New details emerge surrounding four-time Stanley Cup winner Claude Lemieux's death
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office confirmed deputies responded to an apparent suicide at a Lake Park store
He was not on the list.
Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion, died after
taking his own life, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office confirmed. He was
60.
Authorities said Thursday that deputies responded shortly
after 3 a.m. to the scene of an apparent suicide at the family’s furniture
store in Lake Park, Florida. The officer said the victim was believed to be
Lemieux, who was found in a rear warehouse by one of his sons.
Lemieux broke into the league with the Montreal Canadiens
and was part of their Stanley Cup-winning team in 1986.
He won four Stanley Cups in his career and in 1995 and 1996
became the 10th player in NHL history to win back-to-back Stanley Cups with
different teams, first with the New Jersey Devils and then with the Colorado
Avalanche.
After the 1995 Stanley Cup Final, Lemieux was also awarded
the Conn Smythe Trophy. In his postseason career, Lemieux had 158 points (80G,
78A) in 234 games played.
Lemieux last played in the NHL with the San Jose Sharks, and
retired in 2009.
In all, he appeared in 1,215 NHL games for the Montreal
Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, Colorado Avalanche, Phoenix Coyotes, Dallas Stars
and San Jose Sharks.
He went on to become a player agent, and oddly enough,
according to North State Journal, represented Carolina Hurricanes goalie
Frederik Andersen.
Lemieux was born in Buckingham, Quebec and grew up in
Mont-Laurier. He was drafted in the second round of the 1983 NHL entry draft by
the Montreal Canadiens and played with them from 1983–1990, winning his first
Stanley Cup with the team in 1986. In 1990, he was traded to the Devils, with
whom he played five seasons and won a second Stanley Cup. He was traded to the
Colorado Avalanche in 1995 and won his third Stanley Cup during the 1996 Cup
Final. During the playoffs that season, Lemieux hit Kris Draper of the Detroit
Red Wings from behind, breaking Draper's orbital, cheek, and jaw bones, and
sparking a vicious rivalry between the Avalanche and Red Wings. In 1999,
Lemieux was traded back to the Devils and won a fourth Stanley Cup with them in
the 2000 Cup Final. Over the next few seasons, he played for the Phoenix
Coyotes and Dallas Stars. Lemieux left the NHL in 2003 and briefly joined EV
Zug of the Swiss Nationalliga A before retiring as a player. In 2005, he was
named president of the ECHL's Phoenix RoadRunners, a position he held for two
years. Lemieux returned to the NHL with the San Jose Sharks for the 2008–09
season, but retired again after that year. Following his retirement, Lemieux
became a sports agent, serving in the role until his death.
His son, Brendan Lemieux, is also a former NHL player, who
plays for HC Davos of the National League in Switzerland.
Lemieux was drafted in the second round of the 1983 NHL
entry draft by the Montreal Canadiens. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound wing scored 379
goals and made 407 assists for a career point total of 786. He played with
the Canadiens from 1983–1990, winning the Stanley Cup with the team in 1986
with Lemieux scoring 10 goals as a rookie in his first playoffs.
In September 1990, Lemieux was traded to the New Jersey
Devils for Sylvain Turgeon. Lemieux won his second Stanley Cup in 1995 as New
Jersey defeated the Detroit Red Wings. Completing the postseason with 13 goals,
he also won the Conn Smythe Trophy that year as the playoff MVP.
Shortly before the beginning of the 1995–96 season, Lemieux
was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in a three-team deal that also involved
Wendel Clark and Steve Thomas. When the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 1996,
Lemieux became the tenth player to win back-to-back Stanley Cups with different
teams.
In November 1999, Lemieux was traded back to New Jersey in a
deal that sent Brian Rolston to Colorado. He won his fourth and final Stanley
Cup title with the Devils in 2000. In that offseason, Lemieux signed as a free
agent with the Phoenix Coyotes.
In January 2003, the Coyotes traded him to the Dallas Stars
for Scott Pellerin and a conditional draft pick. Lemieux ended his NHL playing
career with Dallas after the 2002–03 season. He played briefly the following
season for EV Zug of the Swiss Nationalliga A.
