Mario Lemieux got to wave goodbye. Once.
When it was goodbye for good, though, it was a heart condition that closed his iconic career. Not a soul inside the Civic Arena for what wound up his final game on that night of Dec. 16, 2005 -- and I was there covering -- could've known.
Jaromir Jagr didn't get the chance, either, having been traded. Marc-Andre Fleury was given up in an NHL expansion draft and wasn't feted until after a return in another sweater. No one else with the Penguins ever enjoyed a scene like Mario's initial retirement on the magical night of April 23, 1997:
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I covered that, too.