It's one of those wonderful coincidences that occasionally shows up in sports history: Two of the NHL's all-time greatest players, Mario Lemieux and Patrick Roy, were born just a short distance apart on the same day of the same year.
And while October 5, 1965, would go on to become one of the most famous birthdays in league history, it wasn't the only way in which the lives of these two hockey legends would overlap. Both players debuted in the 1984–85 season, both won multiple Stanley Cups, and both earned a spot in the Hall of Fame.
Of course, the two players weren't completely similar. Here are some of the subtle differences between two of hockey's most celebrated stars:
Roy: Often seemed to be the quickest player on the ice, despite playing the whole game wearing forty pounds of goaltending equipment.
Lemieux: Often seemed to be the quickest player on the ice, despite playing the whole game wearing 400 pounds of defensemen hanging off his back.
Lemieux: Was deceptively fast going from center ice to the goal, often arriving before the opponent's defense was ready for him.
Roy: Was deceptively fast going from the goal to center ice, often arriving before the Red Wings' goaltender was ready for him.
Roy: Was known to talk to his posts before an important game, even though he knew that they were inanimate objects that couldn't communicate back to him.
Lemieux: Occasionally hung out with the Samuelsson brothers.
Lemieux: The Penguins unveiled a statue in his honor in March 2012.
Roy: The Canadiens employed a statue as his backup goalie from 1990 to 1994.
Roy: Is one of the only players in hockey history to have had two different franchises retire his number.
Lemieux: Only ever had his number retired by the Penguins, although during the 1991 final he did leave Shawn Chambers's jockstrap hanging from the rafters.
Lemieux: Made one of the most famous plays of his career during the Olympic gold medal game in 2002, when he allowed an incoming puck to slide through his legs so that teammate Paul Kariya could score.
Roy: A few months later, paid tribute to Lemieux during game seven against the Red Wings by allowing incoming pucks to slide through his legs all game long.
Roy: Was caught winking at Kings' player Tomas Sandstrom during the Cup final because he knew with absolute certainty that he was going to win.
Lemieux: Was caught winking at Gary Bettman before the drawing at the 2005 Sidney Crosby draft lottery because he was being friendly. Why, what did you think it was?
Lemieux: Became inextricably linked with Wayne Gretzky at the 1987 Canada Cup when the two combined to score the winning goal in the final game.
Roy: Became inextricably linked with Wayne Gretzky at the 1998 Olympics when Marc Crawford apparently decided they were both equally qualified to take a shot in the shoot-out.
Roy: Put together one of the greatest clutch performances in post-season history in 1993 when he won a record eleven consecutive overtime games.
Lemieux: Has no idea what you're talking about, since he had the 1993 playoffs surgically erased from his memory.
Lemieux: Complained vocally about a 2011 Penguins/Islanders brawl because he felt the league had allowed the use of goon tactics to become too prevalent.
Roy: Complained vocally about a 2011 Penguins/Islanders brawl because he felt the goalie fight was way too short.
Roy: During a blowout loss against the Red Wings, had a heated conversation with the Canadiens team president that resulted in him being traded to the Colorado Avalanche.
Lemieux: Late in his career, had several heated conversations with the Penguins team president that resulted in his wife knocking on the bathroom door and telling him to stop talking to himself again.
Lemieux: Likely saved professional hockey in Pittsburgh in 1999 when he rescued the Penguins from bankruptcy and became their majority owner.
Roy: Has never been involved with ownership at the NHL level, unless you count Jeremy Roenick in the playoffs.