As a well known sports phenom in Tennis, Golf, Baseball, and many other sports, along with being a 6 time Olympian, both with Summer and Winter sports, Mario is no stranger to the world of Sports. He is, however, a stranger to the world of Professional Sports. As such, when rumors of a Hockey league appeared, he did not know what to think at first. Should he join? Would he be allowed to drive the Zamboni between periods? Is Bowser behind this? Is another person planning to kidnap the Princess behind this? So, Mario went straight to the Head Office of the SHL (and by straight we mean he went through 8 worlds of varying themes) to figure out what was going on. At first, the SHL head office did not know what to make of this strange man, but Mario eventually made it clear after a series of jumps, well done charades, and vaguely Italian sounding gibberish, he was looking for an explanation of the league, as well as, possibly, a list of financial backers. The SHL eventually understood what was going on, and assured Mario that there was no plot, there was no intention of kidnapping a "Princess Peach", and that they had never even heard of a "King Bowser Koopa", much less had his financial backing. Now that there was no kidnapping scheme, the SHL changed from a potential threat to the safety of Mario and his friend/girlfriend/what are they even anyways, to an opportunity to let loose some steam. And after 35+ years of dealing with numerous incidents too famous and too lengthy to touch on here, Mario had quite a lot of steam in need of letting off. So Mario tried to join. Unfortunately, going through 8 worlds in order to get to the SHL meant that he had arrived too late to join the draft, but after an extremely quick turnaround, offers started to pour in, as people knew the famous Mario by reputation, if not by experience. He eventually joined the Vancouver Whalers and endeared himself very quickly to the team as a well rounded 4th line Center with the ability to score, pass, and win faceoffs very effectively. Mario, when asked for comment from the media, responded excitedly, "Let's-a-go!"

Back in the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser promptly took advantage of Mario's absence to invade the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnap Peach. Again. So begins the adventure of Super Luigi...