Mark Madden - Personal Life

Personal Life

Madden is an avid Pittsburgh Penguins fan. He was critical of Penguins center Mario Lemieux late in Lemieux's career for "repeatedly trying to score directly off faceoffs." He once bet Lemieux $66 that he could not score directly off a draw. Lemieux thought the $66 bet was "cheap," and challenged Madden to a $6,600 bet. Madden accepted, and agreed that all the money would go to the Mario Lemieux Foundation. Lemieux had attempted the shot several times, with the closest effort being a post shot against the Calgary Flames on December 21, 2002. On December 24, 2002, Lemieux lined up against Buffalo Sabres faceoff specialist Chris Gratton. With the Penguins tied 2-2 and Gratton being a left-handed draw, Lemieux used the opportunity to take the shot on net. Lemieux shot the puck as it was dropped, going between Gratton's legs, off defenseman Alexei Zhitnik's skate, and eventually past goaltender Mika Noronen. Lemieux immediately looked to the pressbox, where he knew Madden was watching the game, and raised his arms. Lemieux admitted to trying the shot several times and that it was a tough shot to do without a good bounce. After the goal, Madden said he was planning a telethon to help him raise the $6,600 promised to the Mario Lemieux Foundation.

Madden was hospitalized on January 29, 2006 after suffering a heart attack during a dek-hockey tournament in Reading, Pennsylvania. Madden drove himself to a local hospital after feeling nauseous, and had the heart procedure done a day after checking in. He resumed his radio show three days later, although in a different time slot. He has openly expressed on his radio show that he believes that he may not be alive when Sidney Crosby breaks each of Wayne Gretzky's scoring records.