April 26, 1997 brought the day that Pittsburgh hockey fans had been dreading, the day that Mario would hang up the skates for good or so we thought. It was time for the hockey world to say goodbye to their hero. Both the NHL and Pittsburgh did it in a way befitting the NHL's reigning king. On Novenber 17, 1997 after waving the three year waiting period Mario was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto Canada. Three days later in an elabrote ceromony at the Mellon Arena before a game againist the Boston Bruins the Pittsburgh Penguins said goodbye to their superstar and retired his number. Many of his peers in the sports world came that night to pay tribute to a living legand. The strains of Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" filled the air and with his little girl Lauren beside him Mario watched as the banner was raised to the roof. To many that signaled the end of hockey in Pittsburgh, or was it? The baton had been passed to 25 year old Jarmior Jagar so maybe not. Mario had played his entire NHL carrer as a Penguin, built a champion for a city who dearly needed one and put Pittsburgh on the NHL map forever. The thank you that Pittsburgh gave him was fit for a king.
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