Claude Lemieux a four-time Stanley Cup champion and once one of the NHL's most infamous antagonists, has died at the age of 60, the NHL Alumni Association said Thursday.
Born in Buckingham, Que., Lemieux broke into the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens in 1983 and helped the club win the Stanley Cup in 1986.
The gritty winger later captured championships with the New Jersey Devils in 1995 and 2000, and the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.
Lemieux won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1995 after recording 13 goals in 20 post-season games for New Jersey.
“The National Hockey League mourns the passing of Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion and one of the greatest big-game players in hockey history," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement released by the league.
He was honoured at Montreal’s Bell Centre on Monday, carrying a ceremonial torch onto the ice before the Canadiens’ Game 3 playoff matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes.
“Today is a dark day for the Canadiens family and the entire hockey community. I wish to express my most sincere and deepest condolences to Claude’s family and loved ones,” Canadiens owner Geoff Molson said in a statement release by the team. “A fierce competitor who rose to the occasion in big moments, Claude was a relentless, courageous, and tenacious player who led the team to the highest honours. He embodied the very essence of being a Montreal Canadiens player. Today, we mourn the untimely passing of one of our champions.”
The cause of death was not released.
The San Jose Sharks said on X that “the entire Sharks organization is saddened to learn of the passing of Sharks alum and NHL legend Claude Lemieux.”
Lemieux finished his career with San Jose after coming out of a five-and-a-half-year retirement at age 43 during the 2008-09 season. He had one assist in 18 games before retiring for good in July 2009.
Lemieux was known for stepping up his game in the playoffs and for playing close to the edge — and sometimes crossing it.
In the 1986 Stanley Cup final, Lemieux bit Calgary Flames winger Jim Peplinski’s finger as they tussled in a brawl following the fourth game.
"I didn't know they allowed cannibalism in the NHL," Peplinski quipped after the game.
Ten years later, Lemieux once again made headlines while playing for Colorado when he rammed Detroit Red Wings forward Kris Draper into the boards from behind in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final.
Draper sustained a broken jaw, cheek and orbital bone, while Lemieux escaped serious discipline when he was suspended by the NHL for two games.
The Avalanche went on to sweep Florida in the Cup Final, with Lemieux returning from suspension to score the first goal in Game 3.
Lemieux's bite came up again in 2021 when his son Brendan, then a forward with the Los Angeles Kings, was suspended five games for biting Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk during a game in 2021.
Claude and Brendan became the first father-son duo in NHL history to receive suspensions for biting.
--with files from Sportsnet staff
6:41
2:44