In September 2008, on RDS, Lemieux expressed an interest in
making a comeback to the NHL. He began the season with the China Sharks of the
Asia League Ice Hockey before signing a contract with the Worcester Sharks on
November 25. After scoring two goals and six points in 14 games with Worcester,
Lemieux signed a two-way contract with the San Jose Sharks on December 29,
2008. The following day, he cleared waivers and continued to play for
Worcester. On January 19, 2009, the San Jose Sharks recalled Lemieux to the
NHL; on February 19, he recorded the first (and only) NHL point of his
comeback, assisting on Milan Michalek's second-period goal against the Los
Angeles Kings. That same year, the Sharks won the Presidents' Trophy.
Lemieux represented Canada three times in international
competitions. He made his first international appearance as a member of the
Canadian national junior team at the 1985 World Junior Championships in
Helsinki, Finland. Lemieux finished the tournament with 3 goals and 2 assists
in 6 games to help Canada win its second World Junior gold medal. Lemieux was
also a member of the 1987 Canada Cup winning team where he tallied 2 points in
6 games. His final appearance in international play came when he was selected
to the Team Canada roster for the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. Lemieux picked up
19 penalty minutes in the eight games as Canada finished second.
After retiring from the NHL, Lemieux was often a guest on
TSN's Off the Record with Michael Landsberg, sharing insights on his playing
days in the NHL. At the time of his death, he was President of the sports
agency 4sports Hockey, representing 16 clients, including Timo Meier, Moritz
Seider, Rickard Rakell, and Hampus Lindholm.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1981–82 Richelieu
Éclaireurs QMAAA 48 24 48 72 96 8 10 13 23 14
1982–83 Trois-Rivières
Draveurs QMJHL 62 28 38 66 187 4 1 0 1 30
1983–84 Montreal
Canadiens NHL 8 1 1 2 12 — — — — —
1983–84 Verdun
Juniors QMJHL 51 41 45 86 225 9 8 12 20 63
1983–84 Nova
Scotia Voyageurs AHL — — — — — 2 1 0 1 6
1983–84 Verdun
Juniors MC — — — — — 3 1 3 4 2
1984–85 Montreal
Canadiens NHL 1 0 1 1 7 — — — — —
1984–85 Verdun
Junior Canadiens QMJHL 52 58 66 124 152 14 23 17 40 38
1985–86 Sherbrooke
Canadiens AHL 58 21 32 53 145 — — — — —
1985–86 Montreal
Canadiens NHL 10 1 2 3 22 20 10 6 16 68
1986–87 Montreal
Canadiens NHL 76 27 26 53 156 17 4 9 13 41
1987–88 Montreal
Canadiens NHL 78 31 30 61 137 11 3 2 5 20
1988–89 Montreal
Canadiens NHL 69 29 22 51 136 18 4 3 7 58
1989–90 Montreal
Canadiens NHL 39 8 10 18 106 11 1 3 4 38
1990–91 New
Jersey Devils NHL 78 30 17 47 105 7 4 0 4 34
1991–92 New
Jersey Devils NHL 74 41 27 68 109 7 4 3 7 26
1992–93 New
Jersey Devils NHL 77 30 51 81 155 5 2 0 2 19
1993–94 New
Jersey Devils NHL 79 18 26 44 86 20 7 11 18 44
1994–95 New
Jersey Devils NHL 45 6 13 19 86 20 13 3 16 20
1995–96 Colorado
Avalanche NHL 79 39 32 71 117 19 5 7 12 55
1996–97 Colorado
Avalanche NHL 45 11 17 28 43 17 13 10 23 32
1997–98 Colorado
Avalanche NHL 78 26 27 53 115 7 3 3 6 8
1998–99 Colorado
Avalanche NHL 82 27 24 51 102 19 3 11 14 26
1999–2000 Colorado
Avalanche NHL 13 3 6 9 4 — — — — —
1999–2000 New
Jersey Devils NHL 70 17 21 38 86 23 4 6 10 28
2000–01 Phoenix
Coyotes NHL 46 10 16 26 58 — — — — —
2001–02 Phoenix
Coyotes NHL 82 16 25 41 70 5 0 0 0 2
2002–03 Phoenix
Coyotes NHL 36 6 8 14 30 — — — — —
2002–03 Dallas
Stars NHL 32 2 4 6 14 7 0 1 1 10
2003–04 EV Zug NLA 7 2 3 5 4 5 1 3 4 8
2008–09 China
Sharks ALH 2 0 1 1 4 — — — — —
2008–09 Worcester
Sharks AHL 23 3 8 11 24 — — — — —
2008–09 San
Jose Sharks NHL 18 0 1 1 21 1 0 0 0 0
NHL totals 1,215 379 407 786 1,777 234 80 78 158 529
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