It has been more than a decade since Mario Lemieux played his last NHL game for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and yet no athlete -- perhaps no human being -- is a more prominent presence in the city of champions.
A simple stroll through Pittsburgh is the easiest way to discover how fully the man who arrived in town from Quebec as a lanky 18-year-old in 1984 has been embraced by Pittsburgh. Not to mention the degree to which he has embraced the city right back.
In a region that has revered its sports legends for decades, the former Penguins star and current team co-owner and chairman is seemingly everywhere.