hf101 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Jaromír Jagr shared a story on his facebook page in his opinion of why Mario Lemieux decided to come back to hockey after having taken retirement. The story was translated from a member of the reddit community. http://www2.tsn.ca/bardown/Story.aspx?Jarom%25c3%25adr%2bJagr%2bhas%2ba%2bstory%2bon%2bwhy%2bMario%2bLemieux%2bcame%2bout%2bof%2bretirement%2b&id=542444 The full translation: "The story begins 5 years earlier. It's 24th March 1996. A son was born on this day but not everything was the way every parent wishes. Austin was born a couple of months early. Noone knew what would happen so Mario spent 3 days in the hospital with his wife and son. After three days of stress and without sleep, Mr. 66 got the great news - THE SON WILL LIVE AND BE HEALTHY. Mario got so excited that he decided to play a game the same day. We played against St. Louis and won. I don't remember the exact score but I know that Mario scored 5 goals and assisted on two more. No, that's not a typo, he scored 5 goals + 2 assists Trust me, I was there. If you don't, just check youtube. Life went on and Mario retired a year later. It was March 1997, Mario scored a goal against Philadelphia with two minutes left and most fans considered this the last goal of his career. Then, for three years, he devoted his time to his family and golf, but also his club the Penguins where he was the owner. He didn't miss a single game, sometimes he visited practices too and with him his (at the time 4 year old) son Austin. He loved hockey too and didn't do anything without a hockey stick in his hands. One day he wandered into the staff room and started talking to the person sharpening our skates. Austin: 'Hi Steve, what's going on?' Steve: 'Hi, I'm sharpening the skates for our players, we have a game today.' Austin: 'I know, I will be there. And who's the player on the poster (pointing at Mario Lemieux poster)?'. 'That's your father!' said Steve. 'My father played hockey??'. Steve looked at Austin in disbelief and said 'Your father was the best player in the world for a long time!'. 'Oh, I didn't know,' said Austin and left to continue playing with his ball... I know for a fact that Mario found out about this conversation between Steve and Austin. A MONTH LATER HE ANNOUNCED THAT HE WAS COMING BACK... The first two games were against Toronto and Ottawa. We won both of them and do you know what Mario's total was? Two games - two goals and five assists. After 3 and a half years of leisure. UNBELIEVABLE. This story about little Austin is in my opinion the main reason why Mario returned to the ice. Austin finally saw his father play and Lemieux proved once again that he is the best player of all times." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilldoc Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 @hf101 look at the hair on Jagr....wow is that picture dated around 1990? very cute story..that would put his youngest son at 24ish now? picture circa. 2014? (Austin 2nd from right next to Mario) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted June 9, 2015 Author Share Posted June 9, 2015 Seems like the image restrictions affected that photo some. But yeah, that photo is a bit dated, lol. As for his son, if he was born in 1996 he would be about age 19 now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilldoc Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 @hf101 yeah 19 is better than 24...I can't subtract ... the photo appears just fine when you click on it though. I find that happens alot. Talk about skill / ability..come out of a 3 yr retirement and in 2 games have 7 pt (2G / 5A)..incredible ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 People forget that he retired the first time because the quality of the game had deteriorated so much with all the clutching and grabbing that it was becoming unwatchable garbage and he was tired of players skiing on his back and slashing him all to hell. It was a bold statement for the NHL to clean up its act, and eventually they did something about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 @hf101 Great find. I love that story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris922 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 People forget that he retired the first time because the quality of the game had deteriorated so much with all the clutching and grabbing that it was becoming unwatchable garbage and he was tired of players skiing on his back and slashing him all to hell.It was a bold statement for the NHL to clean up its act, and eventually they did something about it.And now it slides back into shyte... Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Now the only one that gets to ride Mario's back is Cindy.They refer to him as his BackSyd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 And now it slides back into shyte... Lol LOL. Yeah it has started to creep back into the game again. I still think the late 90's and early 2000's were the low point for the NHL. The main problem I see today (which I'll create a thread on) is something different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris922 Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Now the only one that gets to ride Mario's back is Cindy.They refer to him as his BackSyd.You really should delete that post out of shame. Not your best work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 People forget that he retired the first time because the quality of the game had deteriorated so much with all the clutching and grabbing that it was becoming unwatchable garbage and he was tired of players skiing on his back and slashing him all to hell. It was a bold statement for the NHL to clean up its act, and eventually they did something about it. So you're saying the game was too slow and it was allowing the players to ramp up and increase the speed of the game that made it better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris922 Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 So you're saying the game was too slow and it was allowing the players to ramp up and increase the speed of the game that made it better? I think they started cleaning the obstruction out but they've slowly slipped back into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 You really should delete that post out of shame. Not your best work Fair assessment. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris922 Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Fair assessment. LOLI try to remain impartial. Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 I try to remain impartial. Lol. Exactly. If you're going to rip someone -- no matter who they play for -- rip 'em really good. Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Exactly. If you're going to rip someone -- no matter who they play for -- rip 'em really good. LolI wasn't really ripping. He knows I was baiting. Mission accomplished.Besides, my team's captain grabs cop asses, so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris922 Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 I wasn't really ripping. He knows I was baiting. Mission accomplished.Besides, my team's captain grabs cop asses, so...You know, I was in a decent crowd the other day when someone clearly groped my arse. You can imagine my disappointment when I turned and saw one of the local Starbucks baristas and not an NHL star... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 He knows I was baiting.We bow to the master. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 You can imagine my disappointment when I turned and saw one of the local Starbucks baristas and not an NHL star... I hope he at least apologized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris922 Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 I hope he at least apologized.I did see a Flyers jersey in the crowd... But somehow it was a big let down! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 So you're saying the game was too slow and it was allowing the players to ramp up and increase the speed of the game that made it better? It's not that it was too slow before, it was the fact that the skilled players were being choked out of the game by flagrant rule breaking. ie: Hooking, holding, tripping. For whatever reason, the league decided it wasn't going to call those penalties anymore beginning sometime around 1995. Even the "neutral zone trap" was an easily defeatable defensive strategy -- assuming the defending team wasn't breaking the rules (which they were allowed to do back then). That's why the trap was successful. Players simply obstructed the opposing team's forwards and prevented them from entering the zone, even if they didn't have the puck. Any strategy where you can legally grab someone and tackle them to the ice is guaranteed to be successful if no penalty results from it. And so it was until the return of hockey in 2005 when the league called all tripping, holding, and hooking penalties. Not surprisingly, goal scoring went way up. To me, the main culprits that have caused the break-neck pace in today's game are:Lighter hockey gearVastly improved physical conditioning / training for playersShorter shiftsThe usage of all four lines in a much more balanced way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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