Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion and one of the most notorious players in hockey history, has died at the age of 60.
Lemieux’s death was announced by the NHL Alumni Association on Thursday, but a cause of death was not revealed.
His sudden passing comes just three days after he served as the ceremonial ‘torch bearer’ for the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre before their Eastern Conference Final Game 3 matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes.
The native of Buckingham, Quebec, Canada won four titles in his career that spanned from 1983 to 2009.
But Lemieux’s legacy comes in the 1,777 career penalty minutes he accumulated across 1,215 games – wherein he garnered a reputation for being one of the dirtiest players in NHL history.
While the four titles are perhaps his biggest accomplishment, he will be best remembered for a devastating hit he laid on Detroit Red Wings star Kris Draper that sparked a blood feud between Detroit and the Colorado Avalanche that lasted for years.
Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion, has died at the age of 60
His passing comes just three days after he served as the ‘torch bearer’ for the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Carolina
Lemieux will be best remembered for his reputation as one of the NHL’s dirtiest players ever
Born in 1965, Lemieux played in the QMJHL for Trois Rivieres before being drafted in the second round by his hometown Canadiens.
Lemieux made his NHL debut at 18 and was a major contributor to Montreal’s 1986 Stanley Cup winning team.
He scored a Game 7 overtime winner in the Montreal Forum to eliminate the Hartford Whalers in the Prince of Wales Division Finals and scored the only goal in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals as the Habs won that year’s series in five games over the Calgary Flames.
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