1990-91 Pittsburgh Penguins Mario Lemieux Jersey

In their 24th season, the Pittsburgh Penguins were finally able to win the Stanley Cup on this date in 1991 by crushing the Minnesota North Stars 8-0 to win in 6 games. The Penguins were led by superstar Mario Lemieux and a deep line up featuring Joe Mullen, Mark Recchi, Kevin Stevens, rookie Jaromir Jagr, Larry Murphy, Paul Coffey and goaltender Tom Barasso. As if that roster weren't strong enough on it's own, the Penguins also added Bryan Trottier, a veteran of the New York Islanders recent dynasty to provide veteran leadership. Coaching this deep lineup of talent was "Badger" Bob Johnson in his first year behind the Penguins bench.

The Penguins started the season without Mario Lemieux, who missed the first half of the season recovering from a back injury suffered in February of the previous season. The team got off to a slow start, but with the return of Lemieux, their fortunes improved to the point that they were in playoff contention in 3rd place in their division when March rolled around and they pulled off a big trade that would put them over the top, acquiring Ron Francis from Hartford. With the addition of Francis, the Penguins finished the season 9-3-2 and won their first Division Championship.

In the playoffs they would defeat the New Jersey Devils in 7 games after being down 3 game to 2. They next defeated the Washington Capitals and then the Boston Bruins in 6, after falling behind 2-0 to start the series, to earn the right to face the surprising Minnesota North Stars in the finals.

Minnesota had actually finished the regular season with a dismal 27-39-14 record but came out of nowhere in the playoffs to defeat the President's Trophy winning Chicago Blackhawks in a huge upset, followed by St. Louis and then the defending champion Edmonton Oilers to reach the finals.

Minnesota continued their hot streak and won Game 1 on the road, but the Penguins came back to win game 2 as the series shifted to Minnesota where the Penguins earned a split, tying the series at 2-2. Pittsburgh then won Game 5 at home and slaughtered the North Stars 8-0 to win their first Stanley Cup. Lemeiux was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.

Today's jersey is a 1990-91 Pittsburgh Penguins Mario Lemieux jersey featuring the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals patch, as worn during that season's Stanley Cup Finals.

When the Penguins arrived on the scene in 1967, they wore powder blue jerseys for their first six years. The shade of blue darkened somewhat in 1973 and lasted until 1977 when an even darker navy blue became the club's primary color.

Then, quite unusually, the Penguins changed to their new color scheme of black and yellow during the middle of the season! The change in colors was an effort to win the goodwill of the fans of Pittsburgh, as both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Pirates won world championships in both football and baseball in 1979 while wearing black and gold, the colors of the flag of the City of Pittsburgh.

These jerseys would remain in use through the 1991-92 season, which included the Penguins second Stanley Cup championship in a row, before a change to a new set the following year.

Today's video is all the goals from the deciding Game 6 as Pittsburgh dominated the contest to win the cup in as convincing a fashion as has ever happened.

1988 NHL All-Star Game Mario Lemieux Jersey

Throughout the history of the NHL, one man holds single game All-Star scoring record for most points in one game.

19 year old Mario Lemieux made his NHL All-Star debut as an NHL rookie in 1985 in spectacular fashion, scoring a pair of goals, including the game winner, and an assist in the Wales Conference's 6-4 win in Calgary. He was named as the game's MVP, the only rookie to ever do so.

After being named to the starting lineup, Lemieux was held scoreless in the 1986 NHL All-Star Game in Hartford, Connecticut.

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1986 NHL All-Star Game Mario Lemieux jersey

Lemieux was once more named to the starting lineup for the Wales Conference for the 1988 game in St. Louis, Missouri.

With the Wales Conference trailing by one, Lemieux picked up his first assist of the contest at 14:45 after setting up Tomas Sandstrom. With the Wales Conference trailing 2-1 after one period, they stormed back in the first half of the second period as Mike Gartner scored on an assist from Lemieux at 4:28. At 10:08 on the power play, Lemieux again figured in the scoring with the first assist on Peter Stastny's goal. He then equalled the record for most points in a game with his fourth when he registered his first goal of the game from Mats Naslund at 11:34. The Campbell Conference trimmed the lead to one with they got their third of the game at 15:09 as the second period ended 4-3 in favor of the Wales Conference.

