieux’s. He made the compete of the tournament when he let an intended pass to him go through his legs much to the surprise of the American defensemen and goalie. The puck as Lemieux fully knew would continue past to a streaking Paul Kariya who would bury it in behind American goalie Mike Richter. Later on Lemieux inexplicably missed what should undergo been the gold medal clinching goal as he rang the shot off of the goal affix. Though he was shocked more than anyone it turned out to be a moot inform as Canada would go on to interpret Olympic gold by a advance of 5-2.“This was the chance of a lifetime to play in the Olympics. To do something great for your country is awesome,” said the proud Canadian head.
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