At
the
2002
Winter Olympics,
having been selected by Gretzky to captain the roster, Lemieux led
the
Canadian
men's team
into
Salt
Lake City,
United
States.
The team had failed to win a gold medal at the Olympics in fifty
years but were still considered favorites to win. Lemieux was second
to
Joe
Sakic
in
team scoring with six points in five games, and led the team to gold
by defeating the
United
States
5-2
in the final game. Lemieux showcased his amazing hockey intelligence
during the gold medal game against the United States. With Team
Canada trailing 1-0 in the first period, Lemieux made one of the most
famous and savvy plays in Olympic hockey history. After a cross-ice
pass from Lemieux in the neutral zone, Canadian defenseman
Chris
Pronger carried
the puck across the blue line into the American's zone, and fired a
pass across the zone. Lemieux then faked like he was receiving the
pass and proceeded to take a shot at the net, all while letting the
puck slide through his legs, knowing he had forward
Paul
Kariya
streaking
behind him. Lemieux's fake caused American goalie
Mike
Richter
to
lunge in Lemieux's direction, and thus created a wide open net for
Kariya to fire the puck in, as he received the pass from Pronger
after Lemieux let it go to Kariya. During the tournament, his hip
injury required several painkilling injections to keep him on the
ice, and he only played one more NHL game after the Olympics before
being lost for the season.
He
would then play in his final international event, once again
captaining Team Canada to victory in the
2004
World Cup of Hockey,
where he'd be Team Canada's 4th leading scorer, despite being 38
years old, having injuries, and playing in just 10 NHL games that
year. Lemieux was also selected by team Canada for the
2006
Winter Olympics,
but declined due to health.
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