In The Elevator: Ron Lemieux

It’s probably not surprising that La Verendrye MLA Ron Lemieux can stickhandle around criticism of the NDP’s proposed PST hike.  After all, in his day, he was a good enough hockey player to be drafted in the NHL.

Lemieux played with the two-time Manitoba Junior Hockey League champion Dauphin Kings.  In 1970, the Pittsburgh Penguins chose him in the ninth round of the NHL draft (110th overall).  Hockey took Lemieux  to places like Green Bay, Wis., and Amarillo, Texas, though never as far as the NHL.

Lemieux remembers being in his hometown of Dauphin, playing for the Kings, and getting the phone call the same day as teammate Ron Low (who would go on to a lengthy NHL career).

“(Ron and I) were called in to the local radio station.  So as a hom town boy, to be actually called in to say ‘You’ve been drafted by the Penguins’ … it was really an honour to be selected.”

When asked to rank the hockey-playing Lemieuxs — Mario, Claude, Denis (from the movie Slap Shot) and himself–Lemieux grouped all the rest below Mario.

“Same last name but different bank accounts,” he said with a laugh.