At his prime, more like an elemental force of nature than an athlete.
My two favourite memories of him are in the Canada Cup series, final game in 1986.
Memory one: Playing on a line with Wayne Gretzky, the puck comes to him at his own blue line and he headmans it to a breaking Gretzky, and trails the play. Gretzky comes over the opposing blue line and twice fakes a shot, drawing the defensemen and goalie over. Meanwhile Lemieux coasts in over the blue line, his stick back and waiting. Gretzky throws a blind backhand pass to Lemieux, whose stick is already in motion BEFORE the pass is made. He unleashes an unholy piledriver of a shot high to the glove side that the goalie never even moves for.
Memory two: Gold medal final, 2002 Olympics. With Canada a goal up late in the third, a scrimmage in front of the U.S. net and the puck comes loose to Lemieux, about four feet out with two thirds of the net open. Probably for the first time since he played Atom hockey, he fans on the shot, and the look of disbelief on his face was priceless.
