When talking about the greatest hockey players of all time, two names are almost always at the top: Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. In 1982, the duo met to talk about hockey, but Gretzky ended up taking the 16-year-old Lemieux to a bar—where things got hotter than Lemieux expected…
Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were both incredibly talented players, and their accomplishments in hockey are unmatched. They rank first and second in NHL history for points per game, with 1.92 for Gretzky and 1.88 for Lemieux. During Lemieux’s final year as a junior, he scored so many points that hockey fans began comparing him to Gretzky, who was already a huge star in the NHL.
Wayne Gretzky taught Mario Lemieux
Gretzky and Lemieux shared the same agents, and in 1982, Gretzky brought Lemieux along to shoot a commercial and spend some time together. The agents told Lemieux to observe how the superstar Gretzky conducted himself—how modest, polite, and focused he was. Gretzky essentially showed Lemieux how to carry himself as a big star. But after filming the commercial, Gretzky invited Lemieux to dinner, according to the 1993 book Mario by Lawrence Martin.
Introduced him to girls
Lemieux eagerly accepted the invitation, and after dinner, Gretzky took him to Ports, a well-known singles bar. Lemieux was still a minor and not legally allowed to drink, but no one questioned Wayne Gretzky about his young companion’s age. They began talking to two women who didn’t recognize Mario but definitely knew who Gretzky was. According to the book, Gretzky showed the young Mario a good time.
“The four of them then adjourned to the Westbury Hotel, where they spent the night and, if what Mario later told a friend was true, a big moment in his young life took place,” the book says.
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