The Campbell Conference tied the game at 5:19 of the third only to have Lemieux score at 8:07 from Naslund again and Kevin Dineen to establish a new single game scoring record with his fifth point of the contest. The Campbell Conference tied the game once more at 16:28 and the game then headed to overtime tied at 4-4 after 60 minutes of play.

Lemieux then increased his record to six points when he scored the game winning goal at 1:08 into the overtime to complete his hat trick, with assists again from Naslund and Dineen, with Naslund having the first assist on all three goals by Lemieux.

His record setting performance earned him his second NHL All-Star Game MVP award in just his third game.

After competing in the 1989 game hosted by Edmonton, Lemieux would play in front of his home fans in Pittsburgh in 1990, where he did not disappoint, tying the record for the Most Goals in a Single All-Star Game with four in the Wales Conference's 12-7 win.

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1989 NHL All-Star Game Mario Lemieux jersey

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1990 NHL All-Star Game Mario Lemieux jersey

Lemieux opened the scoring just 21 seconds into the game and scored his second at the 13 minute mark to make it 4-1 for the Wales Conference. Before the period was over, Lemieux completed another All-Star Game hat trick at 17:37 to make the score now 6-2.

Lemieux's record tying fourth goal would have to wait until the third period when he scored at 1:07 on an assist from Cam Neely to stretch the Wales advantage to 10-6 at the time.

He was naturally named the game's MVP for the third time in his career, establishing a new record.

He currently holds or shares four All-Star records with the Most Points in a Single Game with six in 1988, the Most Goals in a Single Game with four in 1990, the Most Career Goals with 13 and the Most MVP Awards with three.

The remainder of his All-Star career included participating in the 1992 contest in Philadelphia during the NHL's 75th Anniversary season which was commemorated by wearing throwback jerseys like those worn in the original NHL All-Star Game in 1947.

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1992 NHL All-Star Game Mario Lemieux jersey

He scored a pair of assists in Boston in 1996 and followed that up with two goals and an assist in San Jose in 1997.

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1996 NHL All-Star Game Mario Lemieux jersey

Playing for North America in 2001, Lemieux scored another goal as well as an assist in the North American's 14-12 win over the World team.

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2001 NHL All-Star Game Mario Lemieux jersey

His final All-Star Game goal came in 2002 in Los Angeles to give him a share of the career record with his 13th goal in All-Star competition.

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2002 NHL All-Star Game Mario Lemieux jersey

Today's featured jersey is a 1988 NHL All-Star Game Mario Lemieux jersey from his record setting six point game which still stands today, 23 years later.

This style jersey was worn only in 1988. It used the same template of the jerseys worn from 1984 to 1986, only with the addition of the NHL shield as the crest rather than the Wales and Campbell designations as before. It also was customized with basic one color numbers rather than the two-color drop shadowed numbers as previously.

Today's video segment begins with Lemieux winning the MVP award in his first All-Star Game.

Next, Lemieux scores four goals in front of his home fans in Pittsburgh in 1990.

1988-89 Pittsburgh Penguins Mario Lemieux Jersey

Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins scored his 100th point of the season for the fourth straight year when he scored a goal in an 8-3 Penguins win over the Chicago Black Hawks on this date in 1988.

Also on this date, exactly one year later, Lemieux topped that feat by becoming only the second player in NHL history, after Wayne Gretzky, to score his 50th goal in less than 50 games in a 7-4 Penguins loss to the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg.

Lemieux's 50th goal came in his 44th game (officially Pittsburgh's 46th game) and made him the the Penguins all-time leading scorer with 637 points in just his 336th game, passing Rick Kehoe's 636 points, which took Kehoe 722 games to reach, 386 more games than Lemieux, considerably more than twice as many.

Maurice Richard was the first player in league history to attain 50 goals in 50 games in 1945. It would take 36 years for Mike Bossy to equal Richard with two dramatic goals in the final five minutes of his 50th game.

Gretzky joined the 50 in 50 club in grand style, requiring just 39 games when he scored an incredible nine goals in two consecutive games to reach the exclusive milestone before New Year's Eve. He repeated the 50 in 50 feat twice more, in 1983-84 in 42 games and again in 1984-85, which took 49 games, making him the only man to ever do so three times.

Lemieux would go on to finish the season with 85 goals and 114 assists for 199 points to lead the NHL in scoring that season to win his second consecutive Art Ross Trophy. His 85 goals made him only the second player to ever score more than 70 in a season. In addition, 13 of his goals were scored while the Penguins were shorthanded, an NHL record which still stands today, more than 20 years later and one of four offensive records Lemeiux still holds.

In addition to his 50 goals in 46 games, Lemieux's 1988-89 season is remembered for his remarkable game on New Year's Eve when he score eight points, highlighted by his five goals scored in all five possible ways, even strength, power play, shorthanded, penalty shot and empty net!

Today's featured jersey is a 1988-89 Pittsburgh Penguins Mario Lemieux jersey. Penguins jerseys were in a time of transition in 1988-89. Starting in 1984, the font for the names on the back now had serifs. The sleeve numbers were still located in the white shoulder area and both the names and numbers were heat sealed onto the jerseys with a plasticky material.

For 1988-89 the numbers were relocated farther down the arms into the gold area on both the home and away jerseys before a new set of jerseys later that season would see a new taller and thinner font for both the numbers as well as the names, which were now sans-serif. Additionally, they would be made of twill material from then on, which were now all sewn on rather than heat sealed as in the past.

Frustratingly, we could not find video of Lemieux scoring his 50th goal in 46 games, so in today's video segment, we feature Lemieux's Top 10 plays, as some of his assists are as spectacular as his goals.

The well trained eye will notice the numbers on his jersey changing places from the shoulders to the arms depending on which season the highlights are from.

Here are Lemieux's five goals in five ways from New Year's Eve in 1988. Notice the "hybrid" style of jersey, the same today's featured jersey, with the old serifed font for the name, but the numbers in the new lower position on the arms prior to the change in font to the shorter, more squarish style worn while Pittsburgh won their first two Stanley Cups in 1991 & 1992.

1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins Mario Lemieux Jersey

Mario Lemieux debuted for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1984 at a time when the Penguins were playing to an arena that was half empty and subject to rumors of relocation.

He scored a goal on his very first shot in his very first game, and the Penguins were on the road to recovery. Lemeiux would go on to win the Calder Trophy that season and place second in the scoring race, while winning the Pearson Award in his second year.

His game reached the next level with his performance in the 1987 Canada Cup, when at age 21, he was able to play with veterans Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Paul Coffey. That experience launched his game to the next level and he won his first Art Ross Trophy in 1987-88 with 168 points, ending Gretzky's seven year hold on the league scoring title, as well as the Hart Trophy.

The following season was the greatest of his career, when he scored a career highs with 85 goals and 114 assists for 199 points and his second scoring title.

Eventually, the toll on his body began to affect him and in 1990 he had to undergo back surgery for a herniated disc, which caused him to miss 50 games of the following season. He would return to lead the Penguins over the Minnesota North Stars to the Stanley Cup Championship and win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

The following season he was limited to 64 games due to injuries, yet still won his third scoring title. Although a slash broke his left hand, which caused him to miss five games, Lemieux still led the playoffs in scoring and won his second Conn Smythe Trophy as the Penguins won their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

In January of the following 1992-93 season, Lemeiux was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and had to undergo radiation treatments to combat the disease, which caused him to miss two months of the season. On the last day of his radiation treatments, he flew to Philadelphia and famously scored a goal that evening after receiving a standing ovation from the notoriously hostile Philadelphia fans. He continued to score at a furious pace and won his fourth scoring title later that season with a remarkable 160 points in just 60 games. His remarkable return from cancer would be recognized with the awarding of that season's Masterton Trophy.

