The date was Jan. 24, 2006. The mood was somber inside the old Igloo Club at Mellon Arena as 40-year-old Mario Lemieux stepped to the podium to announce his retirement. This time it was final. An irregular heartbeat made it so.
At one point, Lemieux turned to his teammates in the back of the room — 10 of whom were rookies, including a Kid named Sid who happened to be living in Lemieux’s home — and his eyes welled.
“All I can say to the younger players is, enjoy every moment of it,” he said. “Your career goes by very quickly.