Mike Eruzione's grandson gets lesson on Mario Lemieux, hockey history
Through their love of hockey and golf, Mike Eruzione has become close friends with Mario Lemieux over the years.
One night not long ago, Eruzione, his wife, Donna, and their 6-year-old grandson, Michael, attended a Boston University game with Lemieux, his wife, Nathalie, and their daughters.
Lemieux’s son, Austin, was playing that night for Arizona State.
While the families were entering the Agganis Arena on the BU campus, people immediately recognized Eruzione, a BU graduate and captain of the 1980 U.S. gold-medal winning hockey team.
“People are stopping me to take my picture and sign something,” Eruzione said. “My grandson looks at my wife and says, ‘Nana, how come people want to take Papa’s picture?’ ”
“Well, he’s pretty popular around here,” Donna answered. “Because he went to school here and played hockey here.”
After the game, people recognized Lemieux and were stopping him for a picture.
“My grandson looks at my wife and says, ‘Nana, him, too?’
She answered, “I think he was a little better than Papa.”
“Maybe the greatest player ever to play the game, and he wants to know if he’s the same as me,” Eruzione said.
“I don’t think so.”
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.