More back surgery awaited him in the off season, which would cause him to miss the first 10 games of the season as well as 48 more later in the year with more back problems. The combined effects of his back problems and fatigue from the radiation treatments caused Lemieux to announce he was taking the 1994-95 season off after making it into just 22 games that season.

He returned to the game of hockey for the start of the 1995-96 season after a 17-month layoff, and in his seventh game back on this date in 1995, Lemeiux would score his 500th NHL goal in just his 605th game, second only to Gretkzy's 575. He would finish the season with 69 goals and 92 assists for 161 points and his fifth scoring title as well as being named the winner of his third Hart Trophy.

Today's featured jersey is a 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins Mario Lemeiux jersey as worn when Lemieux scored his 500th NHL goal, becoming only the 20th player in league history to reach that important milestone.

This jersey style was worn beginning in the 1992-93 season and was inspired by the original Penguins jerseys of 1967-68 which also featured the diagonal "Pittsburgh" cresting on the front and is one of our personal favorites here at ThirdStringGoalie with it's mix of modern styling with a classic influence. They would remain in use through the 1996-97 season until being replaced by then then alternate jersey for the following season.

Today's video section is Lemeiux scoring his 500th NHL goal against the New York Islanders on this date in 1995.

2004 Team Canada Mario Lemieux Jersey

On this date in 2004, Canada captured the World Cup of Hockey Championship with a 3-2 win over Finland in front of 19,370 fans at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

Canada began the tournament in the North American pool with a 2-1 over the United States in Montreal while wearing their 1920 Winnipeg Falcons throwback jerseys.

They came back the very next night, again in Montreal, with a strong performance in a 5-1 throttling of Slovakia thanks to a pair of goals from Ryan Smyth.

Canada captured the group on September 4th when they beat Russia 3-1, this time in Toronto to finish pool play undefeated.

With the top North American seed drawing the fourth place North American finisher, Canada was once again matched up with the Slovaks on September 8th in Toronto with similar results to their first meeting, as Canada again scored five times in a shutout victory to advance to the semifinals.

Their opponent would be the Czech Republic, the number 3 European Pool seed, surprising 6-1 quarterfinal winners over Sweden. In perhaps the best game of the tournament, Canada scored twice in the second period after a scoreless first before the Czechs got on the board before the end of the period. Seven minutes into the third the Czechs evened the score at 2-2. Canada got the go ahead goal at 13:47 only to have the Czechs shock the still celebrating arena with an equalizer a mere six seconds later.

Vincent Lecavalier then won it for Canada with a goal at 3:45 into overtime to send Canada to the finals.

In the Final, the Canadians and the Finns traded goals in the first period before Canada went up by one with a goal three minutes into period number two. The Finns scored a late goal at 19:00 of the second to send the tournament into it's final 20 minutes all even.

It would only take 34 seconds for Canada's to score on assists from Joe Thornton and Adam Foote to return Canada to the lead for the third time in the game. The Canadians would make that goal stand as Martin Brodeur would hold off Finland with ten saves to secure the championship for Canada.

Lecavalier would lead Canada in scoring with 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points in 6 games to earn tournament MVP honors. Broduer was named the goaltender of the tournament's All-Star Team following his goals against average of 1.00 in five games and a .961 save percentage. Foote would join his fellow Canadians on the All-Star Team at defense.

Today's featured jersey is a 2004 Team Canada Mario Lemieux jersey. Canada debuted this jersey style at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics and it proved a very worthy look for an unprecedented era of Canadian dominance in international hockey, as both the Canadian men and women would win gold medals in 2002, the men would win the World Championships in 2003 and 2004, the women would capture the 2004 World Championship and the men's U-20 team would cruise to the World Junior Championship in dominant fashion in 2005 giving Canada the titles in all six major championships at the same time, all won in this style jersey.

Canada would later celebrate their lofty status by altering the outline of the maple leaf logo on the jersey's crest from silver to gold to remind everyone of their unprecedented dominance over the hockey world.

Today's video highlights are of Canada's victory over Finland in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey finals in Toronto.

1988-89 PIttsburgh Penguins Mario Lemieux Jersey

On this date in 1989, Mario Lemieux tied the all-time NHL record for most points in a playoff game when he scored five goals and three assists as the Penguins outlasted the Philadelphia Flyers 10-7 in a wild, brawl filled shootout in Game 5 of the Patrick Division Finals.

Prior to the playoffs, Lemieux set personal records in goals (85), assists (114) and points on his way to the NHL scoring title, easily outdistancing Wayne Gretzky 199 points to 168, despite missing four games. At the time, his 85 goals were the third most of all-time and he became the third player ever to reach 100 assists in a season. Additionally, he scored 13 shorthanded goals to set a new NHL record. Perhaps the most remarkable achievement of Lemieux's stellar 1988-89 season was joining the exclusive 50 goals in 50 games club, only the fifth player at the time to achieve the feat first accomplished by the famed Rocket Richard when he scored his 50th of the season in his 46th game.

Also during the same season, Lemieux had one of the most remarkable nights in NHL history on New Year's Eve in 1988 when he scored five goals - in five different ways! He started the night with an even strength goal and followed it with one shorthanded, on the power play, a penalty shot and capped off his amazing night with an empty net goal.

On the basis of Lemieux's brilliant season, the Penguins qualified for the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons. The New York Rangers fell to the Penguins in four straight before Pittsburgh advanced to face the Flyers. Game 1 went to the Penguins at home 4-3 and then the Flyers took Game 2 by a score of 4-2. Pittsburgh fought back with a 4-3 overtime win in Philadelphia and the Flyers evened the series 4-1 on home ice to send the series into Game 5 tied at two games apiece.

Game 5, played on this date in 1989, started with the Penguins breaking out with four straight goals, including three by Lemeiux, who was listed as questionable prior to the game with a neck injury, in the first 6:55 of the game to put the Penguins up 3-0. The Flyers got on the board with a goal to stem the tide but the Penguins added two more, including one more by Lemeiux on a wraparound into an unguarded net after he stole the puck from Flyers goaltender Ron Hextall to tie an NHL record with his fourth goal of the period at 17:09. The Penguins added one more prior to the horn to head into the intermission up 6-1.

The second period was more of the same, with the teams combining for five more goals. The Penguins outscored the Flyers 3-2, with Lemieux assisting on all three Pittsburgh goals, to extend their lead to 9-3 entering the third period.

The Flyers staged a furious rally to close the gap to 9-7 with four straight goals before Mario Lemeiux completed his eight point night with his fifth goal of the night, to go with three earlier assists, at 19:23 into an empty net to seal the 10-7 Penguins victory.

Lemieux tied NHL records for most goals and most points in a playoff game, most goals and most assists in a period in a playoff game that night.

The eight point night was the third of Lemieux's season, as he put up eight in the fourth game of the season and again on New Year's Eve, the aforementioned night he scored goals in five different ways. Lemieux remains the only player in NHL history to have scored eight points in a game three separate times, a feat he accomplished in a single season! It also remains the last time anyone scored eight in a game, now over 20 years past.

His eight points in a playoff game is one of only two times in history the feat has been accomplished and his eight points are tied for second for the most points ever scored in an NHL game behind Darryl Sittler's 10.

Today's featured jersey is a CCM 1988-89 Pittsburgh Penguins Mario Lemieux jersey. as worn during Lemieux's record setting eight point night in the playoffs. This was the first season for this particular lettering style on the Penguins jerseys, as previous seasons had a different specification with a thinner number font, serifs on thicker letters for the names and sleeve numbers up on the shoulders, football style.

Today's video section takes a look at the Penguins - Flyers playoff series in 1989, which includes Lemeiux's historic eight point night in Game 5. Ah, Michael, Michael motorcycle!