On This Date in Sports January 21, 1990: Mario Thrills the Igloo
In Collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
The NHL All-Star Game comes to Pittsburgh for the first time. It is a new beginning for the NHL All-Star showcase, as the game is moved from Tuesday Nights to Sunday for the first time. As part of this move, the NHL introduces the Skills Challenge held the night before. Fans at the Civic Arena came for one reason and were not disappointed as Mario Lemieux of the Penguins was named MVP with Whales Conference winning 12-7.
As the 1990s began, the NHL was seeking to get a more significant market share of television viewers. One method was to turn the All-Star Game into a two-day showcase. The NBA had previously done this with the Slam Dunk Contest and MLB with the Home Run Derby. The NHL Super Skills was adapted from “Showdown,” a featured created on Hockey Night in Canada by Paul Palmer. The inaugural Super Skills Challenge tested NHL stars in Fastest Skater, Shot Accuracy, Hardest Shot, and a Goalies competition. The first winner of the Fastest Skater was Mike Gartner representing the Minnesota North Stars. Ray Bourque was the winner of the Accuracy Contest, Al Iafrate of the Toronto Maple Leafs had the hardest shot, and Kirk McLean of the Vancouver Canucks won the goalie contest, as the Campbell Conference was the overall winner. The winner of each competition received $2,500 and bragging rights.
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Another reason for shifting the game to Sunday was to allow the game to air on NBC. It marked the first time in a decade that the NHL All-Star Game was on one of the major broadcast networks in the United States. This gave many American fans their first chance to see superstars Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky play live on national television. Hoping to forge a greater relationship with American television, NBC was given access to interview players during stoppages.
Fans in Pittsburgh were there mainly to cheer on Mario Lemieux, who already won the All-Star Game MVP in 1985 and 1988. Just 21 seconds into the game, Mario gave fans at the Igloo reason to cheer by scoring the game’s first goal. The Wales Conference dominated the early part of the game as goals by Dave Andreychuk, and Pierre Turgeon of the Buffalo Sabres made it 3-0 midway through the first period. After Mark Messier of the Edmonton Oilers put the Campbell Conference on the board, Super Mario scored again at the 13-minute mark.
The Wales Conference would dominate the first period, taking a 7-2, as they scored three goals in two minutes. Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings scored the Campbell Conference’s second goal. The Wales coached by Pat Burns of the Montreal Canadiens got a second goal from Andreychuk, while Mario Lemieux completed the hat trick with 2:23 left before the first intermission. The final goal would be tallied by Pierre Turgeon, scoring for the second time.
The game settled down some in the second period, as Kirk Muller of the New Jersey Devils scored a shorthanded goal. Al MacInnis of the Calgary Flames answered 16 seconds later on the same power play. Joe Mullen of the Flames scored for his coach Terry Crisp to cut the deficit to 8-4, Shayne Corson of the Canadiens scoring for his own coach kept the Wales Conference in command.
In the third period, Mario Lemieux equaled Wayne Gretzky’s 1983 record by scoring his fourth goal. Cam Neely of the Boston Bruins lit the lamp ten minutes late to extend the lead again to 11-4. Late in the final period, the Campbell Conference got a pair of goals by Luc Robitaille of the Los Angeles Kings. Muller added a second goal late in the third, while Doug Small of the Winnipeg Jets closed out the scoring with 25 seconds left.
The Wales 12-7 win set record for most goals as a team and most goals for an All-Star Game. Mario Lemieux, much to the delight of fans in Pittsburgh, became the first player to win three All-Star Game MVP awards.