Lemieux hassled Hextall during GM interview for knocking his teeth out

Mario Lemieux has a long memory.

The Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner may have hired Ron Hextall as the club's next general manager, but he wasn't going to let the 56-year-old forget an incident that landed Lemieux a date with the dentist decades ago.

"It was hard when Mario was on the second interview with me there, and we were kinda small talking at the start, and he reminded me that I knocked four of his teeth out on a follow-through," Hextall told reporters on Thursday.

"So I was like, 'Oh boy, this hasn't started out very well.'"

The former Philadelphia Flyers netminder played 11 seasons over two separate tenures with the club. The Flyers were division rivals with Lemieux's Penguins throughout the 1980s and 90s and faced off in several heated postseason series.

Hextall quipped the Hall of Fame pivot got his revenge on the scoreboard.

"I think he probably lit me up for seven or eight points one night, so he certainly got me back."

On Tuesday, Hextall replaced former Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford, who stepped down due to personal reasons. Pittsburgh also hired Brian Burke as president of hockey